Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 December 2024
Dramatis Personae
These are some of the most important recurring characters in the story, presented in order of appearance, first as they are written in the original manuscript, then as they appear in the digital recreation, followed by their name and a brief English introduction:
Graph-by-graph
1. biuq, to chant, a seated ritualist, mid-chant.
2. ggeq, a raised platform or bench.
3. chel, twisting intestines, indicating “unclean”.
4. ggvq, a bear, here used phonetically for ggvq, to overcome, as the second syllable of the ceremony name: chel ggvq (purification).
5. coq bber, a compound graph, consisting of Coqssei-leel’ee, represented by a man with an elephant's head (read coq and here a metonym for humankind in general), and the verb “to go”, bber, represented by the pronounced left foot moving across the land.
6. tvq, literally bucket, here used phonetically to indicate tv, appear, here meaning an emergence or origin.
7. oq, grain, a large store of grain, here used phonetically for oq, thus, so.
8. mei, female, here used as a final particle.
Transcription
chel / ggvq / coq / bber / tv / oq / mei
unclean / overcome / humankind / go / origin / thus / particle
Scharten translation
From where mankind comes?
New translation
Purification ceremony: The emergence and migration of humankind
Notes
The first two graphs on the left, coloured in red on the original manuscript and unlabeled in the key above, are not strictly part of the title: they represent a dongba (dobbaq), seated upon a raised platform or bench (ggeq), with sound emerging from his mouth. This figure, read biuq (to chant), announces the title of the book. Most dongba will not read them, but they still carry meaning beyond mere decoration, for they indicate that this is a Naxi religious manuscript, and that a recitation by a dongba is about to commence.
Scharten translates only the title of the ritual that is the focus of this book, not the name of the wider ceremony. “Chelggvq” is the name of the ceremony for the purification of either a place or a home. Prior to the performance of a large rite the ceremonial ground is purified of chel, or uncleanliness. If this is not done, the svq nature spirits (or other deities) will not attend. This particular book recounts the story of the flood (i.e. the first great purification).
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