{"id":76375,"date":"2026-08-14T13:40:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T05:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=76375"},"modified":"2026-08-14T13:40:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T05:40:02","slug":"what-is-dongba-script-the-only-hieroglyphic-system-still-used-today-is-found-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=76375","title":{"rendered":"What is Dongba script? The only hieroglyphic system still used today is found in China"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Stepping into the Old Town of Lijiang, a city in China\u2019s Yunnan province, feels like entering the set of a Chinese period drama. Passing timber homes dotted with red lanterns, you walk on slick, rain-polished cobblestones worn down by centuries of Himalayan traders\u2019 footsteps.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The 800-year-old network of timber-framed architecture \u2013 often associated with Naxi ethnic minority culture \u2013 and the town\u2019s alpine canal system earned Unesco World Heritage status in 1997 for exceptional preservation of multi-ethnic urban design harmonised with a dramatic natural backdrop.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Today the Old Town is a thriving shopping district. And if you pay attention to the signage, you will see drawings underneath almost all of them.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">This is not graffiti \u2013 it is Dongba script, the only hieroglyphic script still in use today.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-d3pq8q e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-bjn8wh e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A wall of Dongba script in Lijiang\u2019s Old Town. Photo: Lisa Cam\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/08\/13\/c6752736-64da-4f3a-a7a7-fd18641c3b42_a7a826ee.jpg\" title=\"A wall of Dongba script in Lijiang\u2019s Old Town. Photo: Lisa Cam\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1bj5zno e1gf69pb1\">A wall of Dongba script in Lijiang\u2019s Old Town. Photo: Lisa Cam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Dongba is the traditional religion, culture and priestly class of the Naxi ethnic group, most of whom live in Lijiang, with others spread across parts of Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/chinese-culture\/article\/3363770\/what-dongba-script-only-hieroglyphic-system-still-used-today-found-china?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stepping into the Old Town of Lijiang, a city in China\u2019s Yunnan province, feels like entering the set of a Chinese period drama. Passing timber&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[832,28215,28216,2062,2020,155],"class_list":["post-76375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-china","tag-dongba","tag-hieroglyphic","tag-script","tag-system","tag-today","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/76376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}