sun hongkai (mtsho mo skyid and g roche, translators) with an introduction by t roche and g roche....

8/14/2019 Sun Hongkai (Mtsho mo skyid and G Roche, translators) with an introduction by T Roche and G Roche. 2009. The

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Asian Highlands Perspectives . 1 (2009), 159-186.

159

THE RS SHB PICTOGRAPHICWRITING SYSTEM1

Sn Hngki2 [translated by Mtsho mo skyid (QnghiNormal University) and Gerald Roche (Griffith University/Qnghi Normal University)3 with an introduction byThomas Roche (University of Sohar) and Gerald Roche]

ABSTACTThe rs are a Qingic people living in southern SchunProvince. A diminishing number of rs religious

practitioners known asshb employ a pictographic writingsystem described in Sn Hngki's 1982 article that is thesubject of this translation. An introduction provides

background on Sn Hngki and the theoretical framework

he employs to describe the rsshb pictographic writingsystem; additional footnotes and a map provide furthercontext.

KEY WORDSrs,shb , Sn Hngki, pictographs, Schun, Qingic

1 Sn 1982a.2 3 Mtsho mo skyid and Gerald Roche are grateful for theassistance of Keith Dede, Kevin Stuart, David Bradley, andLibu Lakhi. Any remaining mistakes are the responsibilityof the translators.


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INTRODUCTION

Sn Hngki 's description of the rs pictographic writingsystem is contextualized by introducing the author, histheoretical perspective (and certain translation decisions thisrequired), the uniqueness of theshb pictographic writingsystems, and reviewing relevant literature.

Sn, a graduate of Bijng University, had had acareer spanning more than fifty years in 2008. A scholar of Tibeto-Burman languages in China, he has conducted field

studies on Qing , Dlng , N , Pm (Primi), Mnb (Monba), Lub (Lhopa), Bim, Tibetan, Jirng , Nmyi , Guqing

, Ergng , Zhb , rs , My ,Sh xng , Ruro , and Anng (Sn 1987).Sn's most significant project in recent years has been theediting of the forty volume seriesNew Found Minority

Languages of China (Zhnggu xn fxin yyn ynji cngsh , Thurgood 2003,Chirkova 2006). In 2007, he was an affiliated fellow of theInternational Institute for Asian Studies, during which timehe worked on a Trans-Himalayan database of Tibeto-Burman Languages. In 2008, Sn Hngki worked in theInstitute of Ethnology and Anthropology at the Chinese

Academy of Social Sciences.The current translation represents a fragment of Sn's large corpus of work that included more than forty

publications in 1987 (Sn 1987). To better understand thetheoretical perspective employed by Sn, it is important tonote that, typically, the world's writing systems areclassified into three types. Daniels (1996) attributes thiscategorization system to Isaac Taylor who, inThe Alphabet (1883), laid out the concepts of logographies, syllabaries,and alphabets in his description of the languages of India. Alogography uses a graphic symbol to refer to a word, ormore specifically, a morpheme. For example,represents


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the Standard Modern Chinese monosyllabic morphemewhich can be written in Roman Letters asn . Syllabariesconsist of graphs representing a single syllable that,depending on the language, may contain a single phoneme,or a sequence of phonemes. For example,+ represents theTibetan syllable that can be written in Roman letters asda .Finally, an alphabet represents phonological structure on thelevel of the phoneme.

Gelb (1952) used Taylor's nomenclature to explainhow writing systems evolve. InA Study of Writing , Gelb

suggested a principle of unilineal evolution of writingsystems, postulating that they evolve from logographies tosyllabaries and finally into alphabets. Sn's description of rs places it on a unilineal evolutionary scale based on theGelb/ Taylor system. Sn posits that rs is in anintermediary stage of non-writing, i.e., drawing, developinginto a logography. Following F Moj , 4 Sn

distinguishes two different writing systems:thu wnz 'pictographic writing system' andxingxng wnz 'hieroglyphic writing system'. A pictographic

writing system is characterised by mimetic representationswithout phonetic content. Conversely, the hieroglyphicwriting system is characterised by the emergence of

phonetic elements, is closer towards syllabary, and a step

further away from simple pictures.Shb , according toSn's model, is therefore important in representing a uniquestage in the evolution of writing systems.

Shb is also significant in using color as ameaningful unit. Certain Mayan glyphs (logographic andsyllabic signs), employed until the sixteenth century, usedshading (hatching and cross-hatching) to distinguishmeaning (Marci 1996a). Hatching was also used on the

4 F received his PhD in 1950 from Cambridge Universityfor his work on Lolo grammar (F 1997). He has alsowritten on the Nx language (F 1944, 1984).


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Rongorongo script of Easter Island, which is most probablyan undeciphered syllabary (Marci 1996b).

In addition to the current article, Sn Hngki(1982b) has published 'A Brief Introduction to the rs(Tosu) Language'. Regarding non-linguistic data on thers, we currently know of only two published articles.Both are by W D from the Institute of Ethnology andSociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. W (2005)discusses the relationship between rs ethnic identity andwriting system, exploring the way that rs writing inshb

and Tibetan differently construct ethnic identity. In a laterarticle, W (2006) gives a general introduction to thecontested nature of rs ethnic identity, focusing on the roleof historical factors in identity construction.

All comments in the footnotes were provided by thetranslators.

TRANSLATION

The rs refer to themselves as su . In the pastthey were called Xfn . They live mostly in Gnlo

, Yex , and Mi nnng Counties, and Ml Tibetan Autonomous County in Lingshn Yi

Autonomous Prefecture, Schun

Province. Inaddition, they also live in Shmin and Hnyun Counties, Y'n Prefecture, and in JilngCounty and nearby areas in Gnz TibetanAutonomous Prefecture, Schun Province. The rs

population is approximately 20,000.5 rs living in different places refer to themselves differently. For example,rs ineastern Minnng call themselves do u (Dox).

5 At the time of writing, i.e., 1982. However, W (2004)states that there were approximately 10,000 (sic)rs in2000.


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li zu (Ls ) is used in Ji lng, Ml , and westernMinnng. In Gnlo, Yex, and Hnyun, rs callthemselves su (rs), or pu z (Brz), andat times they say pu z su (Brzrs ).People in Shmin call themselves lu su (Ls ).These different self-designations are dialect variations of thesame name, meaning 'white people'.

The rs language belongs to the Sino-TibetanLanguage Family, Mi n Language Group, QingicLanguage Section.6 rs dialects vary to the extent that if

rs who speak different dialects meet, they can onlycommunicate with difficulty. The rs language is dividedinto three dialects: eastern, central, and western.7 Theeastern dialect (rs Dialect) is spoken by approximately13,000 people in Gnlo, Yex, Hnyun, and Shmin.The central (Dox) dialect is spoken by approximately3,000 people in the east of Minnng County. The western

(Ls) dialect is spoken by approximately 4,000 people inMl , Ji lng, and the west of Mi nnng County.Most rs currently read and write Chinese. Several

rs teachers have studied Y.8 Before the founding of the

6 Gordon (2005) gives the following ISO-639-3 code for thers language: ers. The linguistic lineage given is asfollows: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, Tangut-Qing,Qingic.7 Gordon (2005) suggests that the Menia/ Menya variety of rs may also be a separate dialect. It is possible that, butunclear if, the terms Menia/ Menya refer to Mi nnng and if so where in Mi nnng County this separate dialect occurs.8 For an overview of Y writing systems, see Bradley(2005). The extent and nature of the usage of Y areunclear.


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People's Republic of China, a few people known as u va(Shf'r ) studied Tibetan.9

In such northern Schun Province areas as Gnlo,Hnyun, Mi nnng, and Shmin, we discovered valuableexamples of a colored pictographic writing system used byshb (religious specialists). Apart from theshb scriptures, we also learned from local people that there aremany other kinds of texts written in theshb pictographicwriting system [hereafter SPWS]. Presently, names of someof the texts are still remembered. The scriptures we saw are

o ma t (N emnshd ), ko ts'i t(Gqshd ), p' n o ndz (Shpzhoz), and t ' nb u t (Chngb'rshud

). These books are mostly concerned with primitivereligion and are valuable data for studying minority history

, ethnology , minority languages ,and primitive religion . In particular, these books

provide a valuable resource for studying the development of writing systems. Moreover, theshb pictographs aresomewhat similar to the Nx Dngb writing system.10

SPWS is not known to have a specific time of origin;11 nor does rs folklore agree on a time of origin.Some rs say that SPWS has a history of no more than tengenerations, whilst others say that it has a history spanning

several tens of generations. Others say that SPWS existedduring the time of Zhg Ling.12 One account states that

9 The original text is unclear on this point. These peoplewere most likely religious practitioners, almost certainlymales.10 The ISO 693-3 code for the Nx language is nbf (Gordon2005).11 That is, its time of origin is not given in written (Chinese)historical records.12 Zhg Ling (181234) was a political andmilitary figure of the Three Kingdoms era (ca. 184280).


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Zh carried books written in SPWS on horseback when hewas in battle. When Zh lost the battle, he scattered the

books,13 of which only a few have survived. In analyzingthese shb books from the view of graphic analysis andreligion, and also according to the similarities betweenshb and Dngb writing systems in their formation andstructure, we presume that SPWS originated at around thesame time as the Dngb, or perhaps slightly more recentlythan Dngb.14

rs call SPWS ndz r m (Zhlm ).

SPWS is only hand-written,15 mostly with a bamboo brushor animal hairs dipped into inks of different colors. The books we have seen were written in red, yellow, blue,white, black, and green. Interestingly, the different colorsgive different meanings to a single glyph. For example, if the pictograph 'stars and moon' is written in black it means'dim' or 'not brilliant'. On the other hand, if the same

pictograph is shown in white, it means 'shining' and isconsidered an auspicious symbol.SPWS has basically already separated itself from the

manners of drawing and entered the ranks of writingsystems. Some important features are:

1. Even though more or fewer strokes are used, the basic

written form of each pictograph remains the same. In13 Presumably to save them from falling into enemy hands.14 Goodman (2000), without citing sources or providingevidence, states that the Dngb script is thought to haveoriginated ca. 1100 AD. Rock (1947) citing interviews withNx Dngb practitioners, places the script's origin in thethirteenth century. Jackson (1971) brings the date forwardeven further, after 1590, but probably not becomingwidespread until after 1723. Jackson's theory is based

primarily on ethnological and historical reconstruction.15 That is, it is not printed or mass-produced.


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other words, the relationship between form andmeaning is fixed.

2. Though SPWS can only be understood byshb , anddespite the fact that the books are distributedthroughout a large area, pictographs with a singlemeaning have a consistent form and manner of reading.16 In addition, the content of books found inGnlo, Hnyun, Shmin, and certain other countiesare all very similar. Furthermore, we learned that the

shb rarely met one another in the past. Nonetheless,the interpretation and pronunciation of theshb pictographs are almost the same. SPWS has beentransmitted across generations and copies have beenmade. It has a certain social standing. There are clearstandards for how to write and interpret the script; it isnot just an individual's arbitrary creation.

3. Shb do not simply draw anything they see. From thecreation of SPWS until the founding of the People'sRepublic of China we can see that its developmentmust have been very slow and the number of single-formed (dt z ) words is invariably limitedwithin a definite scope. From the books we have seen

(and the following figure is from an as yet incompletesurvey) there are over 200 single-formed words.Nonetheless, the documents that can be produced areincredible. The scripture called o ma ta containsaround 360 different composite diagrams eachcontaining several single-formed words.

SPWS is quite primitive; from the point of view of its expressed content and its range of use, its limitations are

16 That is, theshb script does not vary greatly from placeto place in form or in the way the texts are read.


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evident. From the point of view of the structure of thegraphs, the objective content being described and therepresentational forms used are very similar, which meansthat the written language itself is still like pictures. See theexamples below:

1. [hk nu ]A leather pouch.

2. [htu k'u ]A flame.

3. [t i pa ]A chopping boardor a wood plank.

4. [n 'o pa ]A food tray.

5. [dzi ]A bridge.

6. [va t ' ]A slave who

became a ghost.7. [j w ]A religiousinstrumentresembling ahuman hand.17

8. [ u ]A cage fordemons.

9. [ua ]A cow/ bull.

17 It is unclear what this implement is, who uses it, how,why, when, and where it is used.


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10. [vu ts'u ]An ax.

11.[s ti pu nb ]Decorated pottery

jar for alcohol.

12. [hto t ' ]A tripod used byreligiousspecialists inrituals.18

13. [ k ts ]A fork in the road.

14. [tsu j ]A stretcher usedto carry corpses.

15. [p' ngu ]A householdcontainer.

16. [ b ]A white conchused in religiousrituals.

17. [ps ma ]A frog.

18. [ o ma ]The sun.

19. [ p' ]The moon.

20. [nd ma ]An arrow.

21. [nk'u ji ]A fishhook.

18

Graham (1958) gives the following information for thetripod stove used by the Qing people of the Wnchunregion: "[The stove is] an iron band or a circle with threeequidistant iron legs and with three pieces of iron reachingalmost horizontally toward the center from the places wherethe three iron legs are joined to the iron circle. These threehorizontal pieces of iron support a cooking vessel over the

fire. The diameter of this stove is nearly 3 feet'' (17) and'' the iron leg that has in it a small hole in which an ironring hangs is the fire god The other two legs are A-ba-sei, the male ancestor, and A-ta-sei, the female ancestor" (49). Plate fifteen shows such a stove. LaPolla and Huang(2003, 14) further state that, "The iron potholder is treated

by the Qing people with great respect, and cannot bemoved at random. One cannot rest one's feet on it, or hangfood there to grill. Most important is that you cannot spit infront of the potholder.'' We do not suggest that rsconcepts and practices are necessarily related to those of theQing, but they may provide a useful model.


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22. [t ]A star.

23. [ba p'u ]A shield used inreligious rituals.

24.[np'o pa ]A religiousimplement.

25.[si pu t' hk ]A tree, broken bythe wind.

26. [si ps ]A qinggang tree leaf.19

27. [ts ]Pottery jug with ahandle foralcohol.

28. [ o dz ]A ghost.

29. [ts'i n ' ]A precious knife.20

30.[ji nua pu ]Auspiciousconstellation.

These thirtyshb pictographs are all single-formed words.When they are employed in context, the single-formedwords are grouped together in a composite diagram (seeexamples in Appendix Two). Now we will attempt toexplain two composite diagrams below, from theshb scripture o ma t . This name literally means 'look atthe Sun' or 'look at the days'; it is an astronomical almanac.

19 Variously known as the oriental white oak, Japanese blueoak, ring-cupped oak, and glaucous-leaf oak(Cyclobalanopsis glauca syn.Quercus glauca ). 20 This is a ritual implement, the exact usage of which isuncertain.


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A s i anHi gh l an

d s P e r s p e c t i v e s .1 ( 2 0 0 9 ) ,1 5 9 -1 8 6 .

1 7 0

E XAMP L E

O NE

F r om pi c t ur e ni n e i n

o m a

t a .T h e

a u t h or a d d e d n um

b e r s i n

t h e t e x t l a t e r .

T RA

N S C RI P T I O

NA

NDL I T E RAL T RA

N S L AT I O

N

i

n g

w o

o

t ' o

i

t h e f i r s t l un a r m

on t h

wh i t e m

o on

ni n e

C L 2 1

s un

d o g

( )

P RT

o m a

m

k '

t

o

d a y

f i r e

b e l on g

a

d a y

2 1 Gr a mm

a t i c a l t e r m a b b r e vi a t i on s : C L : C l a s s i f i e r ; C

O N

J : C on j un c t i on ; MP : M

o o d p a r t i c l e ; P RT : P a r t i c l e .


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A s i a n

H i g h l a n

d s P e r s p e c t

i v e s . 1

( 2 0 0 9 )

, 1 5 9 - 1 8 6 .

1 7 1

x z u

m

i

o

m n t s ' u

m a n t s ' u

t s

t

n t ' o

f o g

u n d e r

t h e e a r t

h

h a v e

s k y

b r i g h t n o

t b r i g

h t

c l o u

d

a

b u n c h

d

g a

g

( )

( p r e

f i x )

a p p e a r

( )

( s u f

f i x )

t s ' i

n

'

t

k d

d z

g

m p ' o p a

t g

r i t u a

l s w o r d

a

C L

( )

( p r e f

i x )

a p p e a r

( )

( s u f f i x )

r e l i g i o u s

i m p l e m

e n t

a

( )

( s u f

f i x )

k

d

d z

C L

( )

( p r e

f i x )

a p p e a r


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A s i anHi gh l an

d s P e r s p e c t i v e s .1 ( 2 0 0 9 ) ,1 5 9 -1 8 6 .

1 7

2

o m a

l

j a n d t

o

T s

t

w o

d d z t s

d a y

( )

MP

g o o d

a

d a y

p o t t e r y a

C L

( ) ( )

( pr e f i x ) a p p e a r ( s uf f i x )

t

n

w o

t ' o

s t a r s

t w o

C L

( )

( pr e f i x ) d i e

t

w o

d d z t s

o m a

m a

n d t

o

a

C L

( ) ( )

( pr e f i x ) a p p e a r

( s uf f i x )

s un

n o t

g o o d

a

d a y

d a

t s u m

i

o

t

o

( )

MP

d e i t y

un d e r t h e e a r t h

h a v e

a

d a y


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TRANSLATION

The ninth day of the first lunar month, a dog day, will be afire day. In the morning there will be fog under the earth.Before sunrise, clouds will appear in the sky. A ritual swordand a religious implement will appear afterwards. Thismeans that the morning will be a good morning. Aftermidday, two stars will die, only one of the three will still beshining and the sun will be in an abnormal condition. Onecan surmise that there is a deity under the earth; it is better

not to move earth that day.

EXPLANATION

There is a dog's head t 'o in the center of this picture (1)meaning that this day is a dog day. The dog's body is

painted red, which means that it is a fire day according tothe five elements: gold, wood, water, fire and earth.22 rscustomarily refer to the first half of a lunar month as 'white moon', and the other days of the month as nu

black moon. At the bottom left corner of this picture there isa x zu (2) meaning 'the morning is foggy'. If this

pictograph appears in the bottom right corner it means that

fog will appear in the evening. ts (3) is a jug with ahandle. In the picture it is red. The pot is a liquorcontainer.23 It means that there will be alcohol to drink onthat day, which simultaneously indicates that the day iscomparatively good. At the top left corner there are threestars, ts (4). Two of them are black. This shows that they

22W xng 'the five elements' are used in traditionalChinese medicine, geomancy (fngshu ), cosmology,astrology, music, and philosophy.23Here, red is a symbol of prosperity, indicating people willhave much liquor.


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have died and are no longer shining, only one star is whiteand therefore is still shining. At the top right corner there isa o ma (5), a sun, but in the middle of the sun there is across, which means that the sun has been locked inchains. This indicates that the weather will not be verygood. Fortunately, there is a sword ts'i n ' (7) that canovercome evil forces, as well as a religious implement24 np'o pa (6). Therefore, nothing out of the ordinary willoccur the whole day.25

24This can, in addition to the sword, assist in overcomingnegative powers.25That is, the positive and negative forces are balanced.


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A s i a n

H i g h l a n

d s P e r s p e c t

i v e s . 1

( 2 0 0 9 )

, 1 5 9 - 1 8 6 .

1 7 5

E X A M P L E T W O

F r o m p i c t u r e

f o r t y - t h

r e e

i n o

m a

t a . T

h e a u

t h o r a d d e d n u m

b e r s

i n t h e

t e x t l a t e r .

T R A N C S R I P T I O N A N D L I T E R A L T R A N S L A T I O N

i i

t s ' s w o o

m

i i

o m a

t h e s e c o n d

l u n a r m o n

t h

w h i t e m o o n

t h i r t e e n

C L

d a y

( )

m o n

k e y

P R T

d a y

' u

k a

i

o m a t o

m n t s ' u

m a n t s ' u

e a r t h

z o d i a c s i g n

( )

P R T

d a y

a

d a y

s k y

b r i g h t n o

t b r i g h

t

n ' o p a

t

w o

d h k u t s

d z

v u t s '

i

o m a

f o o d

t r a y

a

C L

( ) (

)

( p r e

f i x ) a p p e a r

( s u f

f i x )

m e a

t e a t a

l c o h o l

d r i n k

( )

P R T

d a y


18/28

A s i anHi gh l an

d s P e r s p e c t i v e s .1 ( 2 0 0 9 ) ,1 5 9 -1 8 6 .

1 7 6

x z u m

i

o m

nk '

m t ' p' u

f o g

un d e r t h e e a r t h

h a v e

d a r k s k y

( )

C O N J

d a y

( )

( pr e f i x ) c h a n g e

m

d g

wi n d

( ) ( )

( pr e f i x ) b l o w ( s uf f i x )

t

n

w o d d z t s

t s

t

w o

d d z t s

s t a r s

t w o

C L

( ) ( )


p o t t e r y

a

C L

( ) ( )


o m a

j a l i

t o

d a y

g o o d

a d a y


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177

TRANSLATION

The thirteenth day of the second lunar month will be amonkey day and an earth day. Before sunrise, a tray and a

pottery jug will appear, meaning it will be a celebratory daywith alcohol and meat. At sunset, conditions will probablychange. There will be fog beneath the earth and a tree will

be broken by the wind, indicating that a gale will be blowing. However, two stars are still shining in the sky. Allin all, it will be a good day.

EXPLANATION

In the middle of this picture there is a monkey head, mi(1), meaning that it is a monkey day. The monkey's body isyellow, meaning that it is an earth day according to the five

elements. n 'o pa (2) is a tray. The three triangles on thetray show that there is alcohol, meat, and other food on thetray. Beside it there is a pottery jug with a handle, tsa (3).These two things together mean that there is no need toworry that there will be food and drink on that day. Twoshining stars t (4) are also shown. (6) means fog. It is inthe bottom right hand corner in the picture, showing it will

be foggy in the evening. At the same time there is a tree,the upper part of which has been broken by the wind (5).Though the precise meaning is unclear, based on theappearance of the tree, we can infer that it will be a windyday. From the rs viewpoint, a wind that can break a treeis a very severe wind; it is not a good sign. However, thetray, pottery, and stars are all auspicious symbols, so it will

be a good day.When F Moj was analyzing the Dngb writing

system, he stated, ''Throughout the process of studying thiskind of scripture, I increasingly felt that the writing systemswe normally call hieroglyphic writing are actually of two


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178

kinds. One type is writing resembling sequential pictures. Ithink this should properly be called a pictographic writingsystem; most Dngb scriptures are written in this way.Another type is when a single character expresses asyllable, but most of the graphic structure comes from thesemantic component; it should be called a hieroglyphicwriting system. Only a small part of the Dngb scripturesare written with this kind of graph.''26 F also compared thedifferent features of the Dngb hieroglyphic writingsystem and pictographic writing system. The rsshb

pictographic writing system shares many similar featureswith the Nx pictographic writing system. For example:

1. There is no fixed number of strokes or stroke order. For

a single graph, more or fewer strokes are allowed, aslong as the overall structure is unaffected. Stroke orderis also irregular; it may be from top to bottom or left to

right, or bottom to top and right to left. There are nostrict rules for how and in what order to write. In acomposite diagram; it is usually organizedchronologically.27

2. A single pictograph shows one meaning; at times a

group of pictographs is used to describe a complex

meaning. Some meanings have no graphicrepresentation in the text. For example, the first examplesurmises that there is a deity under the earth on that dayso one should not move earth. However, in thecomposite diagram there is no pictograph of the earthdeity. We must infer the earth deity's presence from aninterpretation of the diagram's overall meaning.

26We could not locate the source of this quote.27According to what will happen during that day.


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179

3. Color has a definite role to play in the expression of

meaning in the text; the exact same pictograph mayexpress different meanings due to its color. Forexample, a star painted in black means that the star isdim, whilst a white star means 'shinning and bright'.Furthermore, the same animal head, if yellow, means'earth day' and if red 'fire day'. From this we can saythat theshb writings are more like drawings than theDngb writing.

4. For the two sample texts we explained above, thecomposite diagram itself only has six or seven pictographs. However, it takes many words to explainthe entire meaning. Theshb pictographs mostlysuggest concrete objects rather than abstractions; verbsare even rarer. For instance, in the second text, we see a

broken tree meaning a windy day. This use of concrete

objects to infer new connotations is very rare in SPWS.5.

One pictograph is usually expressed with two or moresyllables. Only a few pictographs are represented by asingle syllable. From the thirty pictographs depictedabove, there are only four single-syllable pictographs, aratio of one to 7.5 (thirteen percent).

6. Differences in meaning are due not only to the color of

the words, but also to the addition of extra strokes. Forexample, the 'sun' pictographs can be written in manydifferent ways. Often it is just a circle, but this can bemodified by the addition of extra strokes, for instance:(1) a locked sun, (2) a brilliant sun, (3) a smiling sun,(4) a normal sun, and so on.


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As we know, writing systems in general have threecomponents: (1) a shape component (2) a meaningcomponent, (3) and a sound component. Every kind of writing system symbolizes a different developmental stage;every type of writing system includes some complications.Writing systems that express the shape component areusually called pictographs, but on what theoretical basis canwe distinguish between pictographs and hieroglyphs? Basedon our analyses of SPWS, we find that SPWS, although itcan be classified as a writing system, retains many features

of drawing. It should belong to the lowest level of thedevelopmental process for shape-component writingsystems. We can say it is in the middle of the process of evolving from drawing into writing. Consequently, to studythe features and context of SPWS has great theoreticalsignificance for studying the origins of writing and thehistory and development of writing systems.

SPWS is mostly used for religious purposes. Of course, its content contains much superstitious material;some of it even seems ridiculous. However, if we usedialectical materialism and historical materialism to observeand analyze it, rejecting its bad points and focusing on itsexquisite features, then it must be considered a veryvaluable source of scientific data for the study of the origin

of writing. We feel much gratitude to rs ancestors forleaving us such a precious cultural inheritance and we wishto thank the rs people who paid an enormous price in theeffort to save and protect this cultural heritage.


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REFERENCES

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W D . 2004. ChoosingIdentities: The Construction of Ethnic Identities Among the Ersu of Sichuan.PhDThesis: Chinese University of Hong Kong.

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System and rs Ethnic Identity].Zhngyng mnz dxe xebo (zhxe shhi kxeb n)

( ) [Journal of the Central University for Nationalities (Philosophy and Social Sciences)] 6:32, 132-138.

_____ 2006. Schun rs rn zqong rntng de lsh yns[Historical Factorsin Schun rs Ethnic Identification].Zhngnn mnz dxe xebo (rnwn shhi kxeb n)

( ) . [Journal of South- Central University for Nationalities (Humanities and Social Sciences)] 26:4, 19-23.


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APPENDIX ONE: LOCATIONSMENTIONED IN THE TEXT28

28This map was adapted from several maps created by theWikipedia user Croquant (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Croquant) and distributed under a CreativeCommons Attribution 3.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).


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A s i a n

H i g h l a n

d s P e r s p e c t

i v e s . 1

( 2 0 0 9 )

, 1 5 9 - 1 8 6 .

1 8 5

A P P E N D I X T W O :

R S S H B P I C T O G R A P H I C S C R I P T U

R E o

m a

t a

P i c t u r e s

1 1 5


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A s i anHi gh l an

d s P e r s p e c t i v e s .1 ( 2 0 0 9 ) ,1 5 9 -1 8 6 .

1 8 6

P i c t ur e s 3 1 4 5

P i c t ur e s

pr o vi d e d b y t h e G nl o C o un t y C ul t ur a l B ur e a u

sun hongkai (mtsho mo skyid and g roche, translators) with an introduction by t roche and g roche....

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