P169 -The origin of the tiger on earth from the Priests of Dongba, Naxi. 2013 165x190 cm – 64, 96x74, 80 inches - Acrylic on canvas crowned by a pediment in polychrome wood. PREAMBLE: A century ago, there were about 100,000 tigers in the world, since the species has melted 97%. 10 years ago, in 2003 there were still 7000. Currently, it would be only 3200 registered cats in their natural habitat! If we do nothing, the tiger has disappeared in less of 10 years! But you can still do, you can choose to join one or more of these associations all present on the Internet: WWF (World Wildlife Fund), Greenpeace, Planet Tiger, Save the Tiger, One Voice with Wildlife SOS Aquaverde, etc. ART GALLERY / You may already know "The origin of the horse on earth," thanks to my previous painting P168 referenced on my website: www.philhelm.com in the "Art Gallery", here finally, "The origin of the Tiger" In the same spirit, since, as you now know, this table is read like a book that actually exists in the original format 9 cm X 12 cm / 3,54 x 4,72 inches and tells the true origin of the tiger on earth, even if you find somewhat extravagant! And for good reason, since its meaning is both worship and cultural, and has been for perhaps a thousand years, at least for certain, since hundreds of years. Its origin is Tibeto- Burman in a region that is now politically part of China's southwest. It should be noted immediately that the old writing is composed of drawings that only a few surviving Dongba priests are able to read! Many people immediately think of Egyptian hieroglyphics that we might be too quickly compared? But why not do it fast and simple? At first glance when looking for the first time this kind of paintings, one tends to see a children's cartoon? Especially since the treaty is extremely simple and violently colorful! Thence to imagine an ancient and sacred scripture reserved for priests for their many benefits both religious and shamanistic, but even more for those who want to learn more by reading the entire text that follows, it will seem strange if not confused ? But do not worry, I did not invent these myths about the origins have a sacred meaning it would be inappropriate to deny with last current Dongba priests. But back to our table: As you can see, it is surmounted by a pediment carved and polychromed! In fact, this pediment is the representation of the book cover! A central cartouche in red on gold informs us pictographic title of the book, as you already know since it is "The origin of the tiger!" From both sides of this as there are cuts offerings to the gods! Regarding the array itself, it is only the first page of the book, so the beginning of the story that comes out 12 pages, including the cover. As you can see, various signs accompany these drawings; they are all benchmarks for priests in the meaning of words and their pronunciation. One example to understand: Seven geese found in the four rows of the table and none is like, so it is not seven different words, but seven groups of words, which can also change direction, according drawing or a sign that precedes or follows it! It's a little more complicated than that, but enough to understand this amazing and beautiful writing! I confess that although bought in China, an English-dictionary Dongba I am only able to understand half of the signs and still not be sure of their position in the drawing itself! But here below from the drawings and signs alone, the complete translation of the original Tiger, led by a priest Dongba English. I assured the French translation respecting as far as possible, the original meaning, concludes with are not less beautiful than the drawings texts. What do you think? ? The celestial blue dragon is a grandfather for the tiger. ? The cat bald is a grandmother for the tiger. ? The father of the tiger is called Lusigebu, ? His mother called Lusigemu. ? The tiger head is granted by Heaven. ? The tiger skin is submitted by the earth. ? The lungs of the tiger are given to him by the moon. ? The bones of the tiger are granted to him by the stones. ? The flesh of the tiger is given to him by the ground. ? The breath of the tiger is given by the wind. ? The tiger's blood is given by the water. ? The heart of the tiger is given by iron. ? The tiger's eyes are given to him by the stars. ? The Tiger voice is given to him by the blue dragon. ? The claws of tiger given to it by the vulture. ? The gallbladder, the tiger is given to him by the white yak. ? Ears tiger given to it by the jackal. ? There were no scratches on the body of the tiger in the first place. ? These tiger stripes on her cheeks, her face, her ears, her head, her back, her arms, her sides, her waist, legs, tail, and its orbits are drawn as an expression of gratitude raven which saw the remains of the tiger. ? The bands represent prowess. ? Thereafter, the wasp stole a tiger strips. ? This is why it has tiger stripes on the body. ? The horse stole a roaring tiger and neighs like a tiger. ? The frog stole a tiger claw, and webbed feet like a tiger claw. ? The stripes on the front of the tiger look like shiny beads. ? They can make the life of the man. ? The stripes on the face of the tiger look at us with kindness. ? They can give longevity Dongba. ? The stripes on his shoulder look like a treasure. ? They are granted ritual frees the souls of artisans’ longevity of purgatory. ? The stripes on the left should look like a sharp knife. ? They symbolize ingenuity. § The stripes on the side of the right leg is like a mirror. ? They give beauty, wealth and prosperity to the people. ? The stripes on the size similar to the moon: they shine as the moon. ? The bands under the left armpit look like a plowed gold: they are able to open the earth. ? The bands on the left leg look like a golden bell: they are available to Dingbashiluo*. *The Master God Nakhi Dongba and the founder of this religion. Do you know that at present, there would be 20 people in the world, capable of reading the Dongba and most have more than 75 years! (Some sources say 6O people at most!) What is more important is to know that they are all priests of the Naxi culture and they write (if not draw!) In Dongba. Luckily this writing is taught in schools and that new, especially in County Yulong Naxi in Lijiang City. These students learn to read and write the words "sun", "moon", "pencil" in Naxi. Using Mandarin to speak, read and write in their daily lives, these students of primary school Baishawan discover their own language called Dongba, which literally means "wise man." The Dongba is the only pictographic language still being used in the world. Of the 32 teachers Naxi Baishawan, only three really mastered the Dongba. The Naxi language is an oral language. In the past, only the educated men knew her. To darken a little table, the somewhat tumultuous period of the Cultural Revolution contributed to the almost complete extinction of Dongba. In recent years, local authorities have begun to realize that it was absolutely necessary to keep this beautiful language that is the Dongba. Thus since 2006, primary schools in Yulong County began classes Dongba weekly. Because of its pictorial character, the Dongba also taught art classes. The designs of these ingenious and imaginative children have moved more than one and will be exposed, as it should be, in the most prestigious place of the Middle Kingdom, namely: the National Art Museum in Beijing. This is indeed the ultimate recognition of the language of Dongba. Let's talk writing and its civilizational context so that you can gradually soak up his imagination. The Dongba writing is writing Chinese Naxi minority. The Naxi are a little over 300,000 people today, and occupied the northern part of Yunnan Province, southwest of China and at the foot of Tibet. They are descendants of a branch of the Qiang minority repulsed by the Chinese to the south where they settle nomads at the time of the Han Dynasty (206 BC. 220 AD. J. -C.). They adopted the local religion, a primitive shamanism based on the worship of nature, and popular beliefs assimilated. Over the following centuries, they received the influence of good monks during their expulsion from Tibet and representatives of Buddhist sects Hats Yellow and Red. They have their own language which belongs to the Yi branch of Tibeto-Burman Austronesian of the Sino-Tibetan phylum. A particular religion is born of these primitive beliefs mixed with Buddhist influence: Dongba religion. Founded, according to legend, by Dongba "shilo" killer demons is a shamanistic and polytheistic religion based on the worship of ancestors and nature. The Naxi believe that all space is inhabited by gods, big or small, spirits of the dead, good or evil spirits and demons that affect life on a daily basis. The link between the supernatural world and men is the Dongba priest or who, through the practice of rituals, soothes or exorcise spirits, gods or demons. Over the many celebrated throughout the year ceremonies, Dongba dance and recite the sacred with the help of handwritten texts. It is, or was, the Dongba in most villages. They gave their son to their knowledge, their traditions, their instruments and manuscripts. These manuscripts, or "classic", are virtually the only media writing Dongba. There are several categories of classic among both existing miles: classic divination, descriptions of sacred dances, medicine or astrology, but contains many myths that tell the origin of all things. An elongated rectangular shape, they are connected through the left side, and cover with the title is beautifully decorated (I am inspired to the pediments of my paintings P168 & P169). As for the inside pages, they read from left to right and top to bottom. They are divided into three or four equal parts in the direction of the length; themselves fragmented uneven boxes punctuate the narrative. The brown paper is of plant origin, and the ink is a mixture of soot recovered from the pots added bile. It is written with a thin piece of bamboo cut. What strikes at first, it is simple, clean and pictographic style of writing Dongba characters. It instantly recalls the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, and we imagine invented at the same time. But nobody agrees on the date of its creation. Sometimes considered old over a thousand years in the Tang, Song, its origin is usually estimated at just a few centuries (sixteenth or seventeenth or eighteenth?), And, in agreement with the oldest dated manuscripts still preserved. However, the characters of writing symbolize the fauna and flora can be concluded that it was created in the current region Naxi. Prior to the release of Chinese writing, the population was noted in a few simple characters to make his accounts or write short messages. But only Dongba knew all the secrets of writing. Reading a manuscript requires a thorough knowledge of the story. ? Indeed, the number of characters, about 1500 to 2000, does not record all the words, but only the keywords appear in the story, serving as a reminder: this is a mnemonic writing. There is no rule dictating the particular choice of characters or their position in a box. The characters "keys" are selected by the author's own benchmarks. Reading or writing the same story may therefore experience slight variations from one to another Dongba. Writing Dongba pictographic writing is the last still used in the world, but its traditional use is threatened. Indeed, Dongba, only able to decipher and write well, are now less numerous, and the last still alive are mostly elderly (I repeat myself!). A huge translation work was done by the Institute for Research on Dongba culture located in Lijiang, the Naxi capital. Researchers at the Institute helped three Dongba were translated into Chinese the majority of existing scriptures. This work, done in a hurry, took more than ten years and has a real rescue of writing and its texts by direct witnesses of their disappearance. More than 20,000 manuscripts written with Dongba pictographs were identified. They are archived at the Institute of Culture in Lijiang Dongba (Yunnan), as well as in academic libraries in Western Europe and even the United States. Interesting feature about the Naxi minority, the horses of the Lijiang area, (which is an ancient city of Yunnan) were very famous; District Judian formerly was known as the "Land of horses decorated." At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the tusi, a Tibetan character, went to Nanjing to offer horses tribute. During the Qing dynasty, the third lunar month, the festival was held dragon king where Naxi, Tibetan, Yi and Bai participated. This festival included horse races, along with horse shows. A large fair with racing horses and mules also held the seventh month. Each year, he was selling more than ten thousand heads. On the place of the Mountain Lion (now People's Square) stood still a great horse race which had the best Tibetan horsemen Bai, Naxi and Yi. These strong and courageous horses called "Lijiang horses" were known as excellent mountain horses.