page_title: Mosuo
section_title: Script
hierarchical_section_title: Mosuo / Script
caption_attribution_description: English: A chart showing the ancient Mosuo symbols and their meanings. Explanation and meanings are written in Chinese. Photo taken at the Mosuo Cultural Museum, Lugu Lake.
context_page_description: The Mosuo, often called the Na among themselves, are a small ethnic group living in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces in China, close to the border with Tibet. Consisting of a population of approximately 40,000, many of them live in the Yongning region, around Lugu Lake, in Labai, in Muli, and in Yanyuan, located high in the Himalayas.
  Although the Mosuo are culturally distinct from the Nakhi, the Chinese government places them as members of the Nakhi minority. The Nakhi are about 320,000 people spread throughout different provinces in China. Their culture has been documented by indigenous scholars Lamu Gatusa, Latami Dashi, Yang Lifen and He Mei.
context_section_description: Like other Chinese, the Mosuo today use Han script for daily communication. The Tibetan script may sometimes be used for religious purposes. 
  The Mosuo also have their own native religion, called Daba, which uses 32 symbols. "They follow a "primal" belief system. However, the head ritual specialists of the Daba religion, who are called daba, have advanced beyond the stage of spirit-possessed shamans, and also are in possession of a number of sacred texts. Therefore, these practitioners should be categorized as a type of priest." However, there are currently efforts underway to develop a written form of the Mosuo language.
caption: A chart of ancient Mosuo symbols (and meanings written in Chinese) found at the Mosuo Cultural Museum, Lugu Lake
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