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Naxi is a Tibeto-Burman language. The 300 000 Naxis live around Lijiang in northwest Yunnan. Most embrace Tibetan Buddhism but they also believe in various spirits and demons and, in addition to their shamans, they have priest-exorcists of the Bon cult of Tibet.

The Naxi are descendants of the ancient Qiang tribes that migrated south from the Qinghai plateau, settled in Sichuan and Yunnan and gave rise to the several Tibeto-Burman speaking peoples of the region.

The first Naxis worshiped the forces of nature, water, thunder, the sun, the moon, fire, etc... but their principal cult was addressed to "woman's fertility". Sickness and disasters were caused by bad spirits that their shamans tried to placate or chase away. Le Naxi society was matrilineal and matrifocal. Family names and possessions went to the daughters. Children knew their mother but not their father who could be any of the several lovers that women were free to choose, the masculine role model being provided by the maternal uncle. A man would spend the night with a woman but would return to his mother's house in the morning where he lived normally.



In the 8th century, the Naxi invented a pictorial script that they used to describe their history, religion and customs. That script, the Naxi religion and their shamans took the name of Dongba. The Dongba religion was similar to the Bon religion that preceded Lamaism in Tibet.

After the fall of the Dali kingdom before the Yuan dynasty forces in 1253, the Naxi and other matriarchal societies were subjected to intense pressure when the Chinese set out to impose rules of social behaviour compatible with Confucian values. Naxi literature poignantly describes the waves of "suicides for love" provoked by the imposition of the Confucian ideal of arranged marriages by the Han authorities.

Today the overwhelming majority of the Naxi practice monogamous marriage but women have conserved a predominant position. They do most of the work and consequently make the decisions while the men take it easy. Women wear an under vest, a loose blouse, rough trousers, a large blue apron and on their back, a characteristic goatskin carrying pad on which woven round designs symbolize diligence.

There are, however, exceptions in some remote villages near Lugu Lake on the Sichuan border where the Mosuo people (a branch of the Naxi) have resisted and maintained parts of their traditions. The Mosuo people's Axia marriage is a peculiar kind of marriage. "Axia" means friend. So the couple are not called husband and wife, but are called "Axia". The adult lady of a family has her own special room called "Axia Room", prepared for her. Her parents will choose a mate for her and the man will visit and stay with her only at night in the Axia room. The next morning he will go back to his mother's family and work with his parents. The woman stays and works with her own family. If she is not satisfied with her mate, she only needs to shut the door to refuse her Axia's visit and the bond is broken. The couple do not establish a new family, their children stay with the mother as do whatever possessions the parents have.