Daba Script in South West China

Daba Script is a rarely known pictographic writing system of South West China, probably connected with Dongba hieroglyphs (reputed as the unique pictographic script still alive all over the world). Daba calendars, called "Gelimu", are the only written texts of Dabaism discovered so far. The aim of the present study is an expansion of knowledge and documentation of Daba writing system and of the context in which it was and it is still used. This book could also be a useful bibliographic instrument in the field of archaic writing systems. It provides the first systematic deciphering attempt and hermeneutic analysis of these ancient calendars, as well as a comparison with the ones belonging to Dongbaism. It also offers the first scientific introduction to the epistemological hypothesis according to which Dongba writing would be derived from the ancestral Daba characters. Further on, the book can give a contribution in establishing a philological foundation for forthcoming researches on Daba script, originating possibly related comparative studies.