ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a discussion of the issues raised in the translation of Naxi manuscripts. The semi-oral script poses a number of primarily contextual difficulties to the translator, necessitating the presence of a mediating translation, usually performed by a dongba ritual practitioner. Translations of Naxi texts have historically been relay translations first from written Naxi to spoken Naxi, then into an intermediary language (usually Chinese) before being translated into European languages. The aim of later chapters will be to explore this relay process. The West’s first contact with these texts (via European explorers and missionaries) resulted in a failure of translation, for these pioneers were unable to secure a mediating translation. Nevertheless, scholars began the work of deciphering the manuscripts at the end of the nineteenth century, paving the way for the interconnected network of translators and translations that would follow.
