Tibetan elements in spirit names in dongbaism and dabaism

Southwest China is a region where contacts between many cultures occur. One of the local ethnic communities are the Moso people. The Moso language belongs to a Tibeto-Burmese branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family living on the border between Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces. Moso people still practise their indigenous religions, Dongbaism in their western branch (Naxi) and Dabaism in their eastern branch (Na). Dongbaists and Dabaists believe in animism and share the same origin. The two ethnic branches have differentiated from each other over time. The divergence is attested by many cultural elements, including their systems of spirits (gods and ghosts) and the composition of their oral chants. Dongba and Daba spirit names show massive influences from Tibetan Buddhism, but with different historical layers and styles that may be remnants of the Bon religion, the indigenous belief that prevailed in the Himalayan plateau before Tibetan Buddhism. Through the analysis of morphological structures, the paper explains the assimilation of Tibetan linguistic elements in Dongba and Daba naming practices and reconstructs the transition from Dabaism to Dongbaism. This study highlights the influence of the Bon religion on Moso people's cults from an anthropological-linguistic perspective. This multi-disciplinary work unveils, for the first time, the origin of the figures of mythical gods-and of their names-believed by local people to be the first Dongba/Daba priests of the Bon religion and it suggests the possibility of a widespread set of beliefs in more remote times. The etymological interpretation of local spirits' names reconstructs the roots of local folklore beliefs, while displaying multiple cultural strata attested through these spirits' names, as well as analysing the role of priests in introducing new cultural elements to the local communities.