Written by Laurence Brahm - Published by Hongkong Culture on 11/04/2006

In the old city of Lijiang, with its graceful arching rooftops and narrow canals connecting alleyways, one can find a theatre where every evening, an old generation, which has seen too much come and go for one lifetime, sits down together in a moment that seems a sign of collective harmony, and plays a tone of ancient music. It might have actually been the music of Han Dynasty China, now forgotten by the Han Chinese people themselves, but remembered and preserved by the Naxi.

The man responsible for preserving and reviving this tradition is an old music teacher, who himself witnessed more than one might ask for or want in a single life. Resigned but sardonte, he smiles under large glasses and hosts the evening of Dongba music Naxi culture. He is there every evening, never misses a night, and is the very fabric of this tradition—kept alive in the Dongba orchestra he has brought together. “It is sad,” he explains to the audience, “as over the years many musicians on this stage disappear and leave us.” Meanwhile, younger musicians sit beside the old masters and hopefully, the tradition will continue.

After the performance, I sought out Xuen Ke backstage. I was curious and asked him, “You have been the most active individual preserving Naxi culture. But now, with an onslaught of westernization, do you feel its traditional values are endangered?”

“Because Lijiang is now open to tourism,” he said with a sign, “it brings both good and bad. For instance, westerners come here; they are only interested in culture. They come with one purpose, asking‘where are the traditions, where are the people still living in their own culture?” They are not interested in going to discos or fancy restaurants. So they end up coming to my concert hall. Here, they can listen to the original music played by Nazi people. Of course, it is for tourism, but it sustains the culture. The musicians are old, and it gives them employment and purpose.”

“Maybe this is a last window to Nazi culture?”
“The Naxi culture is disappearing,” he said with a nod that did not signal resignation.
“Is it because of the onslaught of western tourism, or Chinese?”

“This is one thing. We know from both China and Lijiang’s historic records, that before the 14 century, the Naxi people received little Han Chinese culture. Then in the 14 century, there were two important years and dates, August 1381 and February1382. These periods were very important because the Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang banished 350,000 Han people and soldiers here, to this remote place, because they had different ideas from the emperor. At that time, Lijiang was the centre of the Naxi nation, which had a population of 47,000.

Suddenly, 350,000 Han Chinese arrived. When people come, culture comes with them. So everything changed. For instance, marriage customs, poetry, painting, even festivals. So many Naxi traditions were lost.

“More specifically,” I asked, “how did the onslaught of Han Chinese culture water down or change Naxi Traditions?”

“Let’s talk about weddings, for example,” Xuen Ke shrugged. “In the traditional Naxi dictionary, there was never a word for father or wedding. Children did not know who their fathers were. It was a matriarchal society and free love was a very important part of the culture.”

“The Dongba priests believed love was a paradise in between Heaven and Hell. They believed that Hell only burned below and Heaven opened above. God was kind. And people who entered Heaven would be welcomed by their past ancestors.

“Despite the Chinese cultural onslaught, fundamental Naxi thinking was not changed?” I asked. “This differs so much from Han Chinese thought, which is absolutist in its materialism. Chinese will not die for love, only for money.”

“This is a key philosophical difference,” explained Xuen Ke. “What is the world for, the dead or dying? Death is not dying. Death is not dead. It can be meant or explained like this—dying is not the end of the life or beginning of the new life. It is a place between death and life.”

“This is very difficult for both westerners and Han Chinese in particular to understand,” I exclaimed.

“Where did the idea of Shangri-la come from?”

“Shangri-la is not the real natural world. After Hilton published his book Lost Horizon, people believed it is a good place or better than the war years we lived through, better than Confucian living in China. So people think that Shangri-La is paradise, things are much better there. So the new reality is to rush there.”

“I think it is better to escape,” he exclaimed. “Many people hate war, their children were sent first to Korea, and then Vietnam, now other battles and their children never came back. How can they find the dead bodies? So these people hate war. They are angry. Better to keep away from battle and war. How can it be a good society? How could they stay longer? Some people have the power concentrated in their hands so they decide war or peace. Just a few big people decide this. It is unfair. So people want to find a place like Shangri-la. If it is true, they will sell their cars and houses—the whole package—to find that dream world of Shangri-la. So for the feeling of modern people, this is not only in China. In China, they also hate the Cultural Revolution and political things, but they dare not say because history teaches them not to speak too much. Otherwise it is dangerous, but in their hearts, the people have already woken up. Look at me, I am 73 years old.”

“Is the ‘third world’ then another truth?”

“If it is true,” sighed Xuen Ke, “then it will happen. If not true, it is a dream. Keep it in a dream; it is very wonderful. If we find a real Shangri-la and paradise, it is a waste of time. But if this is in a dream, then this dream is better than the real stories.”

“Do the young people believe in the dream anymore?”
“No, they have given up.”
“Without the dream of the ‘third world’, will their hopes be lost?”
“Is it a tragedy?”

Xue Ke thought for a moment pensively. He then answered with a forlorn look in his own eyes. “When people lose their culture and beliefs, it is a crime. We name ourselves Naxi. If the Naxi lose their tradition and culture, and dream of what they dream of what they dreamt before, then everything will be lost. Then there will be no Naxi again in the forest of human beings. If you lose your dream and culture, your blood vessels, then this tree will fall.”

“How do you look at the contradiction between tourism, which keeps the culture alive and which also kills the culture? You saved the Dongba music and bring it to the tourists, to the outside world. But tourism also destroys culture. How do you deal with the contradiction?”

“It is not what will happen, it has already happened.”

“So tourism both saves and destroys culture?”

“Westerners, not Chinese, want to save culture and help to save culture of others, even give a helping hand. Chinese people are starting to get a better education, but how they can help when they only have one idea and way of saying things. So how can they get better education? I received my education before the 1940s. I think in some parts, the old education system is better than nowadays. In those days, we had free choice and if we wanted to study music, we could.”

“Is Lijiang a stop on the ancient Tea Caravan Route?”

“Before, in Tibet, the main food was yak butter tea with lots of oil and fat. Without oil and butter it is a cold place, so you must take a dose of yak butter every day. But precious Pu’er tea cuts the fat, providing vitamins. They do not grow tea in Tibet. So Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, Darjeeling all came to depend on tea. From there, the tea caravans brought back goods from India and with them scriptures and Buddhism. This is the tea area of Yunnan. The Tea Caravan route went form Simao and Pu’er, through Dali and Lijiang, to Deqin, Chengdu, Lhasa, across to Sikkim and Darjeeling. In the old days, it took four months one way. Yes. You are following the Tea Caravan Route.”

“Is it the road to Shangri-la?”

“That is a difficult question. I made Zhongdian Shangri-la. That was my effort. On December 28, 1998, I was the first one to speak this idea to the journalists. Then BBC, NHK, Singapore, Hong Kong all came to interview me. I always changed my mind but it was too late, because it was already fried, delicious and served to the eaters. I was in Kunming before 1946 and remembered such a place that combined Tibetan, Naxi and Chinese culture. My mother and grandmother were born near there, so I wanted to share with people some good things. Before I said it, it became true and became the official name. Then after I said this, they stopped cutting wood in the ancient forests there. So it is better than before. There was no other name for Zhongdian and nobody there knew what Shangri-la was in Zhongdian, everyone there began making money form tourism and stopped cutting trees. So in the end, it is better for the trees.”

Laurence Brahm is a global activist, international mediator, political columnist and author. He is the leading advocate of a fresh development paradigm - The Himalayan Consensus - an innovative approach to development.

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