This collection contains digital copies of 23 volumes of dongjing manuscripts from south Yunnan (southwest China) collected by Mr Li Chun, literati and active member of dongjing societies since the 1950s. The original manuscripts date to the middle and late 20th century. The exact dates of the texts recorded in the manuscripts are mostly unknown but some are attributed to the early Ming dynasty (14th century). The original collection consists of Xerox copies or mimeograph prints, as manuscripts written in ink on cotton-paper have not survived.
The majority of the texts are music scores, lyrics, ceremony guides or classics used in dongjing rituals and performances by several societies. The collection also includes records relating to the social activities and organisation of Dali dongjing societies. The safekeeping of dongjing records is the sole responsibility of dongjing societies, as no public records are kept by the government. These digital copies preserve a rare collection of traditional dongjing texts endangered by social changes occurring in modern China.
The digital copies in this collection were created as part of the EAP209 Survey on surviving dongjing archives in Jianshui, Tonghai and Mengzi project
