# Event Details

- **Event Name**: The books that did not close: Survival and revival of Naxi pictographs in southwest China - POUPARD
- **Event Start and End Date**: Fri, 06 Feb, 2026 at 07:00 pm
- **Event Description**: The Hong Kong Anthropological Society

in association with

The Hong Kong Museum of History*

Presents

The books that did not close: Survival and revival of Naxi pictographs in southwest China

An anthropological lecture by Duncan POUPARD

Friday, 6 February at 7:00 p.m.
Hong Kong Museum of History
Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui
All are welcome! Space, however, is limited to 139 seats.
The lecture is conducted in English.

Picture writing and hieroglyphs are often seen as writing technologies that belong firmly to the past. But what does it mean to write in pictures, and how can a tradition of "picture writing" survive into the present day? From the 1920s to the mid-20th century, the botanist/anthropologist Joseph Rock was the first to seriously study the Naxi pictographs of southwest China, a tradition he thought would disappear if he did not record it. In 1952 he made a dire prediction: “A very few years more and the Na-khi books will be undecipherable...they will remain closed books, no Rosetta stone would prove of value.” But three quarters of a century later and the books remain open. This unusual writing system has survived in different forms: supported by tourism in Lijiang, the cultural capital of the Naxi people, and revived amongst the remaining ritual specialists of the remote mountain villages in the extended Himalayas. The writing is now touted as the world's “last surviving pictographs.” This talk will show how scholars and local specialists come together to preserve ancient traditions, but also how those traditions are changing with the times.

Duncan Poupard is Associate Professor in the Department of Translation, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on the translation, transmission and preservation of minority writing and literature in China, specifically of the Naxi people and their unusual ritual texts. He is the author of A Pictographic Naxi Origin Myth from Southwest China (2023, Leiden University Press).

For more information, please contact anthrohk@gmail.com, www.cuhk.edu.hk/ant/hkas,

www.facebook.com/hkanthro,@HKASTalks

* The Museum makes no representations on the content of this lecture.
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/hong-kong/the-books-that-did-not-close-survival-and-revival-of-naxi-pictographs-in-southwest-china-poupard/200029491649937
- **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, nonprofit
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 5

## Ticket Details


## Event venue details

- **city**: Hong Kong
- **state**: HK
- **country**: Hong Kong
- **location**: Hong Kong Museum of History 香港歷史博物館
- **lat**: 22.301388842578
- **long**: 114.17722529464
- **full address**: Hong Kong Museum of History 香港歷史博物館, Hong Kong Science Museum, Jia Lian Wei LaoDao, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: The books that did not close: Survival and revival of Naxi pictographs in southwest China - POUPARD
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events8/banners/89ba0bde829396355a2e5b5fee20a0fc353221b40796a9922fdb9dd4d4e0bc71-rimg-w1024-h683-dc794b2a-gmir?v=1769984467

## FAQs

- **Q**: When and where is The books that did not close: Survival and revival of Naxi pictographs in southwest China - POUPARD being held?
  - **A:** The books that did not close: Survival and revival of Naxi pictographs in southwest China - POUPARD takes place on Fri, 06 Feb, 2026 at 07:00 pm to Fri, 06 Feb, 2026 at 07:00 pm at Hong Kong Museum of History 香港歷史博物館, Hong Kong Science Museum, Jia Lian Wei LaoDao, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
- **Q**: Who is organizing The books that did not close: Survival and revival of Naxi pictographs in southwest China - POUPARD?
  - **A:** The books that did not close: Survival and revival of Naxi pictographs in southwest China - POUPARD is organized by Hong Kong Anthropological Society.
- **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me?
  - **A:** The books that did not close: Survival and revival of Naxi pictographs in southwest China - POUPARD is ideal for art lovers, collectors, creatives, and anyone inspired by visual arts, installations, and exhibitions. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Hong Kong, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If The books that did not close: Survival and revival of Naxi pictographs in southwest China - POUPARD sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast.

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