Manuscript

Shaman's manuscript, bound with three paper cords, from the Nosu ( eastern Yi) people of Yunnan province in southwest China. The covers are made of heavy paper while the interior pages are very thin and folded so each page is double thick. Paper is old and of good quality. Handwritten Chinese characters in black ink on first page, last page and inside of back cover. The rest of the manuscript is in Yi script in black and red ink. There is a rectangular piece of dark paper glued to upper right hand corner with characters which are repeated on the first page, possibly a title. The subject of the manuscript may be religious chants.