This book is the first of its kind in the English language to deal extensively with the architecture of the Da peoples of South China. It includes sections dealing with Dai customs, ceremonies and beliefs, animistic as well as Buddhist, which are presented in parallel with physical descriptions of houses, villages and monasteries.

The evolution of the houses on stilts, characteristic of Dai and indeed all Tai people, is discussed both in functional terms and in relation to some aspects of the Dai mythology of Sipsongpanna.

The cultural comparison between Dai and other Tai groups extends to symbolisms and the role of cosmology in determination of the forms of monastic architecture, all of which are set out clearly in this book.

Together the authors have produced a technically precise work which is simulating and exceptionally well illustrated.
Architects in the region may well draw lessons from the array of design "grammar" contained in these pages which are indigenous in spirit.

19cm x 25cm, 140 pages, Softcover, 1992 (Condition: As New / Fine)

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