Catalogue Of Yao Manuscripts

This unique work catalogues the Yao holdings of the Royal Library, Copenhagen. Originating in northern China but found today in southwestern China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, the various Yao subgroups speak various Miao-Yao languages but continue to write their texts in the Chinese language with Chinese characters. To a large intent, they have maintained traditional Chinese social values and the Daoist religion. The catalogue describes 37 Yao texts, all written in Chinese and mainly dealing with traditional Chinese religion and social life. Dating from the 18th to early 20th centuries, the manuscripts include Chinese characters special to the Yao. Designed especially as an essential source of reference for scholars working in all aspects of manuscript and rare book studies, the catalogue includes 48 illustrations (many in color) that help identify this material.

This collection brings together studies on vernacular manuscripts in regional Chinese dialects such as Cantonese and Hokkien (South Fujian dialect), those of non-Han peoples in China and Southeast Asia such as the Zhuang and Yao, and a vernacular character manuscript in Vietnamese. Across this wide range, the focus is on manuscripts written in regional and vernacular adaptations of the Chinese script. Three chapters on Yao manuscripts each focus on a different aspect of their use in local society or on collections of Yao manuscripts in overseas collections; there are three chapters on Zhuang and related Tai languages; two studies on Hokkien; one on the Cantonese script in contemporary Hong Kong; and one on a Buddhist manuscript with Vietnamese chữ nôm commentary from a temple in Bangkok. Detailed descriptions of traditional paper manufacture in the villages are given for both the Yao and the Zhuang, as well as paper analysis used to date a Vietnamese manuscript. Coverage includes information about the physicality of the manuscripts investigated and the vernacular Chinese scripts in which they are written, but also a wealth of information about their use and significance in local society. This collection will be of interest to scholars and students interested in the philological analysis of East and Southeast Asian character scripts and manuscript traditions, but also the broader social contexts of manuscript use in traditional and modern society.