The Tower of Five Glories. A Study of The Min Chia of Ta Li, Yunnan [China] by Fitzgerald, C. P. (1902-1992) - 1941

London: The Cresset Press, 1941. First Edition, First Printing. Very Good in a Good Dust Jacket. Very Good/Good.

Tan buckram with red spin title; The bindings are tight and square. Text clean, light even toning. Moderate shelf handling wear. 8vo; 8.5 inches tall; 280 pages with an index and appendixes of Min Chia Grammar and vocabulary; Illustrated with b/w photographs.

The dust jacket has age toned with older clear tape repairs along the spine with loss at the spine tips and upper rear corner. Printed at the Shenval Press. First Edition, First Printing.. An outstanding primary source on this ethnic minority of Y nnan, China.

The author lived among them during 1937-8 in Yunnan's Dali. His research was on the Min Chia or Bai minority culture. His particular focus was on religion and covers ancestor worship, gods, magic and myths, family, home, foreign contacts & change. -

The Min Chia are a non-Chinese tribe of Yunnan, here described by Fitzgerald that their acceptance of Chinese culture, in so far as religious belief and practice are concerned, is less complete than outward appearance would indicate.

While the Min Chia in fact are acquainted with a form of Buddhism, they worship several non-Buddhist deities and practice the rites of ancestor worship.

Ref: Nature 147, 1941