Asian cultural traditions

Synopsis

Offers a detailed and lucid overview of the diversity of cultures of South, East, and Southeast Asia, combining knowledge from fields including anthropology, history, linguistics, religious studies, and art history to pull together major cultural strands by which people in Asian societies have organized their lives. Early chapters examine land and livelihood, language, and ethnic diversity. Later chapters cover India, Southeast Asia, China, and Japan, and the colonial period. Of special note is a chapter on tribal peoples, offering a profile of a contemporary tribal group of Thailand. The author is affiliated with California State University-Chico. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR