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ANON. Zhao Hill Tribe Shaman's Book
Viet Nam Highlands, 1920, Unique. Soft Cov., 10" x 6 ¼", 2 + 124 Pp. Very Good/No Jacket.¶ Title page, 62 sheets, of folded paper. The last sheet being a ½ sheet only, and affixed to the rear wrap. These are unnumbered. The text is written in black ink with a brush. Corrections or additions have been made in red. Without title slip. Undated, but late 19th to early 20th century. A manuscript made and used by a shaman of this tribe which lives in Yen Bai Province, Vietnam [Northern Vietnam], where it was collected, but also in Northern Laos and in Southwest China. They use ritual books to help them to tell fortunes; determine auspicious days (for marriage ceremonies, to start businesses, etc.); predict/control the weather and heal the sick. These books are traditionally hand written and bound using hand made rice paper and is constructed in the method used by Chinese, Japanese and Koreans printers in traditional times. The paper is bound in thick, sturdy hand made paper covers. It is written in old Chinese Characters with sets of the character passages outlined in red ink for specific use in rituals. The Zhao had no written alphabet for their language and write it using Chinese characters. They take the meaning of almost all Chinese characters, but would pronounce the writings in their own tongue. However, a good knowledge of written Chinese makes this book legible. A few rear pages show some small areas at the outer edge of the pages which have been oil stained. OW, in Very Good condition..
Offered for US$ 500.00 by: Zita Books - Book number: 000464
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