Are you a missionary in need of some pat on the shoulder when not even the rice-Christians are showing up for service? Here comes our selection of uplifting stories from Yunnan missionaries. Just remember: the one's who never made a convert, never made it back or never made it full stop never wrote books.
Of all the westerner who made it to Yunnan, Joseph Francis Rock was undoubtedly one of the most eccentric. A self-educated botanist and anthropologist, a recluse, a photographic pioneer, a lousy geographer and even worse writer: National Geographic's 'our man in China' left us with a string of (heavily staff-edited) NG articles and a few (almost unreadable) books. Here is our list.
If your library is full of old National Geographic Magazines, then maybe try to hunt down these old articles published about Yunnan.
Starting from the Nanzhao Empire, Buddhism has played a significant role in Yunnan, developing its unique style.
The worship of Benzhu, local protector spirits, is a characteristic of the Bai people.
Publications regarding Jianchuan county in Dali.
Marco Polo claims to have been to Yunnan during his time in China. Here we list a few books that discuss his travels.
博什瓦黑 is a group of stone carvings in southern Sichuan, dating back to Nanzhao.
Arguably, man-kind has survived much longer with gathering and swidden agriculture than it will using modern intensive industrialized farming. The books in this list go to the roots of indigenous knowledge in plant-use and hill farming. Plus one of the books tells you the mystery why hill-farmers need to understand prime numbers.
If you are a history buff, maybe these books are for you, but probably you have read them already.
While modern Chinese architecture is nothing to write home about, Yunnan traditional architecture is actually quite interesting, making the best of local resources and climate for some quite comfortable buildings.
Salt was one of the transformative products in Yunnan: tax revenues not only made up a large part of provincial income, but the also forced farmers into the cash economy.
For most of Yunnan's history few records exist. This reading list covers archeological approaches to exploring the world of early human habitation.
Publications regarding Yunlong county in Dali.
James Scott’s book "The Art of Not Being Governed" laid out his thesis of state evasion and state prevention in upland areas of SE Asia and caused a great controversy.
The {% ye_cite nanzhaoyeshi %} is one of the most important documents for the history of Nanzhao, but since many different editions exist, this document is in itself an object of study.
Important Tang dynasty geographical and historical record of SW China.
Easy-reading travel novels, some true, some less so. Our list of Yunnan holiday reading.
When Matteo Ricci, the Italian Jesuit, arrived in China in 1583, the Chinese had never seen a map of the world. When the Jesuits were expelled in 1723, they left not the many converts they had hoped for – but the first scientific atlas ever produced of China, with maps so authoritative that western explorers still relied on them more than one hundred years later.
Horse caravans were once the main transport in Yunnan, not only providing a regional transport system, but also carrying culture and power.
The Yunnan bronze age with the Dian Kingdom at its center remains a historic mystery.
Erhai is Yunnan's second largest lake. This reading list covers its geology and ecology.
Publications regarding archeology with reference to China and Yunnan.
The Dian Kingdom ruled over central Yunnan 2000 years ago before vanishing.
Books listing Yunnan's Intangible Cultural Inheritance.
Wocun is a Bai village on the eastern side of Erhai with a deep culture dating back to Nanzhao.