A note on transcription and referencing systems -- Chinese dynasties -- Introduction -- Digging up drums -- The Two Rivers and the lands between : a geographical outline -- Why are the Li and Lao? : the shifting meanings of ethnonyms -- "Masters of their small domains" : local and imported traditions of leadership -- "To overawe the Li and Lao" : attempts at military conquest -- Gold, silver, snakes, and slaves : highland-lowland trade relations -- Last of the bronze drum chiefs : the rise and fall of the great families -- Conclusion -- Glossary.
Summary:
"Presents a history of the societies in the south of China known variously as Li and Lao who lived in the lands between the Red and Pearl Rivers in the first millennium CE, a period in which they produced the largest collection of bronze kettledrums known in the world"--Provided by publisher.
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