Author Description

This work presents the first comprehensive overview of oral literature of the Lahu ethnic group in English. Today there are approx. 600,000 Lahu living in four nations: Yunnan (China), eastern Burma, northern Laos and northern Thailand. Their language is in the Yi (Lolo) branch of the Tibeto-Burman family of languages. The 49 Lahu stories presented in this book are translated from the 1939 Lahu Reader—Lahu Ka Pui Ka Lao, long out of print. These stories were collected and written down by the Reverend Ai Pun (Saya Ai Pun), himself a masterful storyteller, who was also very concerned about the production of good Lahu literature. His inspiration, dedication and wonderful sense of humor shine forth in this book.