The Vermilion Bird: T'ang Images of the South

In the seventh century the great T'ang nation was obliged to reconquer the southernmost portion of what had been considered Chinese territory for many centuries, a region today corresponding roughly with northern Vietnam and the Chinese provinces of Guangxi and Guangdong. The Vermilion Bird attempts to recover the actual character of the monsoon realms of T'ang—a scattering of palisaded garrisons, isolated monasteries, and commercial towns, all surrounded by dark, haunted woods. Professor S...