Rice and Death in Southern China and the Shan States: Transforms in Iconic Grammar

Abstract

This essay in historical anthropology juxtaposes some rice rituals in southern China with their counterparts in the Shan States of Upper Burma. The approach is one of symbological analysis of iconic codes, and it is suggested here that the two sets of rituals, superficially different, may be seen as morphological transforms of a common cultural semantic pattern. This understanding has a bearing on further explorations of the formation of the wider Southeast Asian field.