Southern Z^uan. which is Central Tai (p. 1, fn. 1);

the Bou-yei are in Gui-z^ou (p. 7)]

p. ix Bu-yi Wen (‘Bou-yei script’, used in Gui-z^ou province)

[sonant mute + -t is also used in transcribing Na-khi (Na-xi) of Yun-nan]

p. ix "Long vowels are ... indicated by doubling the original vowel. Thus lab ‘to stuff, pack’, and laab ‘wax’." {with /LaB/ cf. /LuBiya/ (DMWA, p. 1034b) ‘beans’ [crowded together in pod]; with /LAAB/ cf. [<ibri^] /LehABah/ (Strong’s 3852) ‘flame’ , as in "melt like wax before the flame" (I H.no^k 1:6 -- SA, p. 99, fn. 169), /Lhabi^m/ (Strong’s 3853) contrasting with /LuBBi^/ (Strong’s 3864).}

DMWA = Cowan : A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic.

Strong’s = Strong’s Hebrew & Aramaic Dictionary

pp. 52-53 phonetic transcription

pp. 223-224 tones

p. 224 (for 7^th & 8^th tones, length is that of vowel)

p. 224 different transcriptions of phonetics

{/G/ & /t/ as in <ar. "Gayin" & "ta"}

p. 54 grammar (word-sequence)

p. 15 cliff-side tombs

p. 160, fn. 10 "Buyang are currently found in Funing ... county in eastern Yunnan; the "local Yao" ... in Napo ... county in far-western Guangxi speak a very similar language, and call themselves jE55 jon13. A small enclave ... found in two villages in the western outskirts of Nanning ... are referred to ... as "Buyang.""

pp. 19-22 bou-mo (‘priests’ = ‘ritual specialists’)

p. 30, fn. 66 "the Three Primordials, who are said to reside in the Great Temple on Meishan (Meishan damiao ...)."

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pp. 58-104 Text 1 : "Song of Introduction".

p. 60 deities who are invited to the buffalo-rite

p. 70, n. 1 /doj-deih/ = /tu3 di4/ ‘land-god’ "Among the Zhuang and Bouyei the dojdeih are the messenger of the spirit world, serving much the same function for the boumo as do the Officers of Merit of the Four Divisions of Time ... Sizhi gongcao in the Meishan Taoism of the ritual masters ... . When the boumo conduct rituals, the dojdeih is sent to the spirit world to find out the causes of disaster or good fortune, to bring back blessings, or ... to convey invitations to the gods and ancestral spirits. ... His jurisdiction includes ... everything except for the insides of houses, the latter being the province of the ... domestic gods."

p. 71, n. 5-6 "the priest throws the divination blocks" repeatedly until "both divination blocks face downwards – indicating the dojdeih’s arrival". {A similar procedure of throwing the divination-dice until the wished-for combination is achieved is done in Bon.}

p. 71, n. 7 "one must have a little boat to help the conveyance of children’s souls into this world from their place of origin {i.e., antara-bhava ‘between becomings’ (between lives)} (in the spirit world, or the Mountain of Flowers ...)." "In Chinese ritual tea ... to welcome the arrival of the gods ... has been ... made ready but not given to the dojdeih until he returns with the gods ... that have been invited to attend the ritual."

p. 73, n. 13-14 "fresh and pickled fish for the offering-table. ... fish offerings ... for ancestral spirits." {so, deities praepare fish as food for human ancestors?}

p. 73, n. 16 "fish are the most important of offerings at the annual new-year sacrifices to the ancestral spirits among the Bouyei of Guizhou, and are also offered to the soul after death".

p. 73, n. 17 "In Zhuang houses a ... altar to the Goddess of Flowers ... is set up in the wife’s bedroom".

p. 74, n. 18 "the ‘bronze columns’ on either side of the spirit shelf."

p. 76, n. 25 "the world of the ancestors and unborn children – is located ... across a body of water from the world of the living."

p. 77, n. 29 "sa ‘bamboo raft’. This is the bamboo raft on which the souls of children are ferried over from land of the ancestors."

p. 62 Baeuq Roxdoh

p. 79, n. 46 Mo Loeg-gyap is "the wife of" Baeuq Roxdoh

p. 80, n. 50 /Huai-yuan/ is the Chinese name of a county whose Z^uan name is /Hah-yienx/ : /hah/ (= Chinese /xia4/) ‘summer’ {name of legendary 1^st dynasty}

p. 80-1, fn. 51 "Slender Lady Palm" = Rhaptis humilis, "often used for ... umbrella handles."

p. 81, fn. 53 "Gold-thread Plum" = Garcinia paucinervis, "regarded as the best wood for walking-sticks."

p. 62 Fanz-goj

p. 82, n. 57 Fanz-goj : "When boumo run amok among bystanders during a ritual, this is often taken as a sign that they [bou-mo] are being possessed by this god."

p. 83, n. 62 Rin-cij ‘Greystone’

p. 84, n. 63 Gwn-z^aw (‘Upper Market’) "is ... a place in the land of the dead. The dead also ... have need of markets. Well-developed legends about markets in the world of the dead are widespread among Tai-speaking peoples."

p. 64 numerics of invited deities

p. 64 god of water; god of fire

p. 88, n. 84 Bauj-bunz (Bo-bug) "meaning ‘slope’ (bo) of the ‘pomelo trees’ (bug).

p. 89, n. 96 go-faiz (‘Sweet Bamboo’) ‘Dendrocalamus latiflorus’ "widely cultivated ... Its stems are too brittle to be used".

p. 66 further deities who are invited

p. 90, n. 102 "the deity who guards the stairs, especially for the protection of children."

p. 90, n. 105 "After the cloth is dyed and soaked in a glue made of cow-hooves, which acts as a mordant, it is pounded in order to make it solft and improve its wind resistance."

p. 93, n. 106 gyaed = Indigofera (tinctoria); romj = Strobilanthes cusia

p. 66 persons, including babies & ghosts

p. 94, n. 112 "a small ceremony performed after childbirth to "supplement the fate" ... of the baby ... . This was performed on the off-chance that the child had a bad life last time, and therefore needed to have its fate "patched up." The deity invited was the deity in charge of reincarnation." {the Bauddha shaven-headed bhiks.u-s whom impersonate hairless babies are endeavoring at a later age to remedy the effects (karman) of a bad praevious life : Bauddhatva (Buddhism) is a poor travesty of Z^uan religion}

p. 94, n. 113 "a winnowing-tray is hung up in front of the house in order to "repel nefarious influences" ... {from ghosts of persons who had opposed the baby in the baby’s praevious adult life?} either before or just after the birth of a child. ... female spirit mediums are responsible for plaiting the winnowing-tray and affixing it to the front of the house." {The idea is that just as the winnowed grain’s chaff is blown away by the wind, thusly are the deities of fate informed that the baby’s praesent parents would like to have any noxious influences from the baby’s praevious life blown away from it.}

p. 95, n. 116 Dead "ancestors are frequently referred to as fangzranz, ‘ghosts of the house’, as opposed to fangzroeg, ‘ghosts of the outside’. ... there is a proverb that refers to ancestral spirits in this way : ...

If the house-ghosts aren’t making a commotion,

How can the tiger seize the pig?

(External misfortunes betoken unhappy ancestors within)".

p. 96, n. 126 "Boux saeq raemx gaeuq. Boux dingh cienliengz. "The lord of one’s own waters. The [god of the] waterhole of money and grain." These deities are connected with a ritual called "Redemption of the Money Soul and the Grain Soul" ...".

pp. 66, 68 places in the world of the dead

p. 98, n. 136 "the name of a place in the world of the dead".

p. 99, n. 137 "Langzmwngz (or Nangzmwngz ...) is a place in the world of the dead. ... Nangzmwngz is often mentioned in song, as a market-place in the spirit-world."

p. 99, n. 138 Doenz-gyeu "is likely to be a variant name for Jiaozhi ...". [p. 97, n. 128 : Chinese /Jiao-z^i/ = Z^uan /Gyanz-gyeu/ -- both terms for ‘An-nam (Viet-nam)’ {which is situated to the south (just as is the realm of [Vaidik god] Yama the psychopomp)}.]

p. 68 feasting on the marrow & brain of the oxen {whose souls transported the soul of the dead human into the world of the dead?}

p. 99, n. 140 "the Zhuang custom of eating a broth made of fermented ox bones [marrow] ... ." {relate to other actions of brain-eating of / for a dead human – such as the North American Indian belief that the soul of a dead person devoureth that person’s own brain}

p. 68 closing set of invitations {all these invitees are categories of ghosts of the dead}

p. 101, n. 148 "someone who slipped on the grass on top of a cliff, fell down, and ... became a muengz ... ‘dead soul’ ". {This may be an alternative route into the world of the dead – in Maori lore, the only means for return from the world of the dead is via grass-roots.}

p. 102, n. 149 "rin daengj ... ‘stone + set upright’ ... is the Zhuang term for what is known in Chinese as ... shigandang, an apotropaic stone. Such stones, complete with an inscription, are intended to ward off some baleful geomantic influence, and are often found ... at the head and foot of the village. They are part of the spiritual and geomantic defenses of the village."