Book
Political systems of highland Burma: a study of Kachin social structure
Harvard University Press • Cambridge • Published In 1954 • Pages:
By: Leach, Edmund Ronald.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This book is concerned with the Kachin and Shan population of North-East Burma. By the author's admission, the ethnographic information is neither detailed nor new, but rather serves as a vehicle for demonstrating what Leach describes as an oscillation between one Kachin 'republican' political system (gumlao) and the Shan 'aristocratic' system. In this description, the native concepts of territorial division, kinship, ownership, the supernatural and authority are discussed. The Appendices are documents offered in support of Leach's 'oscillation' theory. In view of this treatment of the ethnographic data, it is essential that the reader familiarize himself with category 121, before use of other categories is attempted. Chapter IV, i.e., pp. 63ff, is marked with the unnumbered subheading 'Hpalang', in order to delineate the continuity of the categories used. The author did field work among the peoples about whom he writes. He also served in the Burma Army from 1940-45, much of which time was spent in Northern Burma. Dr. Leach did his academic work in the University of London.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Community structure
- Form and rules of government
- Cultural participation
- Water supply
- Tillage
- Topography and geology
- Ethnic stratification
- Behavior toward non-relatives
- Land use
- Territorial hierarchy
- Cereal agriculture
- Ethnosociology
- Territorial hierarchy
- Status, role, and prestige
- Form and rules of government
- Production and supply
- Linguistic identification
- Settlement patterns
- Classes
- Functional and adaptational interpretations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kachin
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2012
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southeast Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- W. Carr ; 1956
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1939-1940
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1930-1954
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Kachin State, Burma
- NotesAdditional notes
- E. R. Leach ; With a foreword by Raymond Firth
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 313-318)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- a 54008852
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kachin (Asian people)
- Ethnology--Burma