Tai-speaking peoples reside in a large area of the mainland of Southeast Asia. Their traditional political organizations are known as Muong or Muang. Many scholars have reported and studied the Muong from an anthropological or historical perspective. Yet we do not find many articles about the Muong of the Tai Dam people of Northwestern Vietnam, who are characterized as non-Buddhist.I suggest that the texts written by the Tai Dam, “The Customary Law of the Tai Dam”are ,some of the most important materials not only for the studies of the society, culture and history of the Tai Dam but also for socio-historical studies in Southeast Asia, because they concretely show the structure of the socio-political system and the relation between rituals and the system. Therefore, in this paper, I clarify the contents of the text “The Customary Law of the Tai Dam in Muong Muoi” . Further, I consider the anthropological and historical significance of the text from the viewpoint of socio-historical studies in Southeast Asia

Key Words: TaiDam, Muong, political organization, customary law

Tai people, formally known as Dai nationality in China, number 1.1million. One of the greatest concentrations of Dai people is found on the reaches of the Red River, called the Yun Jing River in China. Here their ethnic culture is particularly to be found. The Dai people of the Red River number about 150,000 which is 13%of the total Dai population of China. Furthermore about half of those 150,000 live in Xin Ping and Yun Jing counties, on the upper reaches of the river.
Traditional1y, the Dai people of the upper Red River were called Hua Yao Dai, or “Flower Waist” Dai, because of the long and colourful waistband which is an ethnic symbol of the women. The Hua Yao Dai comprise various sub-ethnic groups, such as Dai Ya, Dai Ka and Dai Sai in Xin Ping county, and Dai Ya, Dai Zhong, Dai Zhang and Dai De in Yun Jing county.
The Hua Yao Dai have various cultural features which distinguish them from other Dai.
1 ) Ethnic finery, such as the women’s waistband, which has a varied cultural significance.
2 ) Adobe houses, quite different from those of the Dai people outside this region.
3 ) Festivals. Many of these are shared with the Han, but have their own features. The Flower Fair Festival is peculiarly Hua Yao Dai.
4 ) An Animist religion, similar to that of other Dai, but with certain distinctive features.
Changes in contemporary Hua Yao Dai culture are discussed in this paper. Although traditional forms of dress and housing, tooth dying, tattooing, ethnic language, festivals and traditional religion are preserved, there have been changes since the 1950s, due to modern education and health care, as well as greater contacts with other cultures. Tourism has expanded rapidly, as outsiders become attracted by the colourful culture, and this has led to greater mobility among the Hua Yao Dai people.
There have been economic changes also. The goal of agricultural production has changed from fulfilling local needs to meeting the needs of the market place. Many cash crops such as sugar cane and tropical fruits and vegetables are now grown. This has led to increasing income and an improved standard of living, this changes also caused deeply influence on Hua Yao Dai culture.

Key Words: China, upper reach of Red River, Hua Yao Dai, Culture, Current transformation

In this paper, the way in which “history” is recorded, written or narrated is analysed, thereby exploring the interface between the studies of history and anthropology. Specifically, the discussion is focused on the Hui ( ) Rebellion in China, which broke out at the end of the 19th century, spreading over a vast area in the north-east of the nation and Central Asia. State-sponsord publications of history such as Tongshi ( general history ) or others define the Hui Rebellion as a “revolt by an ethnic minority, which stood against rule by the Qing dynasty”. They do not in the least touch upon the pillage, atrocities or massacres perpetrated by the insurgent Hui troops. On the other hand, regional history books that were compiled in various localities describe the serious damage caused by the Hui rebel army. Keen attention should be paid to Mongolian chronicles compiled over centuries, in the contents of which we can find a striking contrast to Tongshi or regional history. Those chronicles represent the strong influence of the oral tradition of the Mongols from ancient times. While admiring the gallant fight that the Mongolian army fought against the insurgent troops, the chronicles describe the rise and fall of the Rebellion in a calm and objective manner. Furthermore, when the historical materials used in Tongshi or other state-sponsored publications are compared with the records kept by the Hui rebels, light can be shed from an utterly different angle, revealing more diverse facets of the background, to underscore the “history of people’s way of life”incisively. Given these phenomena in history writings, it is recommended that both “external” and “internal perspectives”be integrated in the study of history. An emphasis should be placed on the importance of understanding the common attributes and nature of the anthropological approach to history on one hand, and the “history of a way of life” on the other. I believe that the exploration of the commonality between the two will open up a new road to lead us to the unequivocal elucidation of the historical incidents that humankind has undergone.

Key Words: general history, regional history, Mongolian chronicles, the Hui Rebellion,
Ordos Mongols

This paper is a bibliographical survey of linguistic studies of the Arabic language in Japan. The following bibliography includes the studies concerning the usual linguistic domains, such as phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and studies on the Arabic writing system ( including calligraphy ) , as well as those concerning Arabic traditional grammar, and the linguistic aspects of Arab society and Islamic culture, and also Arabic teaching materials. This survey is part of the research result of Survey of Arabic Studies Database ( Research representative: Tetsuo Nishio ) , which was funded by a scientific research grant from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture in Japan ( Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research: Grant No.09551008 )

Key Words: Arabic, linguistics, bibliography, Arab,Middle East