A Sense of Place and Belonging: The Chiang Tung Borderland of Northern Southeast Asia, by Klemens Karlsson
Open accessAbstract
A Sense of Place and Belonging: The Chiang Tung Borderland of Northern Southeast Asia, by Klemens Karlsson. Cornell University Press, 2025. 246pp. Hb. $130, ISBN: 9781501779763.
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TL;DR
Olivia Porter reviews Klemens Karlsson's *A Sense of Place and Belonging* (Cornell University Press, 2025), an interdisciplinary seven-chapter study of the Tai Khuen and Tai Loi (Lua) of Chiang Tung and their connection to place. She judges it an excellent, highly readable introduction to the Tai Khuen and Tai Loi (Lua), while raising unresolved questions about localized ethnic identity and Tai terminology.
Key findings
- Karlsson proposes that over long interaction with the Tai Khuen, the Lua "became" the Tai Loi, changing their cultural, religious, and ethnic identity to assimilate into Khuen and wider Tai culture (36); the *Chiang Tung Chronicle* describes a symbolic coronation ceremony in which Tai Loi chiefs were seated on the throne and then pushed off before the new Khuen ruler ascended, performed from the thirteenth century until the late nineteenth century (37–38).
- Chiang Tung's religious culture is characterized by "a decentralized and independent Buddha saṅgha, a hierarchy built on seniority, an old Buddhist calendar, Buddhist rituals and literature written in the tham script and recited in Pali and Khuen language, a tradition of charismatic holy monks, and a specific Buddhist visual and material culture" (149); its Pali canon is written in local tham script (115).
- The Songkran festival includes a large clay frog made by the river with an offering to the spirit of Chiang Tung, connecting the Khuen with ancient monsoon culture (171–172, 182–184); a phallus originally carried in procession was replaced by a statue of Indra and/or the drum under Sao Intaleng (184); Tai Loi (Lua) youths perform a 24-hour drumming understood as drumming wealth and prosperity to Chiang Tung and the Khuen (175).
- The reviewer's critiques: it is unclear how the concept of localized ethnic identity applies to the indigenous Tai Loi (Lua) or to the Tai Lue, Tai Neua, and Western Shan (Tai Yai) also living in Chiang Tung (12, 193), and the tangle of endonyms and exonyms (Shan, Tai Yai, Dai) obscures the transnational nature of Tai communities.
Methods
- The book is an interdisciplinary study in seven chapters mapping the socio-historical development of Chiang Tung, framed by the proposition of an intimate connection between the Tai Khuen people and the place.
- It draws on local chronicles (the *Chiang Tung Chronicle* and the *Wat Pa Daeng Chronicle*), myths, memories, and living oral tradition, complemented by colonial sources (notably J. George Scott) and contemporary ethnographic fieldwork.
- The reviewer notes Karlsson acknowledges the historiographic authority of local chronicles is controversial because they were not composed for purely historiographical purposes, were recopied many times, and were transmitted orally (27).
Limitations
- Stated by the book (as reported): the controversial historiographic authority of local chronicles, which were not written for historiographical purposes, were recopied over long periods, and were orally transmitted (27).
- Evident to the reviewer: it is not clear if or how localized identity applies to the Tai Loi (Lua), who live in the hills and mountains around Chiang Tung and have a different relationship to the place, nor how the Tai Lue, Tai Neua, and Western Shan factor into the analysis (12, 193).
- Evident to the reviewer: continued reliance on colonial records such as Scott's in Tai studies, and the inconsistency of Tai subgroup terminology, remain open methodological questions.
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Claims the paper makes
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- Premisecitation§ eQuinoxonline · p. 4
Assimilation facilitates preservation in the Myanmar monastic context.
“As I have explored elsewhere, assimilation facilitates preservation in the Myanmar monastic context (Porter 2023).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites Porter 2023
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Interpretationreasoning§ eQuinoxonline · p. 3
While their use of tham is distinctive, it does not necessarily mean that monks from Chiang Tung are unable to conduct rituals with other monks.
“While their use of tham is distinctive, it does not necessarily mean that monks from Chiang Tung are unable to conduct rituals with other monks.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
- Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 12
- May combine two claims. 3
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Findingreasoning§ eQuinoxonline · p. 5The book reveals existing inconsistencies in scholarship on the Tai, specifically in relation to the tangle of endonyms and exonyms used to refer to the numerous Tai sub-groups.
“While invaluable in this way, the book also reveals existing inconsistencies in scholarship on the Tai, specifically in relation to the tangle of endonyms and exonyms used to refer to the numerous Tai sub-groups, which has resulted in the obfuscation of the Tai in academic scholarship.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).
Findingnone given§ eQuinoxonline · p. 5The book convincingly demonstrates common identity between the Khuen people and the place of Chiang Tung.
“While the book convincingly demonstrates common identity between the Khuen people and the place of Chiang Tung”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Findingnone given§ eQuinoxonline · p. 5How exactly the Tai Loi, Western Shan (Tai Yai), the Tai Lue, and the Tai Neua (Shan Chinese or Dehong Dai), who also live in Chiang Tung, factor into the book's analysis is unclear.
“how exactly the Tai Loi, Western Shan (Tai Yai), the Tai Lue, and the Tai Neua (Shan Chinese or Dehong Dai), who also live in Chiang Tung, factor into this analysis is unclear (12).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim.
Findingnone given§ Book Reviews · p. 1The book is framed by the proposition that there is an intimate connection between the Tai Khuen people and the place of Chiang Tung.
“This investigation is framed by the proposition that there is an intimate connection between the Tai Khuen people and the place of Chiang Tung, which is explored from the perspective of the locals themselves through their chronicles, myths, and memories, and complemented with more easily verifiable colonial sources and historical encounters as well as with contemporary ethnographic fieldwork data.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.
Findingreasoning§ Book Reviews · p. 2Karlsson does just that in Chapter 2 by utilizing local texts and narratives to examine the origins of Buddhism in the region and of the symbolic agreement between the Tai Khuen and the Tai Loi (Lua), which establishes the foundation for Chapter 7.
“Karlsson does just that in Chapter 2 by utilizing local texts and narratives to examine the origins of Buddhism in the region and of the symbolic agreement between the Tai Khuen and the Tai Loi (Lua), which establishes the foundation for Chapter 7, which examines its contemporary expression in rich ethnographic detail.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.
Findingreasoning§ Book Reviews · p. 1The book A Sense of Place and Belonging is an interdisciplinary study of Chiang Tung that maps the socio-historical development of the area, tracing the origin and transformation of the place's distinctive religious and cultural practices.
“What unfolds in its seven chapters is an interdisciplinary study of Chiang Tung that maps the socio-historical development of the area, tracing the origin and transformation of the place's distinctive religious and cultural practices.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Findingown data§ eQuinoxonline · p. 4Tham is still in use in Northern Thailand.
“I would also comment, having met young monks from Northern Thailand who learned to read tham as novices in their local monasteries, that tham is still in use in Northern Thailand.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).
Interpretationnone given§ eQuinoxonline · p. 6Using the names such as Shan, Tai Yai, or Dai (used in China), which are ascribed by the majority communities in which there are sizeable Tai communities, obscures the transnational nature of Tai communities who are interconnected in the borderlands.
“Using the names such as Shan, Tai Yai, or Dai (used in China), which are ascribed by the majority communities in which there are sizeable Tai communities, obscures the transnational nature of Tai communities who are interconnected in the borderlands.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim.
Interpretationreasoning§ Book Reviews · p. 2Karlsson is able to construct a vernacular history of the Tai Khuen and Tai Loi (Lua), of a people and place that have largely been written out of mainstream historical narratives.
“But, in choosing to value such resources and unpacking how they have been preserved in the myths and memories of his informants, Karlsson is able to construct a vernacular history of the Tai Khuen and Tai Loi (Lua), of a people and place that have largely been written out of mainstream historical narratives.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.
Interpretationreasoning§ eQuinoxonline · p. 3Readers who are new to the world of Tai studies scholarship might be surprised by our reliance on Scott's colonial records, which is in part related to their depth and quality but also to the lack of access scholars have had to the region since the time of his writing until now.
“Readers who are new to the world of Tai studies scholarship might be surprised by our reliance on Scott's colonial records, which is in part related to their depth and quality but also to the lack of access scholars have had to the region since the time of his writing until now.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Interpretationreasoning§ eQuinoxonline · p. 5The tangle of endonyms and exonyms used to refer to the numerous Tai sub-groups has resulted in the obfuscation of the Tai in academic scholarship.
“which has resulted in the obfuscation of the Tai in academic scholarship.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).
Interpretationreasoning§ eQuinoxonline · p. 6The knock-on effect of using such names is that our scholarship cannot be consistently identified by nonexperts.
“The knock-on effect of this is that our scholarship cannot be consistently identified by nonexperts.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
Cites
The publisher hasn’t deposited this paper’s reference list.
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Cohen, Paul T. 1998. 'Lue Ethnicity in National Context: A Comparative Study of Tai Lue Communities in Thailand and Laos.' Journal of the Siam Society 86: 49-61.
- Hallisey, Charles. 1995. 'Roads Taken and Not Taken in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism.' In Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism under Colonialism , edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr., 31-61. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Keyes, Charles. 1992. 'Who are the Lue? Revisited: Ethnic Identity within the Nations of Laos, Thailand, and China.' Working Paper. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for International Studies.
- Porter, Olivia. 2023. Hidden in Plain Sight: The Tai Zawti Buddhists of the Myanmar-China Border . PhD Thesis. King's College London, London.
- Authors
- Porter, O.
- Affiliations
- University of Leeds (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Porter, Olivia
- ORCID
- Porter, Olivia
- Venue
- Buddhist Studies Review
- Publisher
- Equinox Publishing
- Published
- 2026-04-25
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 268-273
- ISSN
- 0265-2897 (ISSN-L)
- 1747-9681
- OpenAlex
- W7155494696
- Semantic Scholar
- cb4c128299da36f63fa16979dc286a96bf91a82e
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Buddhist Studies Review (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › South Asian Studies and Conflicts
- Keywords
- borderlands, sense of place, sense of belonging, ethnic minorities, ethnic identity
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