Social and Spatial Organization of the Tai Deng of Mai-Châu (Viêt Nam) before 1954

Abstract

From information collected in 2000, during a two-week stay in Mai-Châu, the present article describes the sociopolitical organization of this district and former muong of Hoà-Bình before the administrative reforms implemented by the communist regime in 1954. It also sheds light on the symbolic structuring of the human habitat (village, house, cemetery), in relation with the religious beliefs and practices of the Tai Deng.

Keywords

• Tai Deng
• Mai-Châu
• Vietnam
• space
• religion
• cosmology