The indigenous peoples who inhabit Lijiang, Yunnan, are commonly referred to as the “Moso” (“Mosuo”) in both ancient texts and by others, for example, in interviews. But the indigenous peoples local to area also call themselves the “Naxi” (“Nakhi”). One research question of interest has thus been whether the “Moso” and the “Naxi” belong to the same ethnic group. Yun-kuei Tao (1904–1944), who conducted ethnographic surveys in Yunnan from 1934–1936, has analyzed the records from ancient writings, fieldwork findings, and materials of local families to investigate the historical geographic areas and migration routes of the Moso peoples. Using this as a basis, Tao indicates that “Moso” is the general term for the ethnic group, whereas “Naxi” is one of its branches, a conclusion he presented in “On the Distribution and Migration of the Names of the Moso Peoples” published in the Bulletin of IHP in 1936.
The Archives is in possession of the writing materials pertaining to Tao’s work, including manuscripts, diagrams, and even frontier maps. By comparing the manuscripts full of annotations and edits with his final article, we can discover insight into Tao’s thinking and research process, one which took place in a time before the conveniences of modern technology.