The study of the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms in the West can be traced back to as early as in the late 19th century, such as the French Sinologist, Le Marquis d’Hervey de Saint Denys (1883), and the English missionary, George W. Clarke (1890). Others too had their own experiences of visiting and studying the remote Yunnan province in Southwest China.
In the 20th century, a group of scholars from various countries conducted some in-depth research regarding the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms from diverse perspectives. For instance, N. Matsumoto (1950), a Japanese linguist, began to determine the origin of the language of the Ailao people, and the French researcher, Camille Auguste Jean Sainson (1904), focused his work on the translation of the Unofficial History of Nanzhao. Most significantly, Helen Burwell Chapin (1944), analysed the iconography of Nanzhao and Dali Buddhist art based on a rare painting held by the National Palace Museum in Taipei. This pioneering research analysed the Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms from cultural, historical and religious perspectives, which today is the cornerstone for academic research.
The following publications are some of the most significant works that investigate the culture, history and art of Nanzhao-Dali kingdoms:
Anderson, J. A. (2007). The Rebel Den of Nùng Trí Cao: Loyalty and Identity Along the Sino-Vietnamese Frontier, Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Backus, C. (1981). The Nan-chao Kingdom and T’ang China’s Southwestern Frontier, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Blackmore, M. (1967). “The Ethnological Problems Connected with Nanzhao,” in Frederick Sequier Drake (ed.), Symposium on Historical, Archaeological and Linguistic Studies on Southern China, South-East Golden Jubilee Congress of the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Blackmore, M. (1960). “The Rise of Nan-Chao in Yunnan,” Journal of Southeast Asian History, vol. 1, no. 2: 47-61.
Bryson, M. (2015). “Tsenpo Chung, Yunnan wang, Maharaja: Royal Titles in Narratives of Nanzhao Kingship between Tibet and Tang China,” Cahiers d’Extreme-Asie, vol. 24: 59-76.
Bryson, M. (2013a). “Mahakala worship in the Dali Kingdom (937-1253): A Study and Translation of the Dahei tianshen daochang yi,” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 35, no. 1-2: 3-69.
Bryson, M. (2013b). “Baijie and the Bai: Gender and Ethnic Religion in Dali, Yunnan,” Asian Ethnology, vol. 72, no. 1: 3–31.
Baker, Chris. (2002). “From Yue to Tai,” Journal of the Siam Society, vol. 90, no. 1&2: 1-26
Carthew, M. (1952). “The History of the Thai in Yunnan,” Journal of Siam Society, vol. Xi, pt. 1: 1-38.
Chapin, H. B. (1944). “Yunnanese Images of Avalokitesvara,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, vol. 8, no. 2: 131-186
Chavannes, Edouard. (1900). “Une inscription du royaume de Nan-tchao,” Journal Asiatique, ser. 9, no. 12
Chen, Lufan. (1990). 泰族起源问题研究 (Whence Came the Thai Race? An Inquiry), Beijing: 国际文化出版公司 Guoji wenhua chuban she.
Evans, G. (2014). “The Ai-Lao and Nan Chao/Tali Kingdom: A Re-orientation,” Journal of the Siam Society, vol. 102: 221-256.
Evans, G. (2016). “The Tai Original Diaspora,” Journal of the Siam Society, vol. 104: 1-25
Fitzgerald, C. P. (1972). The Southern Expansion of the Chinese People, New York: Praeger Publishers.
French, J. C. (1924). “The Art of the Pal Empire in Bengal,” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, vol. 72, no. 3744: 697-706.
Guy, John. (1994). “The Avalokitesvara of Yunnan and Some South East Asian Connections,” in John Guy and Rosemary Scott (eds.), South East Asia & China: Art, Interaction & Commerce, London: Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art: 64-83.
Glover, I. C. (1990). Early Trade between India and Southeast Asia: A Link in the Development of a World Trading System, Hull: University of Hull, Centre for South-east Asian Studies.
Hassan, J. (1982). “The Distribution and Type of Beads in the Gangeatic Valley,” Puratattva, vol. 11 (for 1979-80): 131-40.
Howard, A. F. (1997). “The Dharani Pillar of Kunming, Yunnan. A Legacy of Esoteric Buddhism and Burial Rites of the Bai People in the Kingdom of Dali (937-1253),” Artibus Asiae, vol. 57, no. 1/2: 33-72.
Howard, A. F. (1990). “A Gilt Bronze Guanyin from the Nanzhao Kingdom of Yunnan: Hybrid Art From the Southwestern Frontier,” The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, vol. 48: 1-12.
Hudson, B. (2005). “A Pyu Homeland in the Samon Valley: a new theory of the origins of Myanmar’s early urban system,” Myanmar Historical Commission Conference Proceedings, Part 2, Yangon: Universities Historical Research Centre: 59-79.
Kelenyi, Bela. (2015). “The Choreography of Identities: A Peculiar Type of Statue from the Dali Kingdom,” Berlin Indological Studies, vol. 22: 263-278.
Le May, R. (2013). A Concise History of Buddhist Art in Siam, Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
Lempert, D. (2018). “Nan Zhao Invasions and Buddha Idols of Northern Thailand and Laos in the 7th to 9th Centuries,” The Journal of Laos, vol. 6, issu. 1: 26-55.
Lloyd, John C. (2003). “Toponyms of the Nanzhao Periphery.” MA Thesis submitted to the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Luce, G. H. (1937). “The Ancient Pyu,” Journal of the Burma Research Society, vol.27: 239-53
Li, XIaoyou. (1979). “Nanzhao Dali de xieben Fojing,” Wenwu, vol. 12
Li, Lin-ts’an. (1982). A Study of the Nan-chao and Ta-li Kingdoms in the Light of Art Materials Found in Various Museums, Taipei: National Palce Museum.
Liang, Yongjia. (2010). “Inalienable Narration: The Nanzhao History between Thailand and China,” Asia Research Institute Working Paper Series No. 148, pp1-18.
Marks, Thomas, A. (1978). “Nanchao and Tibet in South-western China and Central Asia,” The Tibet Journal, vol. 3, no.4: 3-26
Sainson, C. (1904). Nan-tcgao ye che, Histoire particuliere du Nan-tchao, Paris.
Moore, Elizabeth, H. (2010). “Myanmar Bronzes and the Dian Cultures of Yunnan,” Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, vol. 30: 122-132
Parker, E. H. (1891). “The Early Laos and China,” China Review, xix: 67-106.
Parker, E. H. (1892-3). “The Old Thai or Shan Empire of Western Yunnan,” CHina Review, xx: 337-46
Stott, Wilfrid. (1963). “The Expansion of the Nan-chao Kingdom: Between the Years A.D. 750-860 and the Causes That Lay behind It as Shewn in the T’ai-ho Inscription and the Man Shu,” T’oung Pao, second series, vol. 50, livr. 1/3: 190-220.
Terwiel, B. J. (1978). “The Origin of the Tai Peoples Reconsidered,” Oriens Extremus, vol. 25, no. 2: 239-258.
Yang, Yuqing. (2008). “The Role of Nanzhao History in the Formation of Bai Identity.” MA Thesis submitted to the University of Oregon.