Ebing and Sangluo (English-Chinese Edition): A Tai Love Tragedy of Feudal Arranged Marriage

If you‘re looking for a Chinese book that genuinely has a story to tell, Ebing and Sangluo deserves a place on your shelf.

This is a narrative poem that has been passed down for centuries among the Dai people of Yunnan, China. It tells of Sangluo, a wealthy young man, and Ebing, a beautiful young woman, who fall in love but are destroyed by arranged marriage and rigid social hierarchy. There is no happy ending — but the story is real, and it moves you. The courage to fight for love still resonates today.

Why this edition?

First, the bilingual translation is reliable. The English translator is Liu Dezhou, a professor at Yunnan Agricultural University with over 30 years in English translation and multiple published translations. The translation was reviewed by an American scholar, Bao Qiong, ensuring natural, idiomatic English. The book preserves 456 transliterated Dai terms and includes 327 footnotes on local customs, so you’re never lost in cultural references-.

Second, it‘s a hardcover collector’s edition. 185 pages, 16mo format, sturdy binding. Good for your own reading, as a gift for a friend curious about Chinese culture, or as an accessible entry point into ethnic minority literature.

Third, this is part of the “Yunnan Ethnic Minority Classics in English Translation” series. The series covers 17 volumes of classic works from Yunnan‘s diverse ethnic groups. This title is the most widely known and celebrated among them