This is a catalogue for an exhibition of Yao Ceremonial Painting held at Bates College Museum of Art in 2014.

How to make the Universe Right presents an extraordinary selection of Shaman scrolls and an extensive array of ceremonial objects of the Yao, Tày, Sán Dìu, Cao Làn, Nùng, Sán Chảy, and other small population groups of Vietnam and southern China. The Yao, Tày, and related ethnic minority people originally lived in the mountains of southwestern and southern provinces in China. Due to extenuating political reasons, they and other tribal groups migrated to Vietnam during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and settled in mountainous regions of the north. The groups brought with them a rich tradition of shamanist practice that varies from group to group, Daoist for the Yao, and various amalgamations of primarily Daoist deities and rituals, but also Buddhist deities, aspects of Hinduism, Confucian ancestral worship, animism and other natural forces for others. The rich spiritual life of traditional culture and ceremonial practice is embodied in this exhibition. Together with the accompanying catalogue, How to make the Universe Right provides the opportunity to appreciate these important scroll paintings and other objects aesthetically, and to gain an understanding of the ritual life and its complex system of Shamanistic religious beliefs of the Yao, Tày, Sán Dìu, Cao Làn, Nùng, and other groups. Fully illustrated with color photos.

2015, University of California, softcover, 208 pp., used, in a good condition.