Table of Contents: 1. Introduction: In search of ?Mong Mao? a. State or chieftainship? b. Historical over-extrapolation: Unified states and Southern Advances c. Geography: Where was Mong Mao? d. A Tai Frontier? e. History of the Tai Frontier: Public or hidden? f. Goals, conventions, sources, and analytical frameworks 2. Tai raids and the founding of Ava (1301-1382) a. Tai raids, a period of crisis, and the founding of Ava (1359-1368) b. Mingyiswasawke builds the state of Ava (1368-1400) 3. The Ming conquest of the Tai Frontier (1382-1398) a. The initial Ming attempts to win Yunnan over (1369-1380) b. The Ming invasion and conquest of Yunnan (1380-1383) c. Si Lun-fa seizes power and submits to the Ming (1382) d. A Tai challenge to Ming rule in Yunnan (1382-1388) e. The Battle of Dingbian 1388: A Ming punitive expedition against the Tais f. The pursuit of Si Lun-fa and war reparations (1388) g. Tai attacks against Ava and a Ming mission to the region (1393-1396) h. Si Lun-fa deposed by a rival Tai leader (1397) i. The reinstatement of Si Lun-fa (1398) 4. The Ava-Pegu and Ming-Vietnam Wars (1401-1427) a. Ming frontier administration reorganized (1402-1406) b. The Ava-Pegu War: Irregular cavalry forces from the Tai frontier (1401-1406) c. Further inroads into the Tai Frontier by Ava under Minyekyawswa (1406-1414) 5. A crucible of war: The aftermath of the Ava-Pegu and Ming-Vietnam Wars (1426-1438) a. The North: Mong Mao expansionary warfare eastwards into Ming Yunnan (1427-1438) b. Political disorder and uncertainty in the Tai Frontier: A small case study c. The South: Tai involvement in Ava?s domestic politics (1426-1440) 6. Burma as Ming proxy in a Tai manhunt: The final Luchuan-Pingmian Campaigns (1442-1454) a. The Third Luchuan-Pingmian Campaign (1443-1444) b. The Fourth Luchuan-Pingmian Campaign (1448-1449) c. The Burmese capture Si Ji-fa (1449-1454) 7. Conclusion a. Who ultimately controlled Mong Yang? b. Historical cycles in the Tai frontier c. Long-run demographic forces behind warfare in the Tai Frontier: Further research d. A brief summary of the history e. Epilogue: Bibliographical notes on Tai history 27 77