ABSTRACT
Any problem must have its corresponding cause. My field study of the policies, economy, and culture of the Dai people in Xishuangbanna reveals that there are many reasons for the conflict between monastic education and school education, including a sense of cultural superiority and rejection of other cultures due to economic advantages, the policy tendency toward school education, the limited function of school education in transmitting Dai culture, the prevalence of “study is useless” view due to the lack of practicality of school education, and the secularization and loose management of monastic education.
