Terrien de La Couperie, was a Linguist from France who taught at the
University of London. He did a study of ancient Chinese records that led
him to the rather original conclusion that the Tai came from central
China. His conclusions were based on a theoretical relationship he saw
between the language of the Ta Mung (an ethnic minority in Szechuan,
China) and the languages of the Tai in Southeast Asia.
He concluded that because these languages were similar, that –
theoretically – the peoples who spoke them must have a common
origin. As it was then assumed that the Tai did not enter Indochina until
the latter half of the first Millennium, it stood to reason that the Tai
originated from the much earlier people in Szechuan, an ancient
kingdom in China around 1223 BC. His argument was based primarily
on a Xia Dynasty document.
Unfortunately, the document is a late copy and not the original, and
cannot be validated. Also, whether the information it contains should
be considered a “record” at all, is debatable