The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.s2.157

v3.c29.s2.157

Since the Nanchao barrier states were henceforth the Chinese province of Yünnan, the road lay open and there was no longer any impediment to communication with China. That being so, we should expect a marked advance in Burmese culture. What we actually witness is a decline. The great palace vanished, and in its stead were several squabbling little courts of which the most important were Āva, Pegū, and Toungoo. Religion languished, and though pagodas continued to be built, none of them can compare with even the lesser temples of Pagān. When at length the darkness lifts, it is from the opposite direction to China that two rays of light appear: one a religious revival from Ceylon, the other the birth of vernacular literature.