Hmong people
The Hmong people are an ethnic group originally from the southwestern region of China, recognized as part of the Miao ethnic group. Historically, the Hmong faced persecution, prompting migrations to Southeast Asian countries such as Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. Significant upheaval during the Vietnam War led many Hmong to flee to refugee camps, ultimately resettling in various countries worldwide, including the United States, Canada, and Australia. Today, the largest Hmong population resides in China, with notable communities in Laos and the U.S.
Culturally, the Hmong are organized into eighteen clans, with clan membership determined by paternal lineage. They traditionally preserved their history and customs orally and through embroidered textiles, creating a rich cultural heritage. The Hmong language, which did not have a written form until the 1950s, consists of two dialects: White Hmong and Green Hmong. Traditional beliefs involve pantheism and reincarnation, and music plays a crucial role in their rituals, particularly during extensive funeral ceremonies. In diaspora communities, many Hmong have blended their ancestral practices with Christianity, reflecting their adaptability while maintaining connections to their cultural roots.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Hmong people
The Hmong people, also known as part of the Miao ethnic group, are a group of people who originated from China. Throughout the centuries, the Hmong were persecuted and forced to flee their homeland. They eventually resettled in the countries of Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. After the Vietnam War, the majority of the remaining Hmong people in these areas fled to refugee camps and eventually relocated to nations around the globe. The movement and resettlement of the Hmong people resulted in a shift of their cultures as they combined other traditions and teachings with their own. For example, the Hmong who resettled in the United States and Canada merged Christian values with their traditional Hmong religious practices.
Background
The h in Hmong is an indicator consonant. The word Hmong rhymes with the word song, but the h indicates a hard exhale through the nose leading into the m. The Hmong people originated from the southwestern region of China. They are credited with being the first group to successfully cultivate rice, a practice that quickly spread throughout Asia. Rice subsequently became a major part of the Asian diet.
Chinese authorities refer to the Hmong and other ethnic groups from the southern region as the Miao. According to both Hmong and Chinese legends, the Hmong were persecuted around 3,000 BCE, which led a group of the Hmong to flee to the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia. From the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, the Hmong and other Miao ethnicities rebelled against China in the Miao Rebellion (1795–1806) and the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864). In both rebellions, the Chinese military overpowered the Hmong, which led to the migration of many from their homeland in China to the mountainous regions of Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar (Burma).
During World War II (1939–1945), many Hmong people sided with the Laotian government over the invading Japanese forces and worked to save the Laotian king from Japan. This led to the appointment of Hmong politicians and the recognition of the Hmong as citizens of Laos in 1947.
During the Vietnam War (1955–1975), the United States recruited about nineteen thousand Hmong men in Laos to serve in a secret operation known as the Special Guerrilla Unit. The Hmong fought in the Secret War in Laos, in which the Kingdom of Laos sided with South Vietnam and the Americans, and Pathet Lao, the Communist Party in Laos, supported the North Vietnamese. By the end of the Vietnam War, about forty thousand Hmong soldiers were killed and three thousand were reported missing. The heavy bombing of Laos led to an estimated fifty thousand Hmong civilian casualties. After the war, the Pathet Lao forces created a campaign to capture or kill Hmong soldiers and their families who sided with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This led to a mass evacuation of the Hmong people into Thailand, where they lived in refugee camps. After spending nearly a decade in the refugee camps, many Hmong eventually resettled in the United States, Australia, Canada, and France.
Overview
The Hmong are spread throughout the modern world. The largest population of Hmong people, just under three million, is found in China. Although many Hmong died during the Vietnam War, a sizable population remained in Laos, where they remain the third largest minority in the country. As of the twenty-first century, 8 percent of the Laotian population identified as Hmong. The United States Census Bureau estimated that just over three hundred thousand Hmong people were living in the United States in 2021. More than 100,000 lived in California, more than 95,000 resided in Minnesota, and about 62,000 lived in Wisconsin.
Eighteen clans make up the Hmong people. Membership in a clan is indicated by a Hmong person's last name, which is passed down to children through the father. A married woman becomes a member of her husband's clan, but she has the option to keep her maiden name. Any children born to a couple are considered members of their father's clan.
The Hmong did not have a written language until the 1950s, when missionaries helped them to create a Romanized language. The Hmong language is made up of two dialects, which are referred to as White Hmong and Green Hmong and are similar to English. The dialects are named after the colors of the skirts that were traditionally worn by the women of each group. In modern times, the Hmong language contains Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai characters and letters. The Hmong alphabet has fifty-six consonants.
The Hmong passed their history and traditions orally from generation to generation. For thousands of years, the Hmong embroidered cloth to record their history, traditions, and myths. Even after the introduction of a written language, the Hmong continued to use embroidered cloth as a way to preserve their history and cultural heritage.
The traditional Hmong religion is pantheism, whose followers believe in natural and supernatural spirits that are living in all things on Earth. The Hmong believe in reincarnation, or the belief that after death a soul is born again into another living being—human or animal.
Music is of great importance to the Hmong people. The funeral rites of the Hmong are extensive, with ceremonies often lasting for days. Music plays a large part of a Hmong funeral, as it is believed that certain songs must be sung and accompanied by the mouth organ to guide souls into the Otherworld, where they await their reincarnation. In modern times, many Hmong continue to believe in the spirits of their ancient religion, but many of those who relocated to the United States and other countries following the Vietnam War fear that the spirits of their ancestors cannot find them due to the distance between Hmong refugees and their homeland. Some of these people have accepted Christian religious beliefs and merged them with their own traditional Hmong beliefs.
Bibliography
Carrier, Sebastian. "China's Hmong Go Uncounted." East Asia Forum, 20 May 2015, www.eastasiaforum.org/2015/05/20/chinas-hmong-go-uncounted. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.
Colas, Christian, et al. "A Contribution to the Study of Hmong (Miao) Migrations and History." Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-en Volkenkunde, vol. 153, no. 2, 1997, pp 211–243.
Falk, Catherine. "Hmong Instructions to the Dead: What the Mouth Organ Qeej Says (Part One)." Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 63, no. 1, 2004, pp. 1–29.
Hickner-Johnson, Corey. "Taking Care in the Digital Realm: Hmong Story Cloths and the Poverty of Interpretation on HmongEmboridery.Org." Journal of International Women's Studies, vol. 17, no. 4, July 2016, pp. 31–48.
"Hmong (lus Hmoob / lug Moob / lol Hmongb)," Omniglot, www.omniglot.com/writing/hmong.htm. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.
"Hmong Timeline." Minnesota Historical Society, www.mnhs.org/hmong/hmong-timeline. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.
Ngo, Bic. "Contesting 'Culture:' The Perspectives of Hmong American Female Students on Early Marriage." Anthropology & Education Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 2, 2002, pp. 163–188.
Pfeifer, Mark. “Hmong Population Trends in the 2020 U.S. Census.” Hmong Studies Journal, vol. 26, no 1, www.hmongstudiesjournal.org/uploads/4/5/8/7/4587788/pfeifer‗hsj‗26‗‗1‗.pdf. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.
Tapp, Nicholas. "Hmong Religion." Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 48, no. 1, 1989, pp. 59–94.
Winland, Daphne N. "Christianity and Community: Conversion and Adaptation among Hmong Refugee Women." Canadian Journal of Sociology," vol. 19, no. 1, 1994, pp. 21–45.
Yang, Nancy. "10 Things about Hmong Culture, Food and Language You Probably Didn't Know." MPR News, 1 Mar. 2015, www.mprnews.org/story/2015/03/01/10-things-hmong. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.