History

ANTIQUITY AND TRADITION

	Scholars speculate that the Hmong may have originated in Persia or Babylon before migrating north into Siberia, then south into China. The Hmong maintain that they once lived in a homeland where “days and nights lasted six months, the water was frozen, and snow hid the ground. Only a few trees grew and they were small. The people, too, were short and squat, clothed in furs.” Many Hmong migrated into Vietnam in the late 1700s and early 1800s as they fled Chinese persecution and attempted genocide. They first settled in the mountains of Ha Giang and Lao Cai provinces. Their lives are hard, and they are often in poverty, but the Hmong remain a strong, proud people who love life.
	Though their travels as a people may have begun in Persia (some say Tibet) It is clear that they came into China long ago. Some say that they moved into the Yellow River region as early as 4,500 years ago, approximately the time of Moses. They then moved to Southwestern China sometime between 220 BC -- 220 AD. Most still live there, where they are called San Miao, Tan Miao or simply Miao. But of these Chinese Miao relatives, about 1.5 million also use the term Hmong.
	The Caucasian origin of the Hmong is suggested by the fact that, within living memory, many Hmong had Caucasian features. Father F. M. Savina of the Paris Society for Foreign Missions, published a book, Historie des Miao, in 1924. He said, "In appearance, [the Hmong are] pale yellow in complexion, almost white, their hair is often light or dark brown, sometimes even red or 'corn-silk blond', and a few even have pale blue eyes." Unfortunately, this has often caused the Hmong to be singled out for genocide. Hmongs relate how Chinese would come down and kill white babies. Today the Caucasian features are rarely obvious. Genocide and persecution are the reasons that most Hmong fled China for Vietnam. Black Hmong Girls LANGUAGE

The Hmong-Mien language group is a monosyllabic, tonal language, with 7-12 tones, depending on the dialect. It is part of the Hmongic (Hmong - Dao or Miao-Yao) branch of the Chuanquandian subdivision of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Within China, the Mien people have divided into four dialect groups, which are mutually unintelligible.

Within Vietnam, the Hmong are divided into at least six groups

Hmong Story Quilt

TRAIL OF BLOOD

The word Hmong means "free."

The quilt above tells the story of some Hmong who escaped a wave of pitiless government attacks on their villages by fleeing to Thailand. This is only the latest of a long history of bloodshed and suffering by the Hmong people. The systematic genocide of Caucasian-appearing Hmong was mentioned above. That was only one facet of brutal Chinese oppression.

The central Chinese government, dominated by Han Chinese, often left the Hmong (called Miao by the Chinese) alone, as long as they paid their tributes to the Chinese. However, the last dynasty in China, the Qing (1644-1911), founded by Manchus, followed a different policy. Qing armies and officials oppressed the Hmong, who rose in three major periods of rebellion. In the early nineteenth century, this political persecution, along with increasing population pressure, led some of the Hmong to migrate southward into mainland Southeast Asia, where they settled in the mountainous regions of northern Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

The Hmong have always resisted what they saw as foreign oppression. In the 1860's, a powerful Hmong army, led by a self-proclaimed Hmong king named Sioung, raided Buddhist temples in North Vietnam and occupied huge tracts of land. The Hmong in the area of Dien Bien Phu of Vietnam revolted against the French in 19I9 under the leadership of Chao Bat Chay. When troops under French command drove Chao Bat Chay and his followers across the mountains, the movement gained followers among the Hmong in Xieng Khouang Province of Laos. They called for the establishment of an independent Hmong kingdom. But the insurrection ended in 1921 when Chao Bat Chay was betrayed to the French overlords. The Hmong did achieve some autonomy in the mountainous border region of North Vietnam and northeastern Laos. They controlled much of the opium trade, and some were active in the Pathet Lao and Viet Minh rebellions against the French. In the Vietnam War, the Hmong fought against the army of North Vietnam. This resistance to the Communists caused them to pay a bitter price. After the fall of the South Vietnamese government, Communist armies hunted down Hmong and killed them by the thousands, in both Vietnam and Laos. Many fled to Thailand and some emigrated as refugees to nations around the world.

Poppy Pod

05/14/2003