The Hmong

 

The Miao (or Hmong, as they prefer to be called) live in the mountain areas of Southern China (Guizhou), Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

Hmong groups are often named after the dominant colors, patterns of their traditional clothing, head-dress, and the provinces they come from: White-, black-, red-, blue-, big flower-, small flower-, long horn-Hmong etc. They are widely scattered and live in very small settlements.  An old Hmong saying goes: "Birds nest in trees, fish swim in rivers, Hmong live in mountains."

 

The Hmong believe that a supernatural power in everything around them decides their fate. They also believe that everything that moves or grows has its own spirit. They worship the sun, moon, lightning, thunder, fire, rivers, caverns, large trees, huge stones, and some animals. They also believe the spirits of the dead become ghosts that may haunt their families and animals, make them sick, or even kill them. The Hmong also worship their ancestors. Since the nineteenth century, many Hmong have become Roman Catholics and Protestants.

 

The Hmong live in houses one or two stories high. The back of the house is built on the mountain slope and the front rests on stilts. The roof is made of straw. Grain is stored in the ceiling. The first floor of the house is for the livestock and poultry. There are three to five rooms in the living quarters. Sons and daughters live separately and infants live with their parents. Furniture includes a bed, cupboard, table, and stool, all made of wood. There are big bambo0 baskets for storing food and clay pots for water and wine. The living conditions of the Hmong in urban areas are like those of their neighbors of other ethnic groups.

 

The Hmong are monogamous (they marry one person). The family consists of parents and their children. Property is passed down to men, but women have the most power in the family. Young people may choose who they will marry by dating and falling in love. For the first three years of marriage, the bride goes back to live with her own family. She lives with her husband only during holidays and at certain other times. If she gets pregnant, she moves to her husband's house sooner. The Hmong, like China's other national minorities, are not governed by China's policy of one child per family.

 

The Hmong’s main food is rice. Other foods are yams, millet, corn, wheat, buckwheat, and sorghum. All of them are cooked in a rice steamer. Sticky rice is eaten on holidays. The Hmong like hot pepper, and all their food is spicy. They also like sour flavorings. Their diet is mainly vegetables. However, they also eat poultry, eggs, beef, veal, pork, frogs, fish, snails, eels, snakes, crabs, and shrimp. Wine is made at home with rice.

 

All children can have a formal education. Some parents, however, do not believe in educating girls. Many girls drop out of school when they are teenagers. As many as 95 percent of Hmong women cannot read or write. The Hmong are subsistence farmers (they grow food only to feed their families). Rice is their main crop. They also grow corn, yams, millet, sorghum, beans, wheat, buckwheat, fruit, cotton, tobacco, peanuts, sun-flowers, and other crops. They grow a large number of hot peppers. Embroidery, wax printing, brocade, and paper-cutting are four famous crafts of the Hmong.