4221
Hmong Community
Main
Collection SummaryOne of the many highland minorities in Asia, the Hmong are traditionally found scattered in the border regions of China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Their original homeland is believed to be in Hunan and Guizhou in southern China.
The Hmong is one of four minorities classified by the Chinese government as belonging to the generic „Miao‟ nationality, a name given to them by the Chinese. These minorities call themselves by their own ethnic names. The Hmong are best known for their women‟s elaborate head ornaments, colourful costumes and beautiful silver jewellery. Their social organization is based on the clan system through the sharing of specific surnames similar to those of the Chinese. They practice animism, and most of those living in Asia still carry on subsistence farming as their main economic activity.
With the end of the civil war in Laos that coincided with the Vietnam War, many Hmong who fought on the side of the USA from 1961 to 1973 became refugees, and more than 300,000 have been resettled in Western countries.
The total number Miao people in China today is estimated to be 9.2 million, including 3.1 million
Hmong. The Hmong population today totals 4.5 million world-wide, if we add the following to the
China figure: 860,000 in Vietnam; 460,000 in Laos; 150,000 in Thailand; 2,000-3,000 in
Myanmar; 300,000 in the USA; 15,000 in France; 2,470 in Australia; 800 in Canada; 300 in
Argentina; and 110 in Germany.
The Hmong are one of the smaller ethnic communities in Australia. They live in Hobart,
Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, and Perth.DescriptionRELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
The Hmong religion is very similar to folk beliefs found among neighbouring groups in China and Laos, such as the Chinese, Khamu and Lao. It is an assemblage of many beliefs, based on ancestor worship and the practice of animism. Paying respect to ancestors and honouring them on important occasions of the year are practices that are likely to be borrowed from the Chinese, while beliefs in the existence of spirits are local influences that exist among rural inhabitants of Laos and other parts of Southeast Asia.
Traditionally, Hmong animism consists of beliefs in:
- The existence of the soul in people and its role in maintaining good health or in causing sickness,
- The existence of household spirits: door spirit, central post spirit (“xwm kab”) and other household spiritual protectors - all important in safeguarding the well-
being of household members. These house spirits are called “tamed spirits” (“dab nyeg”).
- The existence of natural spirits that can harm as well as protect one‟s health, such as spirits
of the woods and trees, rocks and streams, animals and birds, etc. These are known as
“wild spirits” (“dab qus” or spirits of nature).
The delicate balance between spiritual and physical well-being is maintained through:
a. Respect for and seeking protection from both sets of “tamed” and “wild” spirits, by making the spirits and dead ancestors offerings of food, animals, incense and paper money. This is sometimes called “ancestor-worship”, although this term does not accurately describe what the Hmong practice. They make offerings to ancestors
and spirits, but do not “worship” them.
b. Not offending both tamed and wild spirits by not going into domains reserved for
them or believed to be inhabited by them.
Depending on the need, religious rituals can be performed by the male head of the household or the spiritual head of a clan or cluster of male relatives. More difficult ceremonies such as soulcalling, or hu plig, are performed by ritual experts, or people who have especially learned to perform these ceremonies. Other rituals are performed by shamans for spiritual healing (txiv neeb), and by ceremonial experts skilled in funeral rites like the reed pipe player (txiv qeej), the funeral soul chanters (nkauj plig) and the funeral blessing singers (txiv xaiv).
TRADITIONAL LIFE: Early references in Chinese history first mention “Miao” people more than 4,000 years ago.
Under this name given by the Chinese, the ancestors of the Hmong were described as rebellious
and savage. They were said to have been defeated by the ancestors of the Han and banished
from the central plains of China by the legendary founders of the Chinese state in the third
millennium BC.
Like many other neighbouring groups, the Hmong have always been subsistence farmers in the mountainous areas of northern Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Burma, or in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi. They generally grow their crops through a system of shifting cultivation. Their economy is oriented towards family needs and selfsufficiency, but they also sell some farm and forest products at local markets.
Following the Han Chinese conquest of southern China during the Qing Dynasty, many Hmong were forced to move from the plains to inhospitable mountains to cultivate dry-field crops such as barley, corn, wheat, millet, buckwheat, and upland rice. Many Hmong also migrated to nearby countries, and continue with this traditional economy which, apart from farming, also includes animal husbandry, hunting, and fishing. Wild game used to be easily found in the forest, while pigs and poultry such as ducks and chickens have always been raised by Hmong families.
This traditional life based on highland agriculture has given rise to many social and religious practices that the Hmong still follow today, although many no longer farm.
HMONG ARTS AND CRAFTS:
Traditionally, Hmong arts are only functional arts with art objects fashioned to fulfil some functions in everyday life. They are not works that hang on walls or displayed in art galleries and museums for their aesthetic values like paintings and sculptures. The Hmong also used not to have performing arts like operas, dances and ballets – although this is now fast changing.
Hmong functional arts consist of:
1. Traditional Arts: functional art works and crafts such as:
-Embroideries (paj ntaub), made by hand to decorate traditional Hmong costumes for both men and women.
-Batik and cross-stitch.
-Story cloths/ wall hangings for wall decoration, quilts, pillow cases, and table clothes for general use.
2. Crafts: anything fashioned for use in everyday life such as jewellery and tools that require special skills or craftsmanship to make, including:
-Basket-weaving, and hemp cloth-making
-Black-smithing: making knives, machetes, axes and other tools.
-Silver-smithing: making jewellery such as necklace, ear rings, bracelets,
-Making musical instruments such as the qeej (reed pipe), flute, or ncas (mouth harp).
Today, the main fields of Hmong arts and crafts are:
-Traditional costumes and jewellery: now used interchangeably between all Hmong subgroups, whereas previously each sub-group had their own distinctive designs.
-Dance, music, theatre and movies: widely adopted by Hmong living in urban areas.
-Literature: previously it was mainly in oral form, but it now also includes written short stories, poems, novels and non-fiction books written in either Hmong or
English.
-Music: the reed pipe (qeej) continues to be used along with traditional singing, but modern music and singing have also become very popular.
-Modern arts: traditional ornaments continue to be used as markers of Hmong identity, but modern painting has been taken up by many young Hmong artists in America with
frequent exhibitions of their works held in galleries in cities where the Hmong live.
MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT
Hmong traditional music consists of solo instruments such as the reed pipe (qeej), the flute (raj)
and the Jewish harp (ncas). There are no group performances of instruments, except in the case
of reed pipe dances that may have two to six players.
Traditional Instruments
Qeej (pronounced Keng): a Hmong national icon, it is made up of six long bamboo pipes of
different sizes and lengths so as to give different musical notes. Once fitted with copper blades,
they are attached to a wooden blower. Playing the qeej requires many years of practice, as the
musical notes denote words of poetry and each note has to be carefully played. The instrument
can be used for enjoyment, but it is more commonly for playing funeral music.
Ncas (tsa or mouth harp), Xim Xaus (a two-string violin) and Raj (da or flute): these popular
musical instruments are used for general entertainment and courting, when young men want to
let girls they want to chat with know about their love messages and their presence outside the
girls‟ houses. The messages are in the musical notes. There are two kinds of flute: the long
flute (raj nplaim) and the short flute (raj pum liv).
Traditional Singing
Traditional singing can be solo or in pairs of male and female singers singing improvised poetry
that depicts love or other aspects of life, often in a competition match during New Year festivals
or other social occasions.
Modern Music
Band and Western instrumental music is a recent influence arising after the Hmong settlement in
Western countries and the emergence of modern band music. Such music uses Hmong lyrics and
tunes inspired by the music of neighbouring cultures such as Thai, Lao, Indian, Chinese, and
American pop, rap and hip hop.
Today, Hmong music has undergone tremendous change, and is the most productive area with
heavy borrowing and artistic influences from external foreign sources, or neighbouring cultures.
Although traditional singing and music are still much followed, modern music of all styles
ranging from Lao folk singing, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Western pop to the latest
hip hop have also been successfully attempted and marketed commercially in the Hmong
diaspora. The international Hmong community is constantly flooded with, and eagerly buy,
these music cd‟s produced in Laos and the USA.
INTRODUCTION
One of the many highland minorities in Asia, the Hmong are traditionally found scattered in the
The Hmong is one of four minorities classified by the Chinese government as belonging to the generic „Miao‟ nationality, a name given to them by the Chinese. These minorities call themselves by their own ethnic names. The Hmong are best known for their women‟s elaborate head ornaments, colourful costumes and beautiful silver jewellery. Their social organization is based on the clan system through the sharing of specific surnames similar to those of the Chinese. They practice animism, and most of those living in Asia still carry on subsistence farming as their main economic activity.
With the end of the civil war in Laos that coincided with the Vietnam War, many Hmong who fought on the side of the USA from 1961 to 1973 became refugees, and more than 300,000 have been resettled in Western countries.
The total number Miao people in China today is estimated to be 9.2 million, including 3.1 million
Hmong. The Hmong population today totals 4.5 million world-wide, if we add the following to the
China figure: 860,000 in Vietnam; 460,000 in Laos; 150,000 in Thailand; 2,000-3,000 in
Myanmar; 300,000 in the USA; 15,000 in France; 2,470 in Australia; 800 in Canada; 300 in
Argentina; and 110 in Germany.
The Hmong are one of the smaller ethnic communities in Australia. They live in Hobart,
Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, and Perth.DescriptionRELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
The Hmong religion is very similar to folk beliefs found among neighbouring groups in China and Laos, such as the Chinese, Khamu and Lao. It is an assemblage of many beliefs, based on ancestor worship and the practice of animism. Paying respect to ancestors and honouring them on important occasions of the year are practices that are likely to be borrowed from the Chinese, while beliefs in the existence of spirits are local influences that exist among rural inhabitants of Laos and other parts of Southeast Asia.
Traditionally, Hmong animism consists of beliefs in:
- The existence of the soul in people and its role in maintaining good health or in causing sickness,
- The existence of household spirits: door spirit, central post spirit (“xwm kab”) and other household spiritual protectors - all important in safeguarding the well-
being of household members. These house spirits are called “tamed spirits” (“dab nyeg”).
- The existence of natural spirits that can harm as well as protect one‟s health, such as spirits
of the woods and trees, rocks and streams, animals and birds, etc. These are known as
“wild spirits” (“dab qus” or spirits of nature).
The delicate balance between spiritual and physical well-being is maintained through:
a. Respect for and seeking protection from both sets of “tamed” and “wild” spirits, by making the spirits and dead ancestors offerings of food, animals, incense and paper money. This is sometimes called “ancestor-worship”, although this term does not accurately describe what the Hmong practice. They make offerings to ancestors
and spirits, but do not “worship” them.
b. Not offending both tamed and wild spirits by not going into domains reserved for
them or believed to be inhabited by them.
Depending on the need, religious rituals can be performed by the male head of the household or the spiritual head of a clan or cluster of male relatives. More difficult ceremonies such as soulcalling, or hu plig, are performed by ritual experts, or people who have especially learned to perform these ceremonies. Other rituals are performed by shamans for spiritual healing (txiv neeb), and by ceremonial experts skilled in funeral rites like the reed pipe player (txiv qeej), the funeral soul chanters (nkauj plig) and the funeral blessing singers (txiv xaiv).
TRADITIONAL LIFE: Early references in Chinese history first mention “Miao” people more than 4,000 years ago.
Under this name given by the Chinese, the ancestors of the Hmong were described as rebellious
and savage. They were said to have been defeated by the ancestors of the Han and banished
from the central plains of China by the legendary founders of the Chinese state in the third
millennium BC.
Like many other neighbouring groups, the Hmong have always been subsistence farmers in the mountainous areas of northern Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Burma, or in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi. They generally grow their crops through a system of shifting cultivation. Their economy is oriented towards family needs and selfsufficiency, but they also sell some farm and forest products at local markets.
Following the Han Chinese conquest of southern China during the Qing Dynasty, many Hmong were forced to move from the plains to inhospitable mountains to cultivate dry-field crops such as barley, corn, wheat, millet, buckwheat, and upland rice. Many Hmong also migrated to nearby countries, and continue with this traditional economy which, apart from farming, also includes animal husbandry, hunting, and fishing. Wild game used to be easily found in the forest, while pigs and poultry such as ducks and chickens have always been raised by Hmong families.
This traditional life based on highland agriculture has given rise to many social and religious practices that the Hmong still follow today, although many no longer farm.
HMONG ARTS AND CRAFTS:
Traditionally, Hmong arts are only functional arts with art objects fashioned to fulfil some functions in everyday life. They are not works that hang on walls or displayed in art galleries and museums for their aesthetic values like paintings and sculptures. The Hmong also used not to have performing arts like operas, dances and ballets – although this is now fast changing.
Hmong functional arts consist of:
1. Traditional Arts: functional art works and crafts such as:
-Embroideries (paj ntaub), made by hand to decorate traditional Hmong costumes for both men and women.
-Batik and cross-stitch.
-Story cloths/ wall hangings for wall decoration, quilts, pillow cases, and table clothes for general use.
2. Crafts: anything fashioned for use in everyday life such as jewellery and tools that require special skills or craftsmanship to make, including:
-Basket-weaving, and hemp cloth-making
-Black-smithing: making knives, machetes, axes and other tools.
-Silver-smithing: making jewellery such as necklace, ear rings, bracelets,
-Making musical instruments such as the qeej (reed pipe), flute, or ncas (mouth harp).
Today, the main fields of Hmong arts and crafts are:
-Traditional costumes and jewellery: now used interchangeably between all Hmong subgroups, whereas previously each sub-group had their own distinctive designs.
-Dance, music, theatre and movies: widely adopted by Hmong living in urban areas.
-Literature: previously it was mainly in oral form, but it now also includes written short stories, poems, novels and non-fiction books written in either Hmong or
English.
-Music: the reed pipe (qeej) continues to be used along with traditional singing, but modern music and singing have also become very popular.
-Modern arts: traditional ornaments continue to be used as markers of Hmong identity, but modern painting has been taken up by many young Hmong artists in America with
frequent exhibitions of their works held in galleries in cities where the Hmong live.
MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT
Hmong traditional music consists of solo instruments such as the reed pipe (qeej), the flute (raj)
and the Jewish harp (ncas). There are no group performances of instruments, except in the case
of reed pipe dances that may have two to six players.
Traditional Instruments
Qeej (pronounced Keng): a Hmong national icon, it is made up of six long bamboo pipes of
different sizes and lengths so as to give different musical notes. Once fitted with copper blades,
they are attached to a wooden blower. Playing the qeej requires many years of practice, as the
musical notes denote words of poetry and each note has to be carefully played. The instrument
can be used for enjoyment, but it is more commonly for playing funeral music.
Ncas (tsa or mouth harp), Xim Xaus (a two-string violin) and Raj (da or flute): these popular
musical instruments are used for general entertainment and courting, when young men want to
let girls they want to chat with know about their love messages and their presence outside the
girls‟ houses. The messages are in the musical notes. There are two kinds of flute: the long
flute (raj nplaim) and the short flute (raj pum liv).
Traditional Singing
Traditional singing can be solo or in pairs of male and female singers singing improvised poetry
that depicts love or other aspects of life, often in a competition match during New Year festivals
or other social occasions.
Modern Music
Band and Western instrumental music is a recent influence arising after the Hmong settlement in
Western countries and the emergence of modern band music. Such music uses Hmong lyrics and
tunes inspired by the music of neighbouring cultures such as Thai, Lao, Indian, Chinese, and
American pop, rap and hip hop.
Today, Hmong music has undergone tremendous change, and is the most productive area with
heavy borrowing and artistic influences from external foreign sources, or neighbouring cultures.
Although traditional singing and music are still much followed, modern music of all styles
ranging from Lao folk singing, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Western pop to the latest
hip hop have also been successfully attempted and marketed commercially in the Hmong
diaspora. The international Hmong community is constantly flooded with, and eagerly buy,
these music cd‟s produced in Laos and the USA.
INTRODUCTION
One of the many highland minorities in Asia, the Hmong are traditionally found scattered in the
Connections
Oral HistoryThe Way We Were - People of FairfieldCollectionCommunities on the Move - Fairfield's Multicultural Communities
Hmong Community. Fairfield City Heritage Collection, accessed 05/04/2026, https://heritagecollection.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/4221