Culture And Customs Of The Hmong

This book is the first to balance an account of the traditional life and history of the Hmong as a global people, with a full account of their modern, urban lives. Culture and Customs of the Hmong takes a global approach to understanding the Hmong, a people who have lived in China for more than 4,000 years. It is the first book to combine an account of the traditional life and history of the Hmong with a full account of their modern, urban lifestyle, balancing traditional lifeways and practices with modern, evolving customs. The book is unique in dealing, not only with the Hmong in the United States, Australia, and other Western nations, but also with their traditional and changing lives in their Asian homelands of Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. This broad international perspective allows readers to look at the Hmong through the complex interplay of the many social, historical, economic, and cultural influences they have been exposed to in their worldwide migration, and at how they manage to maintain their many traditions across national boundaries and great distances.

This book is the first to balance an account of the traditional life and history of the Hmong as a global people, with a full account of their modern, urban lives. Culture and Customs of the Hmong takes a global approach to understanding the Hmong, a people who have lived in China for more than 4,000 years. It is the first book to combine an account of the traditional life and history of the Hmong with a full account of their modern, urban lifestyle, balancing traditional lifeways and practices with modern, evolving customs. The book is unique in dealing, not only with the Hmong in the United States, Australia, and other Western nations, but also with their traditional and changing lives in their Asian homelands of Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. This broad international perspective allows readers to look at the Hmong through the complex interplay of the many social, historical, economic, and cultural influences they have been exposed to in their worldwide migration, and at how they manage to maintain their many traditions across national boundaries and great distances.

Presenting a holistic perspective of the Hmong way of life, this book touches on every aspect of the Hmong culture, including an overview of their history and traditions, relationships between Hmong parents and their children, the rites and traditions of Hmong wedding and funeral ceremonies, the celebration of the Hmong New Year, home restrictions and other superstitious taboos, arts and politics. The book features and explains many Hmong words, phrases and proverbs. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

This first ethnography of the Hmong in China is based on Nicholas Tapp’s extensive fieldwork in a Hmong village in Sichuan. Basing his analysis on the concepts of context and agency, Tapp discusses the “paradoxical ambivalence at the heart of Hmong culture.” A paradox arises in the historical and ethnographic construction of the identity of the Hmong by conscious contrast with, and in opposition to, a majority Han Chinese identity at the same time that large parts of Hmong culture are shared with the Chinese and may be the results of historical processes of adoption, absorption, mimesis, or emulation. Tapp examines the Hmong rituals of shamanism, ancestral respect, and death and provides details on livelihood, kinship, local organization, and intellectual culture. The book is enhanced with thorough accounts of ceremonies, rituals, and folktales, with translations of Hmong songs and stories. This publication has also been published in paperback (no longer available).

The Hmong are among Australia's newest immigrant populations. They came as refugees from Laos after the communist revolution of 1975 ended their life there as highland shifting cultivators. The Hmong originate from southern China where many still remain, and others live in Vietnam, Thailand and Burma. Hmong refugees are now also settled in the USA,

Describes the traditions of the Hmong people; how they live on a daily basis; and how they are working to preserve their heritage despite technology.

Almost no one in the West had heard of the Hmong before National Geographic ran a cover story on the Southeast Asian ethnic group that had allied with the United States in the Vietnam War, and few knew of them before their arrival in the U.S. and other Western nations in 1975. Originating in China centuries ago, they have been known by various names--Miao, Meo, Miaozi, Meng or San Miao--some of them derogatory. The Hmong in the West are war-displaced refugees from China and Laos, though they have been misidentified as belonging to other ethnic groups. This mislabeling has caused confusion about the Hmong and their history. This book details the history of the Hmong and their journey from Eastern to Western countries, providing a clear understanding of an immigrant culture little understood by the American public. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.