What do you consider yourself?

[memelee]

So, that's the question. What are you?

 

[Mistspyed]

Of course I'll consider myself Hmong b/c that's the name we give ourself. Not some kind of name chinese, or Vietnamese give us. What the heck is a Miao anyway? What does it mean exactly I read on YouTube and it says that it means seedling or something like that in Malaysia. But in Vietnam it means cat, they call Hmong people "the cat people." I know this b/c I meet a professor from there once and I was just outraged when he made this comparison. I mean it is pretty offensive to compare human to animal and I don't even like cat.

 

[memelee]

Of course I'll consider myself Hmong b/c that's the name we give ourself. Not some kind of name chinese, or Vietnamese give us. What the heck is a Miao anyway? What does it mean exactly I read on YouTube and it says that it means seedling or something like that in Malaysia. But in Vietnam it means cat, they call Hmong people "the cat people." I know this b/c I meet a professor from there once and I was just outraged when he made this comparison. I mean it is pretty offensive to compare human to animal and I don't even like cat.

wth. that is offensive! by the way, I have no idea what Miao is but yes it means "Cat" in Viet and Thai. I wonder why it's Miao though. We will never know.

Sorry, I just wanted to know who consider themselves a Miao and Hmong lol Since I had a random debate with people on Facebook about it haha

Not to be ignorant but I don't consider Miaos as Hmong even if they are, just because I don't understand them. There over 60 dialects in China, if I don't understand them, they are not Hmong but Miao.

How about you? What's your opinion? anyone?

 

[kulyia]

Omg i had so much typed but im on the phone so you can easily press things and jump to abdifferent page. And all my hard work replying back has gone to waste. Dahhhh. Ill respond as soon as i get on a comp

 

[kulyia]

I rep hmong. And i also take pride in miao. I say so because some miao do still speak the language but just like hmong in the USA, the language is dying out. Miao has been living in china fpr god knows how many years and hmong has been living in the US for like 40 years. Some hmong kids these days halready have trouble finishing a sentence in hmong either because of bad pronouciation or simplynot knowing the word. I admit there are certain hmong words i do not know but i can read and write majority and is about 90% fluent. Same goes to miao, the language is a mixture from over the years and is begining to die out also but at a more advanced level compared to hmong. Miaos vocabulary is like hmongs.There are certain words we adopted from the thai folks and laotains, however in their case they adopted it from the other 55+ minority groups.

I read a book on hmong history a few years ago and in it, they talked about the time when miao and hmong were still One and entered china. We wouldnt follow their customs which upsetted the chinese people. The chinese people decided to attack us, pushing us to no where but the mountains. This is where many of the hmong suav movies themed at. And this is also where hmong had several succesful defeats against the chinese until this guy came and slashed someones throat. The Ones left behind in china were turned to slaves, which im guessing is now what we call Miao. And the Ones that escaped from the mountains to down south, became Hmong. I believe we are the same but if you ask me am i hmong or miao then i will say hmong. Miao and hmong has seperated and.sincebthen we both have branched out. Since then, we now have our own histories and to call me miao is like calling me a Lee when i am a Vang. Hopefully that made sense. This is my two cent. This is what i believe and it has been embedded into my head and heart. I fully respect your decisions btw. Please dont attack me lol

one question, how do we know if this Is even the real language of our people? Lmao man im thinking too much. Lol okay good night and ttytwo soon

 

[memelee]

I rep hmong. And i also take pride in miao. I say so because some miao do still speak the language but just like hmong in the USA, the language is dying out. Miao has been living in china fpr god knows how many years and hmong has been living in the US for like 40 years. Some hmong kids these days halready have trouble finishing a sentence in hmong either because of bad pronouciation or simplynot knowing the word. I admit there are certain hmong words i do not know but i can read and write majority and is about 90% fluent. Same goes to miao, the language is a mixture from over the years and is begining to die out also but at a more advanced level compared to hmong. Miaos vocabulary is like hmongs.There are certain words we adopted from the thai folks and laotains, however in their case they adopted it from the other 55+ minority groups.

I read a book on hmong history a few years ago and in it, they talked about the time when miao and hmong were still One and entered china. We wouldnt follow their customs which upsetted the chinese people. The chinese people decided to attack us, pushing us to no where but the mountains. This is where many of the hmong suav movies themed at. And this is also where hmong had several succesful defeats against the chinese until this guy came and slashed someones throat. The Ones left behind in china were turned to slaves, which im guessing is now what we call Miao. And the Ones that escaped from the mountains to down south, became Hmong. I believe we are the same but if you ask me am i hmong or miao then i will say hmong. Miao and hmong has seperated and.sincebthen we both have branched out. Since then, we now have our own histories and to call me miao is like calling me a Lee when i am a Vang. Hopefully that made sense. This is my two cent. This is what i believe and it has been embedded into my head and heart. I fully respect your decisions btw. Please dont attack me lol

one question, how do we know if this Is even the real language of our people? Lmao man im thinking too much. Lol okay good night and ttytwo soon

Thanks for sharing your input. rather than to attack me. lol Thank you. hehe Perhaps do you know what the book you read is called? I'll like to get my hands on it and educate myself. hehe There is so very little information about us, Hmong. How we came to be and etc. which kinda suck. however, i have the same question too. LOL how do we know if this is our real language of people? haha I guess as long as we Hmong in the U.S understand each other, then that's all it matters. lol

 

[bakaPX]

Of course I'll consider myself Hmong b/c that's the name we give ourself. Not some kind of name chinese, or Vietnamese give us. What the heck is a Miao anyway? What does it mean exactly I read on YouTube and it says that it means seedling or something like that in Malaysia. But in Vietnam it means cat, they call Hmong people "the cat people." I know this b/c I meet a professor from there once and I was just outraged when he made this comparison. I mean it is pretty offensive to compare human to animal and I don't even like cat.

Miao means weed in Chinese. As in weed that you have to get rid of. -source: History teacher

"Even ethnographers studying the Hmong people in Southeast Asia often referred to them as Meo, a corruption of Miao applied by Thai and Lao people to the Hmong. Although 'Meo' was an official term, it was often used as an insult against Hmong people and it is considered to be highly derogatory" -source: Wikipedia

 

[Mistspyed]

^memelee, sorry I didn't mean to attack you. There's nothing wrong with your poll. I was directing my anger toward the vietnamese dude and the people whom are rude calling us cats and weeds.

 

[mainhiathao]

hmong!

 

[cecilia]

I rep hmong. And i also take pride in miao. I say so because some miao do still speak the language but just like hmong in the USA, the language is dying out. Miao has been living in china fpr god knows how many years and hmong has been living in the US for like 40 years. Some hmong kids these days halready have trouble finishing a sentence in hmong either because of bad pronouciation or simplynot knowing the word. I admit there are certain hmong words i do not know but i can read and write majority and is about 90% fluent. Same goes to miao, the language is a mixture from over the years and is begining to die out also but at a more advanced level compared to hmong. Miaos vocabulary is like hmongs.There are certain words we adopted from the thai folks and laotains, however in their case they adopted it from the other 55+ minority groups.

I read a book on hmong history a few years ago and in it, they talked about the time when miao and hmong were still One and entered china. We wouldnt follow their customs which upsetted the chinese people. The chinese people decided to attack us, pushing us to no where but the mountains. This is where many of the hmong suav movies themed at. And this is also where hmong had several succesful defeats against the chinese until this guy came and slashed someones throat. The Ones left behind in china were turned to slaves, which im guessing is now what we call Miao. And the Ones that escaped from the mountains to down south, became Hmong. I believe we are the same but if you ask me am i hmong or miao then i will say hmong. Miao and hmong has seperated and.sincebthen we both have branched out. Since then, we now have our own histories and to call me miao is like calling me a Lee when i am a Vang. Hopefully that made sense. This is my two cent. This is what i believe and it has been embedded into my head and heart. I fully respect your decisions btw. Please dont attack me lol

one question, how do we know if this Is even the real language of our people? Lmao man im thinking too much. Lol okay good night and ttytwo soon

Kulyia, kuv nyiam koj cov lus muaj kuab no ^_^

 

[memelee]

^memelee, sorry I didn't mean to attack you. There's nothing wrong with your poll. I was directing my anger toward the vietnamese dude and the people whom are rude calling us cats and weeds.

It's okay and sorry I wasn't referring to you, that you were attacking me hehe my bad.
It's just that some people (no names) tend to attack than to share their knowledge lol
And I feel you, calling human beings referring to cats and weeds is very disrespect!
I want to know what made them think they were better than the Hmong, did we really have it all? jw lol

 

[kulyia]

Memelee, i read the book when i was a senior in high school but now ive graduated. If i do visit my english teacher in the future ill make sure to get the title if you want to read any hmong books then i highly recommend Bamboo Among the Oak. It made me cry during ssr lol. Its like chicken soup but the Hmong version. Man chicken soup should have asian editions lol. I would so buy it.

And thank you Cecilia! :]

 

[bakaPX]

Memelee, i read the book when i was a senior in high school but now ive graduated. If i do visit my english teacher in the future ill make sure to get the title if you want to read any hmong books then i highly recommend Bamboo Among the Oak. It made me cry during ssr lol. Its like chicken soup but the Hmong version. Man chicken soup should have asian editions lol. I would so buy it.

And thank you Cecilia! :]

Ooh, that book is good. We just read some stories in it for English.
If you like that, you should read The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang.

 

[kulyia]

Ive heard so much about it wish i could of checked it out during high school when it was still free. Im not too sure about college libraries. Do you know if theres a fee to check it out or? Its a community

 

[dreams_x]

Hmong

 

[bakaPX]

Ive heard so much about it wish i could of checked it out during high school when it was still free. Im not too sure about college libraries. Do you know if theres a fee to check it out or? Its a community

I'm not sure cause I'm not in college. -.- But it should be available in public libraries if I'm correct.

 

[aikoden]

I consider myself both Hmong & Miao and respect it truely

If you know your history.. Miao was used as a term for all the other ethnic groups who weren't Chinese in China, but in today's society Miao has become the term for the Hmong in China.

 

[memelee]

Memelee, i read the book when i was a senior in high school but now ive graduated. If i do visit my english teacher in the future ill make sure to get the title if you want to read any hmong books then i highly recommend Bamboo Among the Oak. It made me cry during ssr lol. Its like chicken soup but the Hmong version. Man chicken soup should have asian editions lol. I would so buy it.

Thank you. Please do get back at me and thank you for suggesting. I will check it out.