Miao
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Who are the Miao people?
The Miao are a group of mountain-dwelling people who live in China, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, and Thailand. They speak languages of the Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) family. The term Miao is an official Chinese term for four distinct groups of people: the Hmu, the Qo Xiong, the A-Hmao, and the Hmong. There are approximately nine million Miao in China.
Agriculture is the primary way the Miao subsist. Traditionally, the Miao had little political organization above the village level. Most Miao practice ancestor worship and believe in spirits.
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Where do most Miao people live?
The majority of Miao people live in China, where they are an officially recognized group consisting of the Hmu, Qo Xiong, A-Hmao, and Hmong peoples. There are approximately nine million Miao in China, with two-thirds residing in Guizhou province, where they share autonomous prefectures with the Dong and Buyi groups. The Miao are also located throughout the central south and southwestern provinces of China, with smaller populations in eastern China.
Outside of China, the Miao can be found in Vietnam, Laos, Burma, and Thailand. Since the late 18th century, the Hmong, one of the Miao groups, have migrated out of China, with around 1.2 million settling in the rugged uplands of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and eastern Myanmar. Additionally, there are Hmong communities in the United States, France, Australia, French Guiana, Canada, and Argentina.
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What languages do the Miao people speak?
The Miao people, residing in the mountains of China, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, and Thailand, speak languages from the Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) family. In China, Miao is the official term for four distinct groups: the Hmu, Qo Xiong, A-Hmao, and Hmong, each with mutually unintelligible languages.
The Hmongic (Miao) subfamily includes diverse languages like Hmu, Hmong, Qo Xiong, Bunu, and Ho Ne. The Mienic (Yao) subfamily includes Iu Mien, Mun, and Biao Min. The customs, histories, and languages of the four Miao groups are quite different. The Miao-Yao language group, also referred to as Hmong-Mien, is a designation of Chinese origin that considers culture, politics, and self-identification, in addition to linguistic factors.
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What are some traditional customs or festivals of the Miao?
The Miao people, also known as Hmong-Mien, encompass various subgroups with distinct customs and histories. Ancestor worship and belief in spirits are common religious practices among the Miao. Shamans play a role in exorcising malevolent spirits and recalling souls, with animal sacrifice being a widespread practice.
Courtship customs include antiphonal singing and a ball-throwing game between boys and girls from different villages during the New Year. While polygyny is traditional, it is limited to wealthier families. Typically, households consist of multiple generations, with the youngest son inheriting the house.
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How has the history of the Miao people influenced their culture today?
The Miao, also known as Hmong-Mien, are a group of mountain-dwelling people living in China, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, and Thailand. Consisting of four distinct groups, the customs and histories of the Miao differ significantly, with mutually unintelligible languages.
Historically, the Miao had little political organization above the village level. Today, ancestor worship and belief in spirits are common, although some have converted to Christianity, and educated Miao in China may lack religious faith.
Despite cultural shifts, many traditions endure in modern Miao culture. Young people can select their own partners, and while shifting cultivation and opium production have largely ceased, agriculture remains the chief means of subsistence.
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Miao, mountain-dwelling peoples of China, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, and Thailand, who speak languages of the Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) family.
Miao is the official Chinese term for four distinct groups of people who are only distantly related through language or culture: the Hmu people of southeast Guizhou, the Qo Xiong people of west Hunan, the A-Hmao people of Yunnan, and the Hmong people of Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi, and Yunnan (see China: People). There are some nine million Miao in China, of whom the Hmong constitute probably one-third, according to the French scholar Jacques Lemoine, writing in the Hmong Studies Journal in 2005. The Miao are related in language and some other cultural features to the Yao; among these peoples the two groups with the closest degree of relatedness are the Hmong (Miao) and the Iu Mien (Yao).
The customs and histories of the four Miao groups are quite different, and they speak mutually unintelligible languages. Closest linguistically to the Hmong are the A-Hmao, but the two groups still cannot understand each others’ languages. Of all the Miao peoples, only the Hmong have migrated out of China.
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Agriculture is the chief means of subsistence for all the groups, who in the past practiced the shifting cultivation of rice and corn (maize), together with the opium poppy. Opium was sold in lowland markets and brought in silver, which was used as bridewealth payments. Shifting cultivation and opium production have now largely ceased, and in Thailand the Hmong have turned to the permanent field cultivation of market garden vegetables, fruit, corn, and flowers.
Traditionally, the Miao had little political organization above the village level, and the highest position was that of village leader. In China the Miao have come under the political organization common to the whole of China; where minority populations are dense, they live in autonomous counties, townships, or prefectures, where a certain amount of self-representation is allowed.
In religion, most Miao practice ancestor worship and believe in a wide variety of spirits. They have shamans who may exorcise malevolent spirits or recall the soul of a sick patient, and animal sacrifice is widespread (see shamanism; soul loss). However, a complete lack of religious faith is common among educated Miao in China, while significant proportions of the A-Hmao in China and the Hmong in Southeast Asia have become Christian.
Young people are permitted to select their own mates and premarital sex is tolerated, although sexual regimes are stricter in China, as are controls on reproduction. One form of institutionalized courtship involves antiphonal singing; another is the throwing back and forth of a ball between groups of boys and girls from different villages, at the New Year. Polygyny is traditional but in practice has been limited to the well-to-do. The household is usually made up of several generations, including married sons and their families. The youngest son usually stays with the parents and inherits the house, while elder sons may move out with their own families to form new households.
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