Who are the Hmong people?

In late May I spent a week at a Vietnamese farm school teaching English, and it was here that I first learned of the Hmong people.

On the first day we were harvesting pineapples and I was helping a young French boy called Ali, we started chatting and I asked where his family lived, he said him and his Mum live in Hanoi, but he doesn't have a Dad. 

Later on he comes up in conversation with one of the teachers, who tells me that Ali’s Dad belongs to the Hmong people, and lives in Sa Pa.

The Hmongs originated in China, later migrating to Thailand, Vietnam and Laos due to conflicts with the Han dynasty, despite living in peace together for many years. As the populations of both groups increased, the volume of fertile land was not enough to support them both, resulting in disputes. The Han Chinese believed that the Hmong should adopt their culture, and so attempted to force the Hmong to change their way of life. The lack of surrender from the Hmong resulted in disputes, eventually leading to their emigration.

In Vietnam, they now reside in the mountainous regions in the North, the most widely known ones being; Ha Giang, Cao Bang and Sapa.

Hmong traditional religious views branch from pantheism and animism, the idea that all things contain spirits, even those non-living. They also stress the importance of paying respects to their ancestors through offerings and rituals. It is believed this brings them good fortune. 

They lead very simple lives, with few resources and little access to education. Their culture greatly differs from that of the Vietnamese, and lots of the older generation do not tend to speak much Vietnamese, they still use the Hmong language. Historically, they have always been self sufficient; growing all the food they needed, and crafting supplies, living outside of society in the mountains. For some, their lifestyle is thought to have been formed as a result of their ostracism from society after their migration into Vietnam, and so could this be the reason for Ali's comment about his father?

After returning from the school, I went on a two day trekking trip in Sa Pa, and was hosted for a night by Mama Zuzu, a Hmong woman, which gave me the opportunity to experience their customs properly. Mama Zuzu lives in a very rural area, a 13km off road walk (definitely more of a hands and knees crawl) from Sa Pa, where the closest supermarket is a 40 minute walk and having neighbours is a foreign concept. 

During the trek some of her friends came to join us, and the common question we were all asked is "are you married"? To their shock I said no, and they said that in their culture the women marry and start families quite early, Mama Zuzu's daughter following the same tradition, aged 20 and married and with a baby on the way. All the women wore very colourful clothing; especially bright pleated skirts and colourful plaid head wraps. Their clothing is made from hemp and then dyed using indigo, which grows abundantly in Sa Pa. 

Me trying to dye my hands using the indigo outside Mama Zuzu's house

On the first night Mama Zuzu let me try on her traditional handmade clothes, which she said she wears to special occasions. Sadly the clothes didn't quite fit (given that Mama Zuzu barely clears 5 feet). 

Me and Mama Zuzu!

Other than tourism, the main trade amongst the Hmongs is the rice terraces, where all of the family help out, day in day out, regardless of the weather conditions. Their location in the mountains is beneficial due to the space for the rice terraces, however it can also be a problem. I learned from Mama Zuzu that in September 2024, a typhoon caused great damage to one of the small rural towns outside Sa Pa. It triggered a landslide which resulted in the death of 6 people, as well as destroying the rice terraces below. This tragic event not only affected this small village, but the whole of Sa Pa. All trekking tours were cancelled due to flooding, causing a great loss of income for many Hmong people who offer home stays, as well as causing some to lose their jobs on the rice terraces that were destroyed during the landslide. Fortunately, reparations were supported by international organisations to deliver resources and aid during the aftermath of the typhoon. Today Sa Pa has fully recovered, tourism continues as normal and the rice terraces below are back in use, however the sadness of the losses, one being a pregnant mother with two young girls, is still felt throughout Sa Pa. 

Having the opportunity to learn about this culture in the flesh was a great experience. My time spent with Mama Zuzu taught me a lot more about the Hmong people, a lot of which I realise could not be properly understood from just reading about them online. The Hmong people have a strong sense of community amongst themselves, a strong work ethic, and despite having fewer resources, they maximise them and are able to live easily and sustainably. Despite being perceived as "outsiders", from my perspective the Hmong people of Sa Pa are content living in the more isolated areas, and take great pride in sharing their culture with others.