Hmong's written history
Posted on 21 July 2008
I may not know much about the Hmong history or tradition, but I do plan on keeping this tradition and history alive. I think we as Hmong people have a real rich and vibrant history, culture and tradition. Because we did not have a written history, our folktales, stories, myths, and had been passed through the word of mouths, only to have been changed from generation to generation. The folktales, history, myths and stories we had been told today may be a little different 100 years ago, but I still believe it is a vital part of Hmong history.
It is to believe that before the war between the Hmong people and the Chinese empires, we the Hmong people had our own written language, but because of the war, we were force to discard all our written language, many Hmong people decided to put the writing on our garment, but as the years pass by, because we were forced to not learn our written history by the Chinese government, we somehow lost our written language, which now, all it looks to us is just simple patterns that had been sewn onto our garments.
Now after many centuries after the war between the Hmong and the Chinese people, we finally once again, started a new written language. From what I’ve read the written language that we use as to date, is a written language invited by a Frenchman and a Hmong man. It is based on the alphabet and the sounds it makes.
I myself had not yet mastered the Hmong writing or reading, but I someday would like to learn it fully. To be honest I find it a little hard when it comes to writing in Hmong, although I do find it easier to read than it is to write. I know isn’t it weird. It still takes me a very long time to read, but my reading is much better than my writing when it comes to Hmong language, although I do speak perfect Hmong. I actually speak better Hmong than my friends who can read and write in Hmong.
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