The traditional social organisation of the Hmong is based on the clan. Each clan is made of lineages, all the members of which acknowledge a common founding male ancestor.
The
main subgroups present in Vietnam are the White Hmong, the Hmong
Leng, Hmong Pua, Hmong Shi or Sheu and the black Hmong. In Sa Pa, the
Hmong Leng are the most numerous.Originally, the Chinese hmong
populations used to live in the wide plains south of the Yangtse
river. As of the 16th century, they started to migrate to the
south-east under the demographic, territorial and political pressure
of the Chinese.
During the first half of the 19th
century, the Hmong left the Chinese territory and settled in
neighbouring countries. At the time, the great Taiping rebellion
(1850-1872) was disturbing all southern China (Guizhou, Yunnan and
Sichuan provinces) causing long periods of famine that pushed numerous
ethnic groups
to go south. The Hmong entered the Indo-Chinese peninsula through
North Vietnam, their presence near Lai Chau was reported in 1848.
These successive waves of migration were probably facilitated by the
hmong tradition of shifting cultivation and their close contacts with
the Chinese caravaneers who had been travelling for centuries through
the mountains of southern Asia.
Today, the traditional agrarian
economy is still based on family farms raising pigs, chickens,
buffaloes and horses, on food crops (rice, corn, manioc) and cash
crops (cardamom and vegetables).The traditional social organisation of
the Hmong is based on the clan. Each clan is made of lineages, all
the members of which acknowledge a common founding male ancestor. In
the Hmong household, up to four different generations may be gathered
under the same roof. The household is the most important economic,
political and ritual unit. The villages perched on the mountain slopes
house several clans.
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