The Hmong do not have their own written history, but rely on oral history passed down by older generations. Consequently, most of what we know about the Hmong has been written by outsiders, very often with "prejudiced observations". However, what seems to be consistent is the fact that the Hmong living in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and several countries of resettlement migrated from the mountainous areas of southern China. In China, the Hmong are referred to as "Miao,"
meaning "barbarians," the term the Chinese use to refer to all minority groups who have different beliefs and practices from their own. The Hmong do not accept this. Hence, they call themselves "Hmong," which some take to mean "free people," a term that I believe best portrays the Hmong wherever they live.
In early times, the Hmong were said to live in lowland valleys. Early Chinese history described the Hmong as "an ancient people who occupied the fertile Yellow River basin long before the Chinese themselves migrated into the area". Because of wars, suppression and the demand for assimilation from the Chinese, the Hmong retreated into the mountains where "the freedom to live as they pleased became the prime consolation" of their life. From the late sixteenth century, there were many wars between the Chinese and the Hmong, but the bloodiest wars occurred between 1855 and 1881, forcing many Hmong to migrate southwards into Southeast Asia. It is said that the Hmong began to move into Laos somewhere between 1815 and 1818. They settled in the mountainous areas, where there was no competition with those who occupied the land earlier. Later on, they moved into Xieng Khouang province in eastern Laos, where there were plenty of lush and uninhabited mountains. In their early years of settlement in Laos, the Hmong lived in a relatively peaceful environment. However, they rebelled against the French when the French imposed a tax on them in 1918, and the rebellion ended in 1921. The bloodiest war, which decimated many Hmong lives and changed their way of living, was the civil war in Laos between 1949 and 1975.
The Hmong began their migration into Thailand around 1855. Most Hmong in Thailand live in mountainous areas in the north, including Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son. Cooper state that by 1929 there were Hmong in Tak province, a town located at the southern tip of the mountain range stretching north into the southern provinces of China, where most Hmong still live today. Compared to their lives in China and Laos, the Hmong in Thailand live
relatively peacefully, since they have not been involved in any civil war such as in Laos, or suppressions as in China, except for the so-called "Red Meo War," a rebellion that resulted in the destruction of many Hmong villages and the resettlement of many Hmong in the lowlands or flight into the jungles.
