Editing Hmong people (section)

==Etymology==
{{see also|Miao people#Nomenclature: Miao or Hmong}}

The term ''Hmong'' is the English pronunciation of the Hmong's native name. It is a singular and plural noun (e.g., Japanese, French, etc.). Very little is known about the native Hmong name as it is not mentioned in Chinese historical records, since the Han identified the Hmong as Miao. The meaning of it is debatable and no one is sure of its origin, although it can be traced back to several provinces in China. However, Hmong Americans and Hmong Laotians often associate it with "Free" and/or "Hmoov" (Fate); it serves as a reminder to them of their history of fighting oppression.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Hmong means free: life in Laos and America |date=1994 |publisher=Temple University Press |editor=Sucheng Chan |isbn=978-1-4399-0139-7 |location=Philadelphia |oclc=318215953}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |title=Being Hmong Means Being Free |publisher=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/video/wpt-documentaries-being-hmong-means-being-free/ |language=en |access-date=2023-01-28}}</ref>

Before the 1970s, the term ''Miao'' or ''Meo'' (i.e. barbarians, wild, seedlings, and even "Sons of the Soil") was used in reference to the Hmong.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Constructing an Ethnicity: Miao in the Chinese Narratives during the Qing Era |url=https://irishjournalofasianstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ijas-6-she-38-54.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615181558/https://irishjournalofasianstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ijas-6-she-38-54.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=15 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mottin |first=Jean |title=History of the Hmong |publisher=Odeon Store |year=1980 |location=Bangkok Thailand |pages=3 |language=English}}</ref> In the 1970s, Dr. Yang Dao, a Hmong American scholar, who at the time was the head of the Human Resource Department of the Ministry of Planning in the Royal Lao Government of Laos, advocated for the term "Hmong" with the support of clan leaders and [[Vang Pao|General Vang Pao]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>Lee 1996</ref><ref>Yang 2009</ref> Yang Dao had insisted that the terms "Meo" and "Miao" were both unacceptable as his people had always called themselves by the name "Hmong," which he defined as "free men".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Dr. Yang Dao (Yaj Daus) |url=http://hmonglessons.com/the-hmong/hmong-leaders/dr-yang-dao-yaj-daus/ |access-date=2022-12-10 |language=en-US}}</ref> Surrounding countries began to use the term "Hmong" after the [[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]] used it during Immigration screening in Thailand's [[Ban Vinai Refugee Camp]].<ref>{{Citation |title="Hmong not Meo" | date=18 August 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KwLK5p3-cA |language=en |access-date=2023-01-27}}</ref> In 1994, [[Vang Pobzeb|Pobzeb Vang]] registered the term "Hmong" with the [[United Nations]], making it the proper term to identify the Hmong people internationally.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-09-22 |title=2005 Senate Joint Resolution 37 |url=http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2005/related/proposals/sjr37.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226231548/http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2005/related/proposals/sjr37.pdf |archive-date=2017-02-26 |access-date=2023-04-20 |website=docs.legis.wisconsin.gov}}</ref>

Soon after, there was a political push from Hmong American politicians and activists to replace the term Miao with the term Hmong in China with little to no success. To date, China is the only country that does not recognize the term Hmong. Rather, they are still categorized under the umbrella term Miáo ({{lang|zh|苗}}) along with three other indigenous groups of people. Historically, the term Miao carried strong pejorative connotations in both China and Southeast Asia. In modern times, however, it has lost such negative connotations in China and has since been officially recognized as an ethnicity, which includes the Hmong. The Hmong in China are often happy or proud to be known as Miao while most Hmong outside China find it offensive.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee, Tapp |first=Gary Yia, Nicolas |title=Culture and Customs of the Hmong |publisher=Greenwood |year=2010 |page=4 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Who are the Hmong? – Hmong American Center |date=4 October 2018 |url=https://www.hmongamericancenter.org/ufaqs/who-are-the-hmong/ |access-date=2023-02-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Little is known about the origin of the Miao term and the people it referenced historically, since the [[Han Chinese|Han]] used it loosely to identify non-Han in Southern China until the [[Tang dynasty|Tang Dynasty]] when evidence of its association with the Hmong became more apparent.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tapp |first=Nicholas |title=Cultural Accommodations in Southwest China: The "Han Miao" and Problems in the Ethnography of the Hmong |publisher=Nanzan University |year=2002 |pages=77–104}}</ref> Its origin can be dated before the Qin dynasty (221&nbsp;BCE). Thereafter it was perceived as barbaric, and resurfaced more often in Chinese historical records during the Miao's rebellions against the Ming and Qing dynasties between the 1300s and early 1900s that are still chanted by guides in most Hmong funerals today when guiding the spirits of the deceased individuals to their origins so they can reincarnate.<ref>{{Citation |title=The security poem - Qeej Ntaus Rog |date=18 May 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84ttupvg-IY |access-date=2024-01-15 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=qeej ntaus rog. ep1 |date=6 April 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wKLUEsd43k |access-date=2024-01-15 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Miao Ethnic Minority |date=13 April 2015 |url=https://www.asiaculturaltravel.co.uk/miao-ethnic-minority/}}</ref> The term Miao was more of a stereotype such as uncivilized, uncooperative, uncultivated, harmful, and inhumane than a name of an ethnic group and was used in daily conversations as an expression for ugliness and primitivity.<ref name=":1" />

In Southeast Asia, Hmong people are referred to by other names, including: [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] {{lang|vi|Mèo}}, {{lang|vi|Mông}} or {{lang|vi|H'Mông}}; [[Lao language|Lao]] {{Transliteration|lo|Maew}} ({{Lang|lo|ແມ້ວ}}) or {{Transliteration|lo|Mong}} ({{Lang|lo|ມົ້ງ}}); [[Thai language|Thai]] {{Transliteration|th|Maew}} ({{Lang|th|แม้ว}}) or {{Transliteration|th|Mong}} ({{Lang|th|ม้ง}}); and [[Burmese language|Burmese]] {{Transliteration|my|mun lu-myo}} ({{lang|my|မုံလူမျိုး}}). With a slight change in accent, the word "Meo" in Lao and Thai can be pronounced to mean
"cat".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmongstudiesjournal.org/uploads/4/5/8/7/4587788/gyleehsj8.pdf |title=The origins of the Hmong |date= |access-date=2022-03-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite CiteSeerX |citeseerx=10.1.1.513.2976|title=The Mong American Families}}</ref> The term Maew and Meo derived from the term Miao.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=G. Y. |title=Culture and customs of the Hmong |date=2010 |publisher=Greenwood |others=Nicholas Tapp |isbn=978-0-313-34527-2 |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |oclc=693776855}}</ref>