Hmong Early History

       The origins of the Hmong people can be traced back to China, in areas near the Yangtze river. They began to coalesce into one homogenous ethnic group around 4,000 BC. For nearly all of their history, the Hmong people have been a stateless nation, without claiming one place or another as their own. The Hmong primarily resided in China until persecution by Imperial China in the mid 1800s drove many of them into areas of Southeast Asia such as Cambodia, Vietnam, and especially in areas that are now known as Laos. In the late 1800s, Laos came under the control of France, and became part of what was known as French Indochina. The Hmong were not treated kindly under French rule. The Hmong of Laos endured heavy taxation and oppression by French rulers and Laotian authorities.

Image courtesy of Britannica