Hmong Ethnic Poetry - From Traditional to Modern

In accordance with the psychological characteristics of the Hmong people, it is also different from the folk poetry of the Kinh people which is mainly sung in a collective, performing environment.

In a confined space, usually by a stream or in the middle of a forest, when going to the fields or in front of a lover's house on romantic and poetic moonlit nights, Hmong boys and girls often sing to express their feelings and emotions to their loved ones with all their "souls dissolving in the song" (Che Lan Vien - Introduction to the book Hmong Folk Songs )[123]:

The wind blows the leaves of the trees and they sway in the stream. If I were a raindrop or a dewdrop

I will melt in your hands;

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The wind blows the leaves of the trees over and over by the stream. If I were a raindrop or a dewdrop

I will melt under your feet [122]

The love of Hmong boys and girls is so intense, when they love, they love with all their hearts:

The night has passed, the stars circle and change places. The day has broken, the path is clear.

I trudged home.

But the soul still seems to sleep in your waist The night has passed, the stars circle and change places The day has dawned, the path is bright

I turned and went home.

But my soul still sleeps in your dress ..[122]

" These poems - there are hundreds of them - can be placed without shame in the world's best poetry anthologies " (Che Lan Vien). We know that in love, what is most needed is sincerity, but not everyone can express sincerity by exposing their heart and soul to prove their love like the Hmong boy. The feeling of happiness when receiving love in return is so sweet: I give

the hand he holds/ His liver and lungs are like trees shaking in the wind [122, p.80]. From life

Despite the harsh and turbulent history of their people, the Hmong people love philosophy. Let's listen to the Hmong boy confide:

The road to youth is not long, the road to old age comes quickly.

Human life is like a shadow slowly falling on the hillside [122, p.45]

In the thirties of the last century, poet Xuan Dieu also expressed his regret for life when he realized an eternal truth: Heaven and earth still exist but I will not exist forever/ So I feel regretful for both heaven and earth. (Hurry). It is not known whether Xuan Dieu's poem was written first or this folk song was written first, but they met each other with vibrations of the same frequency of hearts in love. The Hmong people's philosophy about life is very simple but also very profound: Human life is like a radish dried in the sun/ Old age gradually, youth passes quickly [122;58]. Limited life is the cause of suffering, but more suffering is the bondage of feudal customs that gives rise to love tragedies. In Hmong folk songs, there are songs about the ironic circumstances of fate, usually songs by men with married women (or divorced women), but that does not mean that their feelings are less intense:

I want to love myself, afraid my husband will know. The small rolling pine needles are easily mistaken for tender grass. I want to love myself, afraid my husband will be jealous.

The fasting bird eats the fruit of the lacquer tree with its bright red beak. I want to love myself, afraid that my husband will hold a sword and welcome me on the village road. [122, p.51]

Sometimes, expressing or not expressing feelings is no longer important when the girl belongs to someone else. But love is not always controlled by reason, many times, it only makes feelings more confused:

Nightingale eating wild grapes, beak dyed crimson

I don't say, my heart doesn't break

The more I talk, the more my heart breaks. The nightingale eats wild grapes, Its beak is dyed purple.

I do not say, do not break the heart

The more I talk, the more my liver breaks [122, p.58]

Hmong folk poetry depicts the people and life of the Hmong people in two aspects: material life (daily activities) and spiritual life (emotional levels). From there, the panoramic picture of the people and life of the Hmong people is revealed vividly, full of identity and personality. Hmong folk poetry has a separate section to reflect the tragic, bitter life of the Hmong people on the journey to find happiness, in the bondage, oppression of the ruling class, exploitation, and even bad customs, which is Hmong Poetry Tales (Luk Tau Hmongz). As we have presented, Hmong poetry tales are songs with lyrical-narrative elements. In other words, Hmong poetry tales are the process of narrating lyrical folk songs. In the books Folk Songs of the Cats (1967) and Folk Songs of the Hmong (1984) by Doan Thanh, The Orphan’s Song and The Bride’s Song are considered by many researchers to be Hmong narrative poems. We also agree with this point of view. Therefore, in the process of researching Hmong folk poetry, we add the two above-mentioned narrative poems to the content of researching Hmong narrative poems.

In the old society, the Hmong were victims of the ruling class, exploited, and worse, bound to the backward and harsh customs of their own people. Therefore, in Hmong folk poetry, we see the shadow of the painful history of an entire nation. From the cause of the endless journey that created the nomadic lifestyle, essentially to avoid the oppression and rule of the Han people:

We Hmong people come from Guizhou because we Hmong people are illiterate.

We will leave only after losing the lawsuit against the Han [122]

Until the indignation before the social reality is immersed in the torment of evil and bad things. The injustices and bad customs that weigh down on life are revealed in a

bitter and sorrowful in folk songs lamenting one's fate. Orphaned situations, slave fates, unfortunate and miserable lives are revealed through the lyrics:

Orphaned without father, mother, brother, or sister. No shelter during the day, no place to sleep at night.

Misfortune covers the lives of these little people: Oh, I am lonely, after eating, I carry the tray and put it on the floor. After eating, I don't know who to ask for more from.

Oh, lonely body, after eating, I silently carry the tray and put it on the cupboard. After eating, I don't know who to ask anymore [15]

Being an orphan is already hard, being a daughter-in-law is no better. How many scenes of young Hmong girls marrying into other people's families without ever knowing what happiness is, without tasting the sweet fruits of love, they are just like a commodity for their parents to exchange, even like a substitute, a pawn of their parents to the rich:

Hmong parents

Do you like someone with white legs? Bring the Hmong cow to marry her off.

Strange road with no name

Do you want someone to have a white-naveled cow and marry a Hmong girl off?

Strange road, unknown destination ...[103]

What is more humiliating and painful than this ironic adversity:

The Hmong Gau got married far away, but the Hmong Gau groom

Called the old lover of the Hmong to help carry the load ...[103]

So painful, yet lovers cannot do anything more, not even the smallest thing to comfort the one they love: The old lover/ Does not dare to reach out/ To help wipe the bucket

Hmong tears . Instead of being open and happy, the path to becoming a daughter-in-law is a narrow, confined path of "chopsticks and bamboo tubes" like a prison and torture:

The path to becoming a daughter-in-law is like a chopstick tube. The path to becoming a daughter-in-law is like a tear-filled path. The path to becoming a daughter-in-law is like a bamboo tube. The path to becoming a daughter-in-law is like a tear-filled path. [104]

The consequences of customs and the burden of life weigh heavily on the shoulders of Hmong daughters-in-law. Hmong folk poetry is filled with the sorrowful tears of Hmong girls who are forced into marriage, sold into marriage, and discriminated against as servants:

She crept closer to the chicken coop.

The cruel mother-in-law glared at her with a dark expression. She tiptoed towards the yard.

The evil mother-in-law glared at her with her dark eyes. She was scared and shivered, sneaking into the house.

She quickly grabbed the tray of rice to feed the chickens. Her mother-in-law scolded her:

-"This girl is clumsy!"

She quickly grabbed a sieve to sift bran for the pigs. Her mother-in-law still grumbled:

-"This girl is clumsy!"... [122]

Hmong poems reveal the suffering of people with unfortunate fates: Orphans who have to live a miserable life since childhood ( Giang Giao Cau- Pa Nhia story ); first wives who are abandoned and betrayed by their husbands ( Chu Da Lia's life, Che Phenh, Tu Tua and Gau Du, Nu Do and Gau Nu... ); couples who love each other but cannot marry because the girl is forced to marry someone else, or because one person betrays her ( Gau Li- Nu Dia, Chang Vang Cha ...). Scenes of young girls being forced to marry and then being abused by their husband's family, because they are not old enough to know how to do housework. It can be said that this is a picture that reflects the reality of the ancient Hmong people. Through this, the Hmong people want to express their praise and encouragement for those who are hard-working, honest, kind, loyal, and know how to take care of family happiness together, while criticizing those who are

addicted, lazy, only know how to have fun, enjoy; ungrateful people; encourage people to do good deeds, stay away from bad things, evil... The Hmong people sing Luk Tau , not Luk Tau . The Hmong Luk Tau has a plot, characters with its own lyrics, carries a sad melody, when sung it easily touches people's hearts, making people absorb the religions and lives in it.

The nomadic life of the Hmong people is always filled with worries as the greatest and harshest challenges of fate. Nomadic life seems to escape poverty, but in the end, those who escape Meo land also suffer/ those who stay in Meo land become poorer. It is not that they do not realize the inevitable consequence: Rich people migrate, poor people/ poor people migrate, dead (Hmong proverb), but poverty always leads the Hmong people to choose a migratory life as a fateful path.

Entering the modern era, Hmong poetry has changed and expanded its themes, associated with the expansion of the scope of reflected reality. Community life with a joyful and optimistic atmosphere is praised. People are no longer scenes of life, miserable fates, but appear in the position of masters. Individuals are liberated, individual consciousness is respected and exalted.

Living in the midst of a nature that is both majestic and wild, and poetic and lyrical, the Hmong people have their own characteristics in appearance, soul and personality, easily recognizable and difficult to mix with any other ethnic group. Modern Hmong poetry has partly portrayed the images of the Hmong people full of personality and bravery. They are people who are both honest, simple and naive, and strong and unrestrained to the point of being wild; skillful to the point of being talented; both in harmony with nature and standing out in nature like artists of the mountains and forests.

Honesty and simplicity are easily recognizable characteristics of the highlanders in general and the Hmong people in particular . The Hmong people, whether they have the surname Ma, Thao, Sung or Giang, can treat each other sincerely, they are all " our Mong people " (pez HMôngz) as the daily saying goes, or the very affectionate way of speaking: " We are of the same flax species ". It can be affirmed that in the Hmong people's mind, there is no greater belief than the belief in people of the same ethnic group. When communicating with other ethnic groups, the Hmong people may be quiet, but when they gather together among the Hmong people, over a cup of corn wine, they are intoxicated.

Innocent in the land and the forest, few people can be as open and warm as them. Genuine and innocent are the characteristics of the Hmong people. The children of the high mountains " innocent as the thrushes and the jays " (Ma A Lenh) challenge the difficulties, challenge the sorrows and worries in life. The nature of the Hmong people is simple and innocent, always "living gently like a domestic chicken", " living gently like a mountain bird " (Hung Dinh Qui). Innocent in the middle of the rocky plateau, the roofs, the villages, the Hmong people huddle together and " live happily like a honeycomb ", " live loudly like a beehive ". The appearance and costumes of the Hmong people are a self-expression of innocent authenticity, seemingly unmixed with modern life. The image of Hmong girls with rosy cheeks, with bright eyes and a look that is both shy and bold; With strong, strong calves and a graceful, soft gait in a colorful Hmong dress, she looks like a moving flower on the high mountain peaks. The beautiful white Hmong girl is as white as the orchids blooming in the forest (Hung Dinh Qui) with secret and intense desires and dreams: ... used to be awake / drawing on the hem of her skirt / And embroidering the wild wind blowing into her dream , even though her fingertips were pierced by sharp needles many times (Ma A Lenh). The image of Hmong boys with bright eyes, sharp eyebrows, strong and talented, with a character like a knife cutting stone, a will like high mountains. When in love, love passionately with a sincere heart and a rare loyalty. After the anxious sound of the flute waiting for her lover, after moments of passionate lovemaking that lasted all night, the Hmong boy ... trudged home / While his soul still slept in her waist (Hmong folk song). The Hmong people are honest and simple, but also frankly express their feelings with a love so strong that it melts, that "the heart is ripe and weak":

If I were a white snowflake

I will melt under your feet, I am a mountain boy

I will melt into your body [65]

The Hmong people are not only honest, simple and innocent, but also strong and determined. Strong from the firm steps with " bare feet stepping on sharp rocks " . Strong in labor production to make each corn cob and grain of rice on the harsh highland mountain top: Wanting to lift the earth up to the sky to be able to beautify the fields.

The ladder of one crop per year (Ma En Hang). The unyielding spirit of the Hmong people has been proven throughout history through uprisings against the oppression and domination of the Han and Manchu people. Strong will is also a weapon forged from the survival instinct of the Hmong people against the threats of wild animals and nature. The nomadic life in the past has forged the qualities and will of the Hmong people, daring to face the most difficult and fierce situations, involving the lives of individuals and clans. Without strong will, it is impossible to have a philosophy that is both simple and profound like this: Only a toad cannot go all the way/ return to die under his wife's feet (Hung Dinh Qui). The concept of life and death of heroes and heroes of the past such as " it is better to die with honor than to live in shame " or " it is better to destroy jade than to keep intact tiles " is not strange to the Hmong people, because they have a clear concept of life and death, like a truth: If you die/ die on a sharp blade/ do not die behind a knife (Hung Dinh Qui). That is why the Hmong people always have a proud posture, live with their heads held high, and challenge life, clearly and decisively expressing a strong and unruly style: arrogant and rough like a rock among thousands of reeds (Ma A Lenh).

The Hmong people are not only "gentle like mountain birds" nor are they just skilled "forest workers". The Hmong people also have a very talented artistic soul . It is not by chance that the Hmong people possess unique and distinctive melodies of panpipes, leaf trumpets, and mouth harps. The Hmong people are not only diligent and hard-working but also very skillful. The hands of Hmong men are rough and calloused, clearing fields, hunting wild birds and animals. The hands that forge guns and knives are also the hands that create Hmong panpipes and use them skillfully, creating sweet and affectionate sounds. The leaves on the trees are not inanimate, not indifferent, through the hands of Hmong boys and girls, they can " put on their lips to become affectionate words ":

Remember the day we saw each other off across the hill, you picked leaves and played a melodious tune on the trumpet

(Hong folk song)

Hmong Ethnic Poetry - From Traditional to Modern - 10

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