Pose the essential question to students: 

• What are Hmong Histories and how is war intimately connected to the history and displacement of Hmong in China?

1. Cultural Energizer: 
   • First let’s discuss what oral history is. Teacher speaking points: Have you ever sat down for dinner with your parents and/or grandparents, and they talk about what happened to them when they were young or they talk about their grandparents and what they told them? This is an oral history that they are passing down to you and that hopefully you will pass down to your children.  
   • The Hmong people have passed down their history through oral histories. Probably because they have been persecuted and targets for genocide forcing them to flee from country to county, they have had to retain their history through oral histories. Therefore, Hmong histories are oral and also expressed through the embroidery that the women have created on their story cloths. In recent history, Hmong and non-Hmong historians have written books on Hmong history, however, they honor the oral tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. 
   • Here is an example of a Hmong oral history from Hmong Museum:  https://hmongmuseummn.org/collection/hmong-chronicles/origin-story/.

2. Vocabulary Building: Teach the Key Terms list that will arise in the lesson and then create a word wall, or equivalent, to be displayed throughout the lesson. Students can interact with terms by creating Frayer model vocabulary boxes, or equivalent.
   • Han Chinese - An ethnic group in China that has dominated the Chinese government, politics and culture.
   • Hmong - Ethnic minority group that originated in China and to this day that has no country to call home.
   • Miao - Term given to the Hmong by the Chinese, however it encompasses more ethnic groups than just the Hmong. Most Hmong outside of China find this term derogatory, whereas the Hmong in China accept the term.
   • Oral History - Origin stories, and history that has been passed down from generation to generation through an oral tradition of talking to their children, families and communities.
   • Oral Histories - Stories of Hmong history that has been passed down from generation to generation through an oral tradition.
   • Origin Stories - The story of how a group of people came into this world.
   • Suav - Hmong term used for the Han Chinese.

3. Shared Learning: Mini Lecture on Hmong History 
   1. Teachers can provide the following context to students in the form of a lecture, slides presentation, or reading: 
      • Summary from website Atlas of Humanity: The Hmong are an ethnic group currently native to several countries. They are believed to have come from the Yellow/Yangtze River Basin in southern China. They are known in China as the Miao, this term was imposed on them by the Han Chinese and government, and it included several ethnic groups, however the Hmong was the largest (around 900,000 people). Today, several Hmong people see this term as a derogatory term, although Hmong living in China still call themselves by this name. There are no written records except where other people have encountered them. Therefore, their history has been passed down through legends, ritual ceremonies, art and story cloths sewn by the women. In each country they live in, the majority live in the mountainous high altitudes.  
      • Summary from Dreams of the Hmong Kingdom by (Lee, 2015, 65-66): In the 19th century, “Hmong connect their migration directly to Han Chinese oppression…The oral sources highlight injustice, corruption, land expropriation, and violent clashes as the forces that drove them from their native soil. These oral accounts corroborate the works of sinologists and notable ‘Miao’ experts Harold Wiens and Robert Jenks…the largest influx of Hmong entering Southeast Asia in the mid nineteenth century coincides with the period of high colonialism. The greatest Hmong migrations occurred between 1835 and 1870, years of violent rebellion in China…Harold Wiens compares ‘Miao’ land expropriation and population destruction by the Chinese state to what occurred between whites and American Indians in the United States around the same time” (Lee, 65). Millions of Hmong fled to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in three waves. “The first group came during the later part of the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century. The second wave arrived in the Qing period between 1796–1820 and the third during the “Great Taiping (1850–64), the Great ‘Miao’ (1854–73) and Panthay (1856–73) rebellions; in which the Hmong of Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangxi provinces participated and were pursued vigorously” (Lee, 66).
      • A brief timeline of Hmong history from: Hmonglessons.com. (n.d.). Hmong lessons and traditions. Historical Timeline http://hmonglessons.com/the-hmong/hmong-history/historical-timeline/. 
        • 3000 BC–1900 AD
        • 2700 BC: Description in the Chinese Annals of Chi-You, the mythical ancestor of the Miao people in Central China, near the Yellow River or Yangtze. The Miao tribe under Chiyou was defeated at Zhuolu, a defunct prefecture on the border of today’s provinces of Hebei and Lianing by Huang I, the leader of the Huaxia tribe as they struggled for supremacy of the Huang He valley.
        • 1728–1736 Rebellion of Miao in Guizhou against military pressure in sight of assimilating Miao into Han.
        • 1800’s Several rebellions of the Miao people in Hunan, Guanxi, and Guizhou: escape to the South of China and to Southeast Asia.
        • 1851–62: Participation of the Miao people in the Taiping Rebellion.
        • 1854–1873: The Miao Rebellion in Guizhou:At the conclusion of the rebellion, there was an exodus to Southeast Asia, more than 10,000 refugees per day crossed the borders of Vietnam towards Laos, and Thailand where they settled in the mountainous area. As a result of oppression and persecution by the Chinese government, the Hmong fled south to Southeast Asia.

   2. Today, the Hmong are spread across five countries, China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and the US. Although the Hmong community has recognized Laos and other areas in Southeast Asia as homeland, they have roots in China tracing back to 2300 BC. Today, there is still a large population of Hmong living in China.

   3. As the prior information is presented, students should follow along with preferred note taking strategies. 

4. Review the information with a Think-Pair-Share exercise by posing the questions:
   • What are Hmong Histories?
   • How has Hmong History been passed down from generation to generation?

5. Share out and have a class discussion. Have students write down the key questions and answers in their virtual or physical notebooks.

6. Next, announce that you are going to tell the Hmong origin stories. Distribute paper copies or display it on the screen and scroll down as you read or talk about the origin story. Tell students to consider the following questions while learning about the Hmong origin stories:
   1. Where did the Hmong originate from? And around what period of time or years?
      1. What records reflect the first Hmong communities? Around what year?
   2. Why do you think the Hmong only have an oral literacy and not a written literacy?  
   3. Hmong Origin Story - Read this passage to the students written by a Hmong scholar (Moua, 2023): 
      • “The Hmong stories that have been passed down from generation to generation through an oral tradition describe a Hmong Kingdom in the Yellow River valley, that once existed in China, but that this kingdom fell and the king was killed by the Han Chinese during the Qing Dynasty, the fleeing Hmong were chased to a river where they ate their books because they were hungry before crossing” (Tapp, 1989, 122). Another account of lost kingdoms and writing, that comes in song form from ritual masters of the Hmong bamboo instrument rab qeej (keng), recounts that a lone Hmong scholar escaped the purging of Hmong intellectuals and burning of books ordered by the Chinese emperor intent on destroying the Hmong kingdom. The one book that the Hmong scholar happened to save was eventually eaten piecemeal by a pig, a cow and mice until only a few scraps were left. He then asked his wife to sew the remaining letters into her embroidery (paj ntaub) and ever since, Hmong women have played a role in passing on Hmong writing through their needlework (Lee, 2015, 24–25). These accounts document not only loss, but colonization and subjugation by the Han Chinese empire. It is important to note that these stories are based off of actual wars and acts of genocide towards the Hmong people in the late 18th century under the Qing Dynasty. This caused the forced migration of tens of thousands of Hmong to leave China to Vietnam and Southeast Asia.”  

7. Have students pair up with a partner to complete the following:
   1. Analyze the timeline from 2300 BC to 1873 AD from http://hmonglessons.com/the-hmong/hmong-history/historical-timeline/.
   2. Read and annotate the excerpts below:
      • Excerpt from Dreams of the Hmong Kingdom by (Lee, 2015, 23): 
        • “If the Hmong do not conceptualize a kingdom in territorial terms in the modern era, however, their oral traditions are suffused with myths about having possessed such a space in the ancient past while still in China. These oral traditions speak of a Hmong kingdom and a king. One king, named Tswb Tshoj, was descended from the union of a Hmong woman and a boar. For this reason, messianic groups in the modern era worship the boar as an important symbol in their movements. Tswb Tshoj was undone by the clever ploys of the Chinese, according to some. Another king, Vaj Yim Leej, who perhaps reigned subsequent to Tswb Tshojm was a kung fu expert with a flying sword. It is believed,” Gary Yia Lee writes, “that whoever was to find this sword would become the next Hmong king.” 
        • “Typifying a Hmong political tradition based on marriage alliances – a reality also highlighted throughout this work – the Hmong kingdom of historical legend was undone by a botched political union. The story concludes when the battle-scarred Hmong king is tricked into sealing a marriage alliance with the Chinese emperor. Against her will, the warrior princess is betrothed to the son of the emperor. She is tortured to death. Nkauj Ntxuam curses the Hmong before she leaves her mortal vessel. As the Hmong have betrayed her, she says, they will be doomed to endure a cycle of perpetual self-betrayal and continual disunity. Unable to amalgamate as a force against foreign enemies they will exist in virtual enslavement. Only when rocks sprout flowers and rivers run uphill will Nkauj Ntxuam return to lead the Hmong in a triumphant struggle to reconsolidate their kingdom. The betrayal of the warrior princess cost the standard, which had no protective force. The power they had witnessed was embedded in the divine person of Nkauj Ntxuam and not in her flag. Once she was gone, the Chinese led a concluding campaign to destroy the Hmong kingdom. The king was captured and executed, and his subjects were scattered in various directions. The memory of this warrior princess was invoked in Hmong messianic movements of the twentieth century when young virgins carried a flag and led troops against foreign enemies.” 
   3. Together, answer the questions below. This can be done on a digital shared document, or paper notes. 
      • What do you notice about the Hmong regarding where they are located from 2300 BC to 1873 AD
        • Answer Key: The Hmong have moved from China to Vietnam, then Laos and Thailand due to war, persecution and genocide from the Han Chinese.
      • What are these stories of a Hmong king and kingdom?
        • In the excerpt by Mai Na Lee, what is the Hmong concept of their kingdom? And how was it defeated? What is the story the Hmong use to explain why they are stateless?
          • Answer Key: Oral traditions talk about a Hmong kingdom that once existed in China but was defeated and the people conquered. The way it is depicted is through the defeat of the king through a botched marriage of the princess warrior Nkauj Ntxuam, who led troops to defeat the enemy in many battles, to the Chinese emperor.  She is tortured to death, before she dies, she curses the Hmong for her betrayal and says they will suffer defeat from disunity and self betrayal costing them the mandate to heaven. After her death, the king is killed and the Hmong are killed and driven out. As a result, of being a stateless group, the Hmong kingdom is not tied to land but rather to retaining their language, culture and traditions.
      • What did/do the Chinese call the Hmong?
        • Answer Key: In modern times, the Hmong in China are often happy or proud to be known as Miao while most Hmong outside China find it offensive. Little is known about the origin of the Miao term and the people it referenced historically, since the Han used it loosely to identify non-Han people in Southern China.
      • What caused the majority of Hmong to leave China in 1873?
        • Answer Key: “The Miao Rebellion” in Guizhou. After the rebellion there was an exodus to Southeast Asia in which more than 10,000 refugees per day crossed the borders of Vietnam towards Laos, and Thailand. Lastly arriving in the Indochinese Peninsula where the valleys were already occupied, the Hmong people settled down in the Mountainous areas.”
      • How have the Hmong been portrayed throughout history? in China?  
        • Answer Key: “The Han Chinese, throughout history, have consistently depicted the Hmong and other minority people’s as uncivilized ‘barbarians.’” (Lee, 2015, 51)
      • How have colonization and imperialism impacted Hmong identity?  
        • How do you think people felt about the Hmong when they arrived in the US?
          • Answer Key: Similar to the Han Chinese, the US public school system looks down upon people who do not have a written language. They are seen as illiterate and unintelligent, often pushed into the school to prison pipeline, forced into lower level classes and tracked into remedial classes which are headed towards low paying menial jobs in society.
      • How can we counter this stereotype of the Hmong people and culture?
        • Answer Key: The Hmong have a long history and a rich culture. Although there is a lack of written records that record Hmong history, the Hmong are orally literate, meaning their history is carried down from generation to generation through storytelling and the oral tradition. This is now being recognized by Hmong and non-Hmong scholars from accredited universities in the US. Lacking a written language does not mean there is a lack of intelligence or creativity as evidenced by the incredible story cloths, clothing, ceremonies, language and culture of the Hmong. The fact that the Hmong culture is alive and well today is evidence of the highly developed intelligence of the Hmong people.

8. Assessment - Choose from one of the assessments below to express your learning from this area of study:
   • Create an annotated audio, pictorial, or video timeline of Hmong history in China from 2300 BC to 1900 AD using years of key events or time periods, descriptions of key events or time periods, symbols or graphics or videos. You can do research on the internet to get the details of events. You can do this online in a Powerpoint, Canva or a timeline application.
   • Create a mini lesson for the class that explains Hmong histories - research and tell one of the origin stories that has not been discussed in class as of yet. Students will have the opportunity to conduct the lesson to their class, followed by an activity. 
   • Create an artistic expression (painting, drawing, collage, etc.) that expresses the identity of Hmong people and how it has been impacted by a history of being colonized, persecuted, stateless and at the same time created ways of belonging through building community and passing down Hmong history through oral histories.

9. Lesson Closure: Allow students to share their final products.