Essay On Hmong Culture
Hmong culture: Textile art and customs
As living in California with cultural diversity, it is important to understand and respect others’ cultural values. There are about 8 to12 million Hmong people in the world, and many researches have been done to explore Hmong culture and beliefs (Yang, 2012). Briefly to introduce, Hmong is a 5,000 year old ethnicity, and they mostly live in Laos with a primarily agrarian life style (Yang, 2012). They left China as victims of Chines oppression and settled in parts of Vietnam and Laos (Yang, 2012). Multiple generations live together in the same household, and males are the dominant of the family. Also, Hmong people have deep belief in spirituality, and there are many cultural items made to protect themselves …show more content…
Hmong’s traditional spirituality and social structure are represented in the textile language. One of best known of Hmong needle art is Paj Ntaub meaning story cloth or flower cloth (Craig, 2010). Hmong began to draw traditional stories so that they would be remembered. Each selection of pattern, colors, and fabric for the custom has an important meanings and functions (Craig, 2010). Each design and geometric pattern of clothes represents different cultural beliefs, symbols, meanings and functions (Craig, 2010). They often use black fabric with bright colored threads, and one of common patterns seen is elephant’s foot that stands for family (Craig, 2010). The patterns are described and named by nature things like ram’s head, snail house, mountains, and dragon’s tail (Craig, 2010). Their traditional designs serve as a visual art and ritual functions. According to McCall (1999), the costumes were to identify themselves as Hmong, to express the wealth, and to prepare one’s sprit to after death. The textile customs, Paj Ntaub, are carried from one generation to next for their festivals, ceremonies, and celebrations, such as Hmong New Year in December (Yang,
As living in California with cultural diversity, it is important to understand and respect others’ cultural values. There are about 8 to12 million Hmong people in the world, and many researches have been done to explore Hmong culture and beliefs (Yang, 2012). Briefly to introduce, Hmong is a 5,000 year old ethnicity, and they mostly live in Laos with a primarily agrarian life style (Yang, 2012). They left China as victims of Chines oppression and settled in parts of Vietnam and Laos (Yang, 2012). Multiple generations live together in the same household, and males are the dominant of the family. Also, Hmong people have deep belief in spirituality, and there are many cultural items made to protect themselves …show more content…
Hmong’s traditional spirituality and social structure are represented in the textile language. One of best known of Hmong needle art is Paj Ntaub meaning story cloth or flower cloth (Craig, 2010). Hmong began to draw traditional stories so that they would be remembered. Each selection of pattern, colors, and fabric for the custom has an important meanings and functions (Craig, 2010). Each design and geometric pattern of clothes represents different cultural beliefs, symbols, meanings and functions (Craig, 2010). They often use black fabric with bright colored threads, and one of common patterns seen is elephant’s foot that stands for family (Craig, 2010). The patterns are described and named by nature things like ram’s head, snail house, mountains, and dragon’s tail (Craig, 2010). Their traditional designs serve as a visual art and ritual functions. According to McCall (1999), the costumes were to identify themselves as Hmong, to express the wealth, and to prepare one’s sprit to after death. The textile customs, Paj Ntaub, are carried from one generation to next for their festivals, ceremonies, and celebrations, such as Hmong New Year in December (Yang,