page_title: Miao people
section_title: Nomenclature: Miao or Hmong
hierarchical_section_title: Miao people / Nomenclature: Miao or Hmong
caption_attribution_description: Hmong musicians perform on traditional free-reed instruments in Upper Lang De in Guizhou, China.
context_page_description: The Miao are a minority ethnic group living in southern China, and are recognized by the government of China as one of the 56 official ethnic groups. Miao is a Chinese term, while the component groups of people, which include Hmong, Hmu, Xong, and A-Hmao, may have their own self-designations.
  The different peoples in the "Miao" group may not necessarily be either linguistically or culturally related, though the majority are members of Miao-Yao language family, which includes the Hmong, Hmub, Xong and A-Hmao dialetcs and the majority do share cultural similarities. Many Miao groups cannot communicate with each other in their native tongues and have different histories and cultures. Many groups designated as Miao do not even agree that they belong to the ethnic group, though some Miao groups, such as the Hmong do agree with the collective grouping as a single ethnic group – Miao.
  The Miao live primarily in southern China's mountains, in the provinces of Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan. Some sub-groups of the Miao, most notably the Hmong people, have migrated out of China into Southeast Asia.
context_section_description: The term "Miao" gained official status in 1949 as a minzu (ethnic group) encompassing a group of linguistically-related ethnic minorities in Southwest China. This was part of a larger effort to identify and classify minority groups to clarify their role in the national government, including establishing autonomous administrative divisions and allocating the seats for representatives in provincial and national government.
  Historically, the term "Miao" had been applied inconsistently to a variety of non-Han peoples. Early Chinese-based names use various transcriptions: Miao, Miao-tse, Miao-tsze, Meau, Meo, mo, Miao-tseu etc. In Southeast Asian contexts, words derived from the Chinese "Miao" took on a sense which was perceived as derogatory by the subgroups living in that region. The term re-appeared in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), by which time it had taken on the connotation of "barbarian." Being a variation of Nanman, it was used to refer to the indigenous people in southern China who had not been assimilated into Han culture. During this time, references to Unfamiliar (生 Sheng) and Familiar (熟 Shu) Miao appear, referring to the level of assimilation and political cooperation of the two groups, making them easier to classify. Not until the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) do more finely grained distinctions appear in writing. Even then, discerning which ethnic groups are included in various classifications can be complex. There has been a historical tendency by the Hmong, who resisted assimilation and political cooperation, to group all Miao peoples together under the term Hmong because of the potential derogatory use of the term Miao.  In modern China, however, the term continues to be used regarding the Miao people there.
  Though the Miao themselves use various self-designations, the Chinese traditionally classify them according to the most characteristic color of the women's clothes. The list below contains some of these self-designations, the color designations, and the main regions inhabited by the four major groups of Miao in China:
  Ghao Xong/Qo Xiong; Xong; Red Miao; Qo Xiong Miao: west Hunan
  Gha Ne/Ka Nao; Hmub; Black Miao; Mhub Miao: southeast Guizhou
  A-Hmao; Big Flowery Miao: west Guizhou and northeast Yunnan
  Gha-Mu; Hmong, Mong; White Miao, Green/Blue Miao, Small Flowery Miao; south and east Yunnan, south Sichuan and west Guizhou
caption: Miao musicians from the Langde Miao Ethnic Village, Guizhou.
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