As the sacred classics through which Hmong ancestors narrate and express their perspectives on Hmong philosophy, Hmong song poetry (Kwv Txhiaj) embodies the essence of the Hmong people’s life, beliefs, and culture. Just like the Torah for Jewish people, Hmong song poetry holds the same importance for the Hmong people and can be regarded as their equivalent of the Torah.
To understand Hmong song poetry, we must first understand what myths are. Otherwise, any understanding or discussion of song poetry will be blind and unproductive. To simply characterize Hmong song poetry as unscientific superstition is eminently false.
Hmong song poetry covers an expansive range of subjects: the creation of the universe; the birth of humans and other life forms; descriptions of nature throughout different historical periods; Hmong social structures and everyday life; and major historical events such as the Hmong Great Migation. Hmong song poetry, then, is not only a complete record of Hmong mythology but also a crucial form of Hmong folk literature and a national intangible cultural heritage.
Throughout history, the Hmong have endured many wars and migrated several times in their aftermath. To avoid losing tradition and history to the currents of time, the Hmong have encoded them in these elegant, subtle, and moving songs as a means of cultural remembrance.
