Hmong music is an important part of the culture of the Hmong people, an ethnic group from southeast Asia. Because the Hmong language is tonal, there is a close connection between Hmong music and the spoken language. Music is an important part of Hmong life, played for entertainment, for welcoming guests, and at weddings and funerals. Hmong musical instruments includes flutes such as the dra, leaves also called , two-string vertical fiddle (xim zaus in Hmong), and the or , a type of mouth organ.
History
The Hmong people trace their origin to the Yellow River region of China around 2700 B.C. In the 16th century Hmong leaders formed a kingdom in the central Chinese provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Henan. This kingdom existed for several centuries before being defeated by the Chinese government. Surviving Hmong led to the mountains of Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan, where many Hmong still live today. In Hmong folktales and songs, this ancient Hmong kingdom is celebrated as a golden age. Accompanying the legend is the story of a Hmong messiah who will someday lead the Hmong people to victory against their oppressors and re-establish the ancient kingdom. It is a story that has inspired Hmong insurrections throughout the centuries. Another popular plot for songs is the story of an orphan who becomes a hero through persistence. The orphan in this story can be seen as a metaphor for the Hmong people, who are without their own country and have to survive wherever they go.
Songs
The Hmong people have used melodic poetry (kwv txhiaj/lug txaj) and traditional textiles/story cloths (paj ntaub) to pass down their history and culture to successive generations. Contemporary Hmong songs are made up of poems using rhyme and clever word play or traditional songs. Skilled singers can gain great fame among the Hmong population across the world. Even though many Hmong people have left their homeland in China, their songs are still connected to the life they had there.
There are several different types of vocal songs: (storytelling songs), (engagement songs), (wishing songs), (Invitation songs), (spirit Invocation songs), (possession chant), (farewell to the spirit songs), and (weeping songs).
Kwv Txhiaj are performed mostly by Hmong couples and involve comparing aspects of one's lover to aspects of nature, or to tell a story or explain the details of a ritual. Types of include: , a love song based on broken relationships and impractical matches , a bride song which is usually a sad song about leaving her family , a song sung by the groom to reassure the bride-to-be and to convince her not to abandon him , a song about someone who has died or tells of a wish to die , an orphan's song that can be sung by a widow or a forsaken girl , a song about separation , a wedding song where the groom's side and the bride's side have answering parts.
Instruments and whistling
Instruments are an important part of Hmong music because of the Hmong Whistled Language, a more advance language in which language is communicated through the manipulation of the tongue, shape of the mouth, and tones to create an effect of the Hmong Language. Because of this, Hmong instruments have a tonal quality that allows Hmong words to be heard just by playing the instruments. Although the Hmong Whistled Language is slowly being lost, there have been several attempts at reviving the Hmong Whistled Language.
Qeej ()
The most well-known instrument is the qeej, a type of reed pipe, in which each tone corresponds to a Hmong spoken word. It is a free-reed gourd mouth organ, used to play a text-based melody in the middle range. It consists of a wooden wind chest, with a long horizontal tapering neck ending in a mouth hole. The wooden section is made from two identical pieces of mahogany bound together with straps. The six bamboo tubes are variously curving or straight and can also change in length from quite small for a child's instrument to about two meters long for a more experience player. Each bamboo tube has a hole for fingering above the wind chest and a metal reed over a hole in the pipe encircled within the wind chest. For extra volume, the lowest tube, which is also the thickest and shortest one, often has two or three reeds. The tubes are inserted vertically through the wind chest. When the player exhales or inhales and covers one or more holes for fingering, this allows air in the tube in motion to create a musical tone. There are two types of qeej composition: text-based and text-free. Both genres are played successively in rituals, including funerals, ancestral rites, offerings to vital spirits, sacrifices to the drum, and marriages.