Hmong writing

Hmong writing refers to the various writing systems that have been used for transcribing various Hmongic languages, spoken by Hmong people in China, Vietnam, Laos, the United States, and Thailand, these being the top five countries. Over a dozen scripts have been reported for Hmong, none of which is considered standard for transcribing the languages in the eyes of the speakers.

It is unknown whether a historic writing system existed for the Hmong. Several Hmong scripts have been noted in historical works, mostly in Chinese literature, as illustrated in the below sections. However, this evidence is disputed. For instance, according to Professor S. Robert Ramsey, there was no writing system among the Miao until the missionaries created them. Archaeologists are still searching for artifacts from periods of alleged Hmong literacy. These five scripts below are the most widely evidenced in primary literature sources:

From Chinese legends, the Nanman are largely considered to be the ancestors of the Hmong, also known as one of the "Four Barbarians" against the Huaxia, the ancestors of the Han. The Nanman lived originally in central-east China, but after battle losses and the expulsion of Chi You, who is allegedly considered a Godlike figure by the Hmong, the Nanman fled to the south. Different stories exist as to how their script and already encoded information disappeared: that the books were lost in a flood, that the Hmong had to eat the books as food due to the Chinese invasion, that they were eaten by other animals in their escapade from the Chinese, or that they had no way to cross the river without disposing of the books. All the stories have in common a loss of the books, water, and an invading Chinese tribe. This script has not been found.

In response to the Chinese invasion, the Hmong claim that they preserved their ancient writing system in the "flower cloth" of the women. This seems to be a common story in response to the deluge and loss of books in the aftermath of the alleged loss of the Nanman to the Huaxia. A modern script on the Internet known as the "Ancient Hmong Written System" claims to be a decipherment of this script, but no connection has been asserted from a neutral, reliable source.

It is unknown whether this script differs from that of the Nanman, but it is known that as far as the Qing dynasty, the Hmong used a writing system to record information. It is unclear for how long they used this script, as Han settlers largely moved into the southern regions of China (where the Hmong lived), only during the Ming and Qing dynasties. In attempts to coerce the Hmong, also known as the Miao, Hmong villages were burned and relics of Hmong culture were destroyed. Hmongs were also banned from transcribing their language, so it is not known whether any Hmong writing from the era remains or where it remains.

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