Life style : Hmong manners

Hmong manners in Hmong society are the set of rules that allow them to understand each other and live together peacefully in the village. The important manners for the Hmong people in Hmong society are:

1.Manners for a visitor.       The guests who come to visit the Hmong people must learn about Hmong culture. Before entering to the Hmong house, the visitor must call the host to announce his presence and ask permission to open the door. The host will reply with “Jue-Jai” (Allow) or “Jai” (No entry) – for example, because they are worshipping or completing a traditional ceremony. If no one replies, even if the door is open, the guest may not enter the house. Hmong greet their visitors with hot tea or alcohol, depending on the relationship. If they are relatives, the host may greet with them opium. If a visitor is offered something to eat or drink, it is polite for him to eat or drink these things together with the host. The visitor sleeps in the place that the host prepares for him and does not have sex. - Staying overnight at a Hmong house.       The visitor should take care not to eat “forbidden foods”, which vary according to the Hmong family on the basis of name. If a Hmong family name is Lee, the family cannot eat animals’ spleen; if the surname is Yang, they cannot eat the animals’ heart; and a family with the surname Wang cannot bring the sour fruits from the forest to their house. Hmong believe this and pass it from generation to generation.

- The notices outside a Hmong house.       When a visitor goes to a Hmong house and sees the door closed and a twig or timber, known as a “Talaw hang”, on the roof, it means that the visitor cannot enter the house or call to those inside because they are under “interdiction”. Hmong believe that when they have under interdiction it can help them avoid the spread of illness. Additionally, if the visitor calls the host during worship, it interrupts the ceremony and it is believed that the spirit coming to take the illness’s soul needs to be worshipped all over again. Under these circumstances, the host can fine the visitor money or animals, which they will give as an offering to the spirit.

2. Manners when attending a ceremony or worship.       What rules the Hmong follow during ceremonies or worship depends on the family, as the details for the same ceremony can differ. Therefore, the host explains everything about the ceremonies to the visitor when they attend the ceremonies. -Manners when a visitor attends a funeral ceremony.       This ceremony is of great importance to the Hmong people. When they have the funeral ceremony, the clans display a sign to notify the villagers of it. If the dead body hasn’t been put in a coffin, and the practice varies from village to village, visitors are expected not to show fear or any other negative emotion towards it.

-The manners when a visitor attends the New Year ceremony.       The Hmong have a New Year ceremony every year around the first waxing moon on December 1st. Every household has to kill a pig for the ceremony as an offering to the ancestor spirits. Hmong greet their visitors with alcohol. The Hmong have two types of glasses for greeting visitors. The first type, for close friends, the visitor must drink completely. The second type is for general visitors, and the rule is that if the visitor cannot empty the glass, he or she can give it to someone else to finish

      Manners are the tools that make the people in Hmong society accept one another between younger and older generations. The basic manners for them are:
-The younger accepts the eldest’s opinions and suggestions, and respects them.
-The younger of the villagers take care to support the eldest.
-The eldest have the right to design or judge.
http://hmong.hilltribe.org