A Song For Hmong New Year

This Hmong Chinese folksong, or more like "kwv txhiaj" with musical accompaniment is called "Tag Kis Twb Yuav Mus" by Laj Tsawb (Chinese: Zhou Xing Lan).  She is Hmong from Yunnan Province, China.  The only thing I can make out from the beginning is her singing about the sky being bright upon the Hmong homeland, making it a good time to gather hemp (used to make threads to spun into cloth) and then I don't understand a word afterward until she starts singing about a young man courting a young lady.  In the lyrics, Laj Tsawb talks about how the young man leaves his doorstep to court the young woman, and they talked so well, but can he bear to leave her behind since he must leave early the next morning (in the old days, guys and girls from the same village usually don't court since they may be related, so the young men would have to travel to nearby villages or to other areas to court young women; thus the lovers don't often get to meet one another except for the New Year's festival). 

Since I don't understand everything, I won't attempt literal translation.  But basically, if I'm correct, she starts out singing by admiring the simple lifestyle of the Hmong people and used that as a transition into talking about courtship of a young couple.  It's a kwv txhiaj suitable for this time of the year, especially for young or more mature couples who will have to part ways after the New Year's festival ends.

Hmong Outfits 2012

Sharing pictures of Hmong outfits from Hmong New Year in Fresno 2012

 

Hmong New Year 2012-2013 Fresno

I came back from a visit to Fresno's Hmong New Year today and decided to share some of the pictures I took.  Maybe I'm getting older but every year, this event becomes redundant and less and less interesting/exciting.  Everything is always the same, with people preaching Hmong traditions and values but the vast majority straying away from it.

For me personally, I believe that the event will be more exciting if we try to embrace or return to some of the more rustic traditions and values of the past, including those that may still be adhered to by the Miao/Hmong people of China.  I believe that simplicity is more meaningful and beautiful.  But then again, that nostalgic past is the way it was because village life required young men and women to help their families with chores and farmwork and so New Year became the sole time for them to court one another in open daylight.  So the New Year's Festival, in my opinion, was more precious and had more value in the old days.

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays!

Sorry for not posting anything up lately; been busy studying but hopefully I will have something to post in the next coming week.

May the merry season bring you and your family many good cheers.