As population grew and the Chinese expanded from the northwest into the territory of the Hmong, wars broke out between Chiyou and Huangdi and Yandi. Huangdi and Yandi are ancestors of the Chinese. Chiyou was very powerful. He could provoke wind and fog (cloud) to confuse his enemy during fighting. But Huangdi developed a compass to help him defeat Chiyou. After winning nine battles, Chiyou lost the war and was killed by Huangdi (2704-2595 BC), who then became the Yellow Emperor of China. And this took place close to six thousand years ago.
Other descriptions of Chiyou are that he was half human and half non-human, and that Chiyou ate sand for food. It is evident that when your history was written by your enemy, you would expect it to be negative.
Despite the fact that the Chinese have painted a negative image of him, Chiyou has been regarded as the God of Warfare, because of his knowledge of metal and iron, and of his supernatural power. Throughout Chinese history, only one Chinese man, Zhuge Liang, during the Han Dynasty, who could provoke wind and cloud like Hmong King Chiyou. Some Chinese people have paid respect and tribute to Chiyou. It is also said that the first emperor of the Han Dynasty (Liu Bang) worshipped Chiyou.
Today in Zhuolu, there are three stone statues of Chiyou, Huangdi and Yandi, erected in 1998, visited annually by over 60,000 people from around the world. Many things in Zhuolu were named after Chiyou -- Chiyou Spring, Chiyou Pine Tree, Chiyou Street, Chiyou Tomb, etc. On the 15th day of the 7 month, many people come to Chiyou�s tomb to pay their respect and to ask him for blessing.
Over 1000 years after the collapse of the Juili Kingdom, the San Miao Kingdom came to existence at least 4350 years ago. The Hmong in China and many scholars say that the leader of the Hmong during the San Miao Kingdom was Taotie. Taotie is said to have the face of a human but the shape of a tiger with dog�s hair about two feet long, and that he had the feet of tiger, mouth and teeth of a pig, and a tail 18 feet in length. Taotie was connected to San Miao Kingdom, and was hated by the Chinese. They called him the monster, described as greedy and voracious. But ironically, his figure has been used as designs appeared everywhere in Chinese society.
The San Miao Kingdom existed for at least 500 years. Gradually the Chinese expanded from the north, and San Miao Kingdom was attacked by three Chinese emperors, Yao, Shun, and Yu. Finally San Miao was defeated by Yu during the Xia Dynasty over four thousand years ago (2205-1766 BC), and the Hmong were banished to San Wei, which is in the northwestern part of China. The Hmong were forced to scatter and had been constantly attacked by the Chinese since then.
After San Miao was destroyed, another kingdom, the Chu� Kingdom, came to live in 887 BC and lasted over 1000 years until it was suppressed by the Qin Dynasty in 223 BC. Scholars seem to agree that Chu� was not a Chinese kingdom. It was either a Hmong kingdom or a Thai kingdom. It was during the Chu� Kingdom that the so-called Mawangdui tomb in Hunan was buried. This tomb was unearthed in 1972. In this tomb, many items were discovered, including the body of a 40 year-old woman. She was buried over 2000 years ago, but she was very well preserved; she was not rotten; her body was still attached when discovered. Hundreds and thousands of other items were found in her tomb. Because many of these items are unique to Hmong culture and designs, many scholars argued that this woman is Hmong. This is something worth anticipating as scholars unfold their research in the future.
As you have heard, by the Han Dynasty in 206 BC, the Hmong were already in today Hunan province. It is said that from the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty in 581 AD, all nationalities in China had their own independence. They were not under the control of the Chinese imperial government. However, they had to pay tax to the Chinese emperor. A Hmong man or woman would pay 40 feet of hemp cloth to the emperor, and a child would pay 20 feet of hemp cloth.
As the Chinese continued to expand into Hmong territory, wars broke out between them. In 47 AD, the Hmong in Dong Ting Lake area fought against Chinese expansionism. This war is important because it was one of the first to be recorded in history about the conflict between the Hmong and the Chinese. Chinese general Liu Shang led 10,000 troops against the Hmong but he was killed in battle. Then general Ma Yuan led 40,000 troops to fight the Hmong. He was sick and died while fighting against the Hmong. This war lasted for about 60 years. The Hmong lost the war at the end, and were pushed further into West Hunan.
After Han Dynasty (221 BC), the name Miao disappeared from historical records for about 1000 years. The term Man or Nan-Man was used instead. Man means barbarian, or simply non-Chinese. Nan-Man means southern barbarian. The term Miao, however, reappeared during the Tang Dynasty, which began in 618 AD.
Before Tang Dynasty (618), the Hmong fought the Chinese to stop them from expanding into Hmong territory and from taking away Hmong land. It was a fight against invaders. After Tang Dynasty, the Chinese had penetrated much into Hmong territory. The Hmong, however, were allowed to govern themselves, but they had to pay tax to the emperor. The Chinese not only taking Hmong territory but also oppressed and forced the Hmong to assimilate into Chinese society. During this time, the Hmong fought against the Chinese for equality, justice, and against hatred and oppression.
During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Hmong territory was almost conquered except areas too far and remote from Chinese reach. Many Hmong had assimilated into Chinese society; and many remained in isolated areas. The Chinese called those Hmong who had assimilated into Chinese society as the Cooked Hmong, and called those who did not want to assimilate as the Raw Hmong. It was during the Ming Dynasty, in 1615, that the Chinese built The Hmong Frontier Wall in Guizhou and Hunan provinces to separate the Hmong and the Chinese. This Hmong Frontier Wall is about 100 miles long, passing through five counties in Guizhou and Hunan. It is as big as the Great Wall in northern China but not as long. The construction of this wall tells us one thing, and that is that the Hmong were very strong to the extent that the Chinese had to build a stone wall to protect them.
Also during the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese allowed the Hmong to govern their own people under the Tu Si System. It is a hereditary title, which means that the son would assume the leadership of the father after his death.
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