Hmong-Mien

The Hmong-Mien group is made up of the Hmong, or Miao, and the Yao, or Mien, whose languages are tonal. In the Southern Song the official Zhou Qufei noted the Yao's fine indigo-dyed blue clothes.

Ming and Qing officials replaced Yao chieftains with their own tax collectors. The Yao and Miao rose against the Ming in the 1370s and in 1449, and the fighting drove the Yao deeper into the highlands. Conflict with Han settlers grew under the Qing in the eighteenth century, and from the late seventeenth century some Hmong moved into Southeast Asia.