The newly established Chinese communist government embarked on a project of "ethnic classification" that aimed to formally acknowledge the diverse national groups within China.
To accomplish this, government research teams were formed and tasked with studying common geographic regions, languages, cultural traditions, physical characteristics, and other defining factors.
Although ancient Chinese records about the Yao (Mien) are inconsistent, they tend to converge around the idea that tribes residing in the northern Hunan province, near Dongting Lake and its "Five Streams," shared a common ancestry and cultural heritage.
Southern China, before the Qin dynasty (221 BCE), encompassed territories beyond the Han Chinese heartland, which were inhabited by diverse tribal groups, some indigenous to the region and others not.
Nonetheless, it is widely acknowledged that some of the indigenous groups inhabiting the Dongting Lake region in ancient China are the forebears of the Yao people today.
[4] Over the ensuing centuries, various Mien subgroups in China migrated into Southeast Asia, initially settling in Vietnam and later expanding into Laos and Thailand.
With the support of the CIA, the Mien and other hill tribes, including the Hmong (Miao), were recruited to fight against communist forces in northern Laos and other locations.
The Mien's military role primarily involved safeguarding villages and serving as intelligence agents for the United States in the border areas near China.
Thus, as communist forces swept through Laos in that same year, a significant number of Mien people fled to Thailand, crossing the Mekong River.
As a people hailing from ancient and isolated farming societies, the initial generation of Iu Mien Americans encountered numerous challenges, such as language barriers and acculturation issues, as they settled into vibrant and modern cities.
To address these resettlement issues, community-based organizations have emerged among Iu Mien American communities in Washington, Oregon, and California, offering direct services to aid in the transition.
The world over, there are Iu Mien who settled in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Laos, Myanmar, New Zealand, Switzerland, Thailand, and Vietnam.
On July 7, 2007, Iu Mien Americans celebrated their 31st anniversary in Sacramento, California, and honored military service members, doctors, educators, scholars, leaders, and others with achievement awards.
The elders discourage premarital sex and childbearing out of wedlock, and any child born under such circumstances requires the groom's family to pay an additional dowry.
In ancient times, the Yao (Mien) communicated through singing and sharing folk tales, which served as a philosophical and educational tool for passing on profound stories from one generation to the next.
Singing and reciting these stories during noble ritual offerings to ancestors, as well as burning incense "Tao / Dao," were ways of keeping the community rooted and promoting peaceful harmony during ceremonies.
Other dishes include Klang Phen, a rice flour dish served with spicy bean paste and sour broth, steamed or boiled pork, chicken, or beef with tofu, Ka-Soy, rice noodle and meat salads, fermented pickled mustard greens, and fermented Mien bean paste known as thop choi/thop zhay.