Iu Mien populations can be found in Southern China (Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Guangdong, Yunnan), Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Burma, the United States, France, and other Western nations.

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.

Before the Tang dynasty, and possibly even earlier, references made to the Yao (Mien) included the Miao and other Southern groups.

However, as the Tang asserted its authority with the Mandate of Heaven, the term "Yao" began to take on more specific meanings, such as Moyao, Yaoren, Yaoman, and Manyao.

Moyao originated from an earlier term that referred to people in the Jing region (Chu), in present-day Hunan, who were believed to be descended from Panhu.

Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals, by Ganbao (317-420) Around 300 CE, migrations of Han Chinese into Southern China led to significant cultural changes.

These migrations accelerated during the middle of the 6th century, when Yao migrants settled in the mountain ranges of Nanlingshan, which intersects the present-day Hunan, Guangxi, and Guangdong provinces.

Ancient Chinese texts such as the Liangshu and the Suishu used Moyao to designate a specific people, indicating that the state had gained more knowledge about the various tribal groups in the southern provinces.

Chinese poets Du Fu and Liu Yuxi wrote about the Moyao inhabiting the mountains during the eighth and ninth centuries, respectively, while a Tang monk complained about their practice of slash-and-burn agriculture.

These sources consistently describe the Moyao as the descendants of Panhu and residing in the Jing region (Chu), which covers present-day Hunan province.

Several sources used the term Yaoren to refer to the Yao people, some to denote geographical administrative zones and others to describe a specific group.

The passage used a negative dog marker for Yaoren and provided context that it was used to identify a geographical domain earmarked for taxation and forced labor.

Due to corruption of local triads and valuable resources such as salt being cut off, Yao leaders organized thousands of combatants.

The Yongh Ziuh administration forced the Iu Mien to relocate to an isolated region of the forest to build their own temples and to continue practicing the King's worship for 70 years.

As a result of the negotiation, the Ming government no longer allowed King Pan/Bienh Hungh to have his own kingdom, build their temples and continue the kingship role.

“Iu Mien people have rights to maintain their identity, language, culture, and worship system and live on the hillside or in the mountain to cultivate the land for farming and crops and raise their family.

Iu Mien, who possesses this document, has the legal rights to cross any territories/ borders to settle and to build their village in the hill/mountain to make a living by farming without delay by any regional governments.

The method of slash and burn used throughout mountainous regions in China led to a drought which caused the Iu Mien people to migrate to Vietnam.

The Iu Mien population gradually migrated into Vietnam, in the province called “Moung Lai.” The lands had rich natural soil.

For the Mien, as well as other highland communities that migrated to Southeast Asia, their journey involved crossing mountains rather than national borders.

For some Mien, the move was a result of having exhausted their plots on the mountain; a primary factor contributing to the frequent emigration out of China was the scarcity of fertile land.

The Mien had been migrating away from their original homeland in Hunan province for centuries due in part to this same challenge, as the reality of slash-and-burn agriculture is that the yield eventually becomes insufficient.

In the 1960s, when the Cold War was occurring between the United States and the Soviet Union with an arms race this caused political unrest in Southeast Asia.

In most cases, the Lao communist soldiers, armed with Soviet-made or Chinese-made AK-47s, forced them to work from dawn to dark without food and many starved to death.

While Laos communist troops were sleeping whole villages would be packed with their personal belongings, valuable items, silver bars, jewelry, and food.

Since Iu Mien people arrived in the United States, they have had the opportunity to go to school and continue their higher education, and be accepted into colleges and universities.

First-generation Iu Mien Americans also faced obstacles in securing employment due to lack of education and job skills needed to successfully enter the workforce.

These intergenerational conflicts and the resulting confrontations adversely impact first generation Iu Mien Americans, evolving into emotional stress, loneliness, and mental illness over time.

Using the financial foundations created by their parents, most second-generation Iu Mien Americans are capable of further educating themselves, and ranking higher in the workplace compared to their predecessors.