The Miao are a group of linguistically-related peoples living in Southern China and Southeast Asia , who are recognized by the government of China as one of the 56 official ethnic groups. Following the communist takeover of Laos in , a large group of Hmong refugees resettled in several Western nations, mainly in the United States , France , and Australia.
Miao is a Chinese term, while the component groups of people have their own autonyms, such as with some variant spellings Hmong , Hmu , Xong Qo-Xiong , and A-Hmao. These people except those in Hainan speak Hmongic languages , a subfamily of the HmongβMien languages including many mutually unintelligible languages such as the Hmong , Hmub, Xong and A-Hmao. Not all speakers of the Hmongic languages belong to the Miao.
For example, the speakers of the Bunu and Bahengic languages are designated as the Yao , and the speakers of the Sheic languages are designated as the She and the Yao. The Kem Di Mun people in Hainan , despite being officially designated as Miao people, are linguistically and culturally identical to the Kim Mun people in continental China who are classified as a subgroup of the Yao. The term "Miao" gained official status in as a minzu ethnic group encompassing a group of linguistically-related ethnic minorities in Southwest China.
This was part of a larger effort to identify and classify minority groups to clarify their role in the national government, including establishing autonomous administrative divisions and allocating the seats for representatives in provincial and national government.
Historically, the term "Miao" had been applied inconsistently to a variety of non- Han peoples. In Southeast Asian contexts, words derived from the Chinese "Miao" took on a sense which was perceived as derogatory by the subgroups living in that region.
