Through the play “One Culture, Two Generations,” about a contemporary Hmong family in California, the Association of Hmong Students gave over 100 audience members a taste of the Hmong-American experience.
The first-ever Hmong Culture Night at UCLA was held in De Neve Plaza on Saturday and showcased the culture of the ethnic group from Southern China and Southeast Asia.
The Hmong people are an ethnic group originating from Central China around 2000 B.C., which eventually settled in Southern China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and throughout the world in countries such as France and Australia.
Many of the Hmong also immigrated to the United States following the Vietnam War to find a better life, which was the case with the play’s characters.
“We just want to put ourselves out there. Everyone else is putting out (culture) shows,” said XueVee Yang, co-writer and director of the show.
The culture night used the frame of a play about a refugee family which escaped from Laos after the Vietnam War to incorporate aspects of Hmong culture such as traditional costumes, instruments, dances and beliefs.
UCLA has about 30 undergraduate Hmong students, and there is a total of about 200,000 in the United States. California is the state with the largest Hmong population, according to statistics provided at the event.
“I think (the culture night) is a wonderful opportunity to learn about (Hmong) culture, their history, their experience, especially when their numbers are so small,” said Melissa Veluz-Abraham, an adviser at the Center for Student Programming, who was in the audience.
The play reflects the struggles of modern Hmong parents in teaching their children their old culture and customs. The children in the play, who were raised in the U.S., have a disconnect with their culture and do not care about learning the qeej (a traditional instrument) or dancing traditional dances, despite the parents’ efforts to persuade them to do so.
These scenes provided opportunities for the actors to demonstrate Hmong culture to the audience, as the “dad” was seen playing the free-reeded bamboo qeej as part of the story.
The qeej is one of the most traditional instruments used by, but not exclusive to, Hmong culture, said Eric Yang, a fourth-year sociology and Southeast Asian studies student who played the part of the father in the performance.
In the play, it was said that the instrument was used at weddings and funerals, in which it leads the souls of the deceased back to their ancestors.
A fashion show was incorporated into the play to help tell the story of the parents’ courtship. Students dressed in traditional costumes of several clans of Hmong people. The various hats worn by the people indicated the clans to which they belonged, which also helped determine the region each person came from.
For example, a turban-like hat indicated that the wearer was from the White Hmong clan from Laos or Thailand, while a round, heavily decorated hat indicated that the wearer was from Hmong people in China, said Gloria Lee, a fourth-year biochemistry student who was also a performer.
The play also expressed some of the beliefs of traditional Hmong people and how they clashed with the beliefs of Hmong children raised in the U.S.
The parents in the play believed that girls should learn household chores, be obedient, and marry a Hmong man. However, in school, the daughters were told to “pursue their dreams” instead.
The parents also severely disapproved of their eldest daughter marrying a non-Hmong person because they felt only Hmong men could understand and respect the Hmong culture that was so important to them.
The culture night was conceived in fall quarter and rehearsed during winter quarter. The performance was well-received by the audience, which interacted with the performers throughout the show with cheers and shouts of encouragement.
Some members of the audience thought highly of the play.
“I’m Hmong and (the show) is very real,” said Linda Thao, a UC San Diego alumna who was in the audience.
The performers were pleased with the show as well.
“I think it went pretty well. … I’m pretty happy with it,” XueVee Yang said, but she added that she did not know if there will be a show next year because of the high workload and small Hmong population at UCLA.