New Year Celebration

The Hmong have a folktale story about the origin of their New Year Celebration. The story was that a long time ago, a shaman-hero named "Txoov Siv Yis" or ChongSheeyee defeated the evil spirit called "Liv Nyoog", a spirit who eats the Hmong people. And when he defeated the "Liv Nyoog", he then called out all Hmong in hiding to come and celebrate their freedom (Leepalao and Lee).

The clan leaders for each village meet with each other to arrange the New Year. They plan for the festivals to take place on a different day, so that people from other villages can join other people's activities (Cha and Livo, 89).

The Hmong New Year occurs right after harvest, and it is a time where the Hmong people are free of work. During this time they throw away the bad and old news, and take in the new and good ones. The purpose of the New Year is for the Hmong People to start fresh for the next year. They wear their finest Hmong clothes because it represents that the New Year is going to be a rich one (Leepalao and Lee, Cha and Livo, 89).

The New Years is also a chance for young people to find their significant other. Due to all their hard work, this is the only chance they get to look for someone that they might even spend their whole life with (Leepalao and Lee).