Oct.2024 22
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The Hmong and the Hunan Hongjiang Docks

Introduction
Hongjiang in Hunan was a busy regional port on the Yuan River, a tributary of the Yangtze River. Both Qingshui River and Wuyang River in Qiandongnan flow into the Yuan at Hongjiang. Before the 1940s, the common local saying of “going to Hongjiang” referred to conducting riverine trade.
Details

The Hmong and the Hunan Hongjiang Docks

Peide Yang
Hongjiang in Hunan was a busy regional port on the Yuan River, a tributary of the Yangtze River. Both Qingshui River and Wuyang River in Qiandongnan flow into the Yuan at Hongjiang. Before the 1940s, the common local saying of “going to Hongjiang” referred to conducting riverine trade.

In 1896, a British missionary called Samuel R. Clark arrived at the village of Panghai on the banks of the Qingshui River and built a church there. After he returned to Britain, Clark wrote Among the Tribes in South-West China, in which he discusses the Hmong and the Hongjiang docks.

Clark writes: “Of all the Miao in Kweichow, the Heh or Black Miao are the most intelligent and the most self-reliant. Most of them own the land they cultivate, many of them are well-to-do, and in many respects they seem nearly equal, if not quite equal, to the Chinese peasantry around them. We have observed, however, that the artisans among them are neither so skilful [...]  as those among the Chinese. The Heh Miao not only bring their cattle and produce to market, but many of them engage in trade and open stalls on the market-place. Some of them buy pigs, rice, and other local products, and carry them for sale in their own boats to Hungkiang in Hunan. On the river that flows from Kai-li to Kienyang Hun, fifteen miles above Hungkiang, all the boatmen appear to be Miao.”

From Clark's writings, we can see that the Hmong on the banks of the Qingshui have historically conducted much trade, especially through riverine trade as encapsulated by the phrase "going to Hongjiang." They were often quite wealthy.


The thriving trade between the Hmong of the Qingshui River area and the Hongjiang docks continued well into the 1940s. In the docks and villages on the shore of the Qingshui, there are still many houses built in the traditional Huizhou style with its distinctive fireproof walls. These were probably wealthy merchants who often “went to Hongjiang,” and though the owners have since vacated, the buildings remain.