Pa Chay Vue

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pa Chay Vue, also known as Paj Cai Vwj or Puas Cai Vwj, led the Hmong people in the Madman's War revolt against French rule in French Indochina from 1918 to 1921. He is considered a hero among the Hmong who sided against the French.

1 Youth
2 Madman's War
3 Death
4 Legacy
5 See also
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Youth

In 1918 the French colonial power in Indochina was still strong. Vue, an orphan who was raised by an uncle, grew up disliking the French and their control over the Hmong. The French heavily taxed the people; those who could not pay had to sell their children to pay. He displayed such leadership and charisma, beginning in his youth, that the Hmong often attribute to him supernatural powers. After his marriage and the birth of his first child he claimed to be called by god to show the Hmong how to live in good health and harmony with their environment. He was also instructed on a Hmong writing system which was practiced by many of his followers.^{[citation needed]} Vue began to be revered as a messianic leader and his followers took an "Oath to Heaven" in allegiance to him.

At the urging of his uncle, Vue used his influence and the legend of his miraculous powers to convince his followers that he could deliver his people from French domination. Many Hmong united and began a Nationalist Hmong movement which drew villagers from all over northern Laos, northern Vietnam, and parts of southern China. Vue then organized the Hmong nationalists to fight against the French in the rebellion known as "Guerre Du Fou" (Madman's War).

[edit] Madman's War

The stimulus for the rebellion was heavy taxation by the French and abuse of power by the ethnic Lao tax collectors. The Hmong people were divided into two opposing sides - those who resented the French presence and those who benefited from French patronage.

The rebellion, called "Rog Paj Cai" by the Hmong Nationalists and "Rog Phim Npab" by Hmong who sided with the French, was to be a purely Hmong movement; all the guns were the Hmong-designed and manufactured flintlock (a bit different from the traditional western flintlock gun). The gunpowder was also of a Hmong sort (salt peter, charcoal, and guano is used similar to western black powder, but shavings from a type of tree is added to increase the explositivity). There was much success in the beginning; the French were surprised and did not know how to fight in the jungles nor did they know how to fight a near invisible army.

At its height, the rebellion encompassed 40,000 square kilometres of Indochina, from Dien Bien Phu in Tonkin to Nam Ou in Luang Prabang, and from Muong Cha north of Vientiane to Sam Neua in Laos. But eventually French military might began to prevail. The Hmong believed their defeats were temporary, caused by violations of the Oath to Heaven by some of the soldiers, and despite these defeats, there was still strong support from the populace.

[edit] Death

In addition to their military might, the also French understood (through the ethnographic works of François-Marie Savina, a Catholic missionary) that in order to stop the rebellion they would have to kill the "messiah" – Pa Chay. Knowing the historical conflicts between the Khmu and the Hmong, they hired Khmu mercenaries to find Pa Chay. Many Hmong believe they also hired men who were close to Vue to kill him. Of the four men hired to assassinate Pa Chay, Khau Kuam Lis is the only one known by name. Pa Chay was carrying his youngest child on his back at the farm house used for his hideout in Muong Heup, Luang Prabang, on 17 November 1921. The bullet pierced the child and killed both the child and Pa Chay Vue. His head was cut off and, along with his flintlock gun, was to be taken to the French officials as proof of his death.

[edit] Legacy

The French were not satisfied with this however; they captured many of those who had laid down their arms and sent them to Xieng Khouang (the headquarters for the colonial power in Laos) where some of them were decapitated and some were thrown off of high platforms into glass shards. A man (presumed by many to be Savina), came to plea on behalf of the people so that not everyone who was sent to Xieng Khouang would have to die.

The revolt against the French served to strengthen the bond between the pro-French Hmong leaders and their colonial rulers for another generation. However, the grandson of Lo Blia Yao (a pro-French Hmong leader who aided in fighting Vue), through his son-in-law Ly Foung, was Touby Lyfoung, the famous Hmong nationialst who fought, in succession, the Japanese, the Vietnamese and the Lao Communists.

To this day there is still a flower, called Pa Chay's grass (Nroj Paj Cai), that blooms every year around the months of December and January. This flower appeared for the first time following his death that year and thus it was named in his honor to commemorate his glory and legacy.