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Claim CG202.1:

The Miao tribes (also known as Miautso or Hmong) which once occupied southern China have an oral tradition which closely matches stories in Genesis. Their flood account tells of forty days of rain and a righteous patriarch named Nuah who saved his family and pairs of animals aboard an ark, sent out birds to bring back tidings, and sacrificed a buffalo to God afterwards. They also have a story matching the biblical Tower of Babel account.


Traux, Edgar A., 1991. Genesis according to the Miao people. Impact 214 (Apr.).


  1. That particular version of a Miao flood myth appears to be unique to Traux. The editor of the Impact article notes that they cannot confirm its authenticity. It was probably a retelling of the story of Noah which a missionary had told that group of Miao earlier.

    Other flood myths collected from the Miao differ greatly from Traux's version and yet are consistent in their details: A brother and sister survive the flood in a wooden drum or boat. The Lord of the Sky causes the water to drain. In the absence of other survivors, the brother wants to marry the sister. The sister resists but is persuaded when tests show it is the will of heaven. Their child is limbless and egg-like; when cut into pieces, the pieces become new people. In some versions, different pieces become different ethnic groups or clans. (Geddes 1976, 22-24; Johnson and Yang 1992, 115-117). This myth follows the same pattern which is common throughout Southeast Asia (Dang Nghiem Van 1993).


Lao Family Community of Minnesota Inc. 1997. The Flood.


  1. Dang Nghiem Van. 1993. The flood myth and the origin of ethnic groups in Southeast Asia. Journal of American Folklore 106: 304-337.
  2. Geddes, William Robert. 1976. Migrants of the Mountains: The cultural ecology of the Blue Miao (Hmong Njua) of Thailand. Oxford University Press, London.
  3. Johnson, Charles and Se Yang. 1992. Dab Neeg Hmoob / Myths, Legends and Folk Tales from the Hmong of Laos. St. Paul, MN: Linguistics Department, Macalester College.


created 2005-6-10