Weiyue Lin- Week3

The Pa Lor Story- The Journey between two Wolds portrays the history and cultural Heritage of the Hmong people. Hmong is a distinct ethnic group originally found in Southern Asia. The article narrates the experience and encounters of the Hmong group after moving from their original place to settle and start a new life in America. The author aims to convince the reader that immigrants have a history, traditions, and values that are so dear to them, and they cannot be done away with regardless of the civilization level of their new area of settlement.

The writer uses a conservative theme to show how immigrants use their experience in evaluating and coming up with solutions for barriers and struggles endured when assimilating into a new society. For instance, most of the Hmong people who visit a physician end up visiting shamans for the restoration of their health, hence making shamanism a strong factor for the provision of healthcare services (Plotnikoff, 30). The writer relies on this kind of knowledge to drive her point to the audience by restating that one cannot achieve much by removing shamanism from the Hmong.

Some ethnic groups adhere to their traditional believes not because they do not like civilization, but due to the strong attachment and value, they have for their culture. According to Cha (2014), the Hmong culture is so important to them that they believe losing one aspect of their culture can be compared to a table losing one leg. The article seeks to show the challenges faced by immigrants in the quest to conserve their culture while trying to get into a modern way of life in a new setting. Similarly, the author depicts that the process of cultural preservation in a different social setting encompasses cruising through several obstacles, but it is worth the struggle.

Question: Is the academic thought of Hmong medicine essentially the same as the Buddhist medical thought?

Works Cited

Cha, Ya Po. An Introduction to Hmong Culture. McFarland, 2014.

Plotnikoff, Gregory A., et al. "Hmong Shamanism. Animist Spiritual Healing In Minnesota." Minnesota Medicine 85.6 (2002): 29-34.