Sonom

Sonom (died June 13–14, 1776) was a chieftain of the rGyalrong people in China. He was the lord-lama of Greater Jinchuan. He was executed after his January 1776 defeat in the Jinchuan campaigns.

Family Sonom was the fourth son of Langkya , who was the previous ruler of Greater Jinchuan. Sonom's mother was Atsang , and his eldest brother was Slob dpon rgyal bdak .

According to the Jinchuan suoji ("Petty Notes on Jinchuan") 3 by Li Xinheng , a paternal aunt of Sonom was the wife of Skal bzang . Langkya's daughter married Skal bzang. Therefore, Langkya is also Sonom's great-uncle.

Sonom's grandfather was Leržirhi . One of Sonom's aunts was Atsing . Atsang and Atsing assisted him.

Death In January 1776 his forces were defeated in the Jinchuan wars of the Ten Great Campaigns. He and his family were presented to the Emperor of China. both were preserved and kept in a royal Buddhist temple in Beijing. Of his family, some of the women were enslaved and given to lords of the Ölöd Mongol and Solun. Other women and the children were sentenced to life imprisonment .

Misidentification as a Hmong king The 1988 book Hmong: History of a People by H. Keith Quincy stated that Sonom was a Hmong king. The book by Quincy, cited by others, stated that in 1772 Sonom had defeated a Chinese army and that Sonom had held the Chinese government forces at bay for four years. According to the Quincy account, ultimately Sonom surrendered when the Chinese promised that his family would survive if he did so. Instead he and his family were executed. Paul Hillmer, the author of the A People’s History of the Hmong, wrote that "This compelling story helps set a dramatic tone for discussing the Hmong's life of hardship in China".

Robert Entenmann, author of "The Myth of Sonom, the Hmong King," stated that Sonom in fact was not Hmong. since the Qing government under the Qianlong Emperor referred to all ethnic minorities in Southwest China as "Miao people" . Amiot uses "Miao-tsée" to refer to the Gyalrong people, This is distinct from the word "Miaozu" .

François Marie Savina, in Histoire des Miao, reprinted the account by Amiot. The word "Miao" in general was also used to refer to Hmong people.

Anne Fadiman in her book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down cited Quincy and stated that Sonom was Hmong. Entenmann wrote that because of the reliance on Quincy's book, Fadiman's book propagated the mistaken idea that Sonom was a Hmong king.

Hillmer wrote that Entenmann's article "has largely proved[...]that Sonom was not Hmong".