"Tsis pom dej dag ces siab tsis nqig"

[Reporter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd2A2nDGqA4&feature=related

[Reporter]

And this is probably how the Chinese fish the Yellow River, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDDrz7E8-AA&feature=related

[tommyyang313]

Is this for a class? We had that as a test question in my University's Hmong class.

It means you'll never be satisfied unless you see it for yourself.

This is as close as you can get to the meaning of the word. When you break it down it goes as follow: "tsis pom dej dag"....means if you don't see how big the river/water is....this is the term used to describe how some people would always want to see it for themself.....n ot matter what someone is telling you, and "siab tsis nqig" means your heart is not satified...... hmongs used the river or water to describe because back in the old days the rivers were huge and wide. In order for you to know how big the river/water actually was, was to see it for yourself to understand and realize what someone was talking about. This general purpose was to describe how a person was not satisfied until they see it or find out for themself. It is then that they will be satisfied.

[Lady_Fallin]

If you don't see the yellow water yourself, you won't believe.



Meaning: Experience matters more then warnings.

[TamTSEEB!]

What stumps me is how Hmong calls the river "dej dag" and the English name is "yellow river". 

[BeautifulDisaster]

All right. Are you suggesting we forgo our tilapias?

I'm gonna do some more research into the fish there, to see if the Chinese actually eat them. I'm sure they do. I would think by all of these centuries the Chinese have found wants to clean them up.

This is such an old thread. Ever found out why kind of fishes lives in that murky water?  And whether or not the Chinese eat them? 

[tommyyang313]

Actually, I just asked an elder like a few weeks ago. He said "Dej Dag" was the Yellow River. Back in the days after our kingdom fell, the Chinese rounded up all our smart people, scholars, diplomats, kung fu masters, you name it. They beheaded these people near the Yellow River so it could wash away the blood. Anyway, witnesses ran to tell other Hmong who escaped to safety. These people didn't believe it, thinking no one could do such a thing. So in disbelief, some went to the Yellow River to see it for themselves. Since then "Tsis pom dej dag ces siab tsis nqig" meant "You'll have to see it to believe it."

you are probably right about the story behind it....but the meaning is the same...you'll have to see it for yourself to believe it.

[mronline]

"Tsis pom dej dag ces siab tsis nqig"  simply means that one thought the grass is always greener on the other side.