slude,
Can you share your perspective about the Xa Plig/Qhuab Ke? I've read a Hmong Funeral Rite handbook and my view is that this is simply an opening prose to the event. It is very common in cultures that practice oral transmission to use an orator whose main job is to move the event along with spoken prose. Much in the same way as Shakespeare used a narrator (muse, orator, etc.) to commence the play by having the person give an overview of what has happened, what is to be expected, and the overall situation. To sum it up, orient the audience.
I find the Xa Plig chant completely beautiful and poetic. There are many Hmong Christian groups who want to eliminate this but I feel that parts of it can be tailored to fit a Christian funeral. I don't feel that it violates Christian beliefs at all because the chant isn't summoning spirits or performing any spiritual ritual. The overall chant is actually talking about creation, why and how death became part of the human experience, and how the human spirit will return to its maker. The Xa Plig is an oral chant accompanying the deceased but really performed to entertain and orient the living about the event.