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Qiang people

Qiang
Qiangpeople.jpg
Total population
(200,000)
Regions with significant populations
Sichuan, China: 200,000
Languages
Qiangic languages
Religion
Qiang folk religion and Tibetan Buddhism
Qiang people
Chinese name
Chinese
Qiang name
Qiang Rrmea

The Qiang people (Chinese: 羌族; pinyin: qiāng zú; Qiangic: Rrmea) are an ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by China, with a population of approximately 200,000 in 1990. They live mainly in a mountainous region in the northwestern part of Sichuan on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.

A group called "Qiang" were mentioned in ancient Chinese texts as well as in inscriptions on oracle bones 3000 years ago. However, this was applied to a variety of groups; they are not the same as the modern Qiang. Nonetheless, it is possible that the modern Qiang might be descended from one of the groups referred to as Qiang in ancient times.

Many of the peoples formerly designated "Qiang" were gradually removed from this category in Chinese texts as they become sinicized or reclassified, and by the Ming and Qing dynasties, the term "Qiang" denoted only non-Han people living in the upper Min River Valley and Beichuan area, the area now occupied by the modern Qiang.

Qiang territory lies between the Han Chinese and historical Tibet, and the Qiang would fall under the domination of both. There was also infighting between different villages and the Qiang constructed watchtowers and houses with thick stone walls and small windows and doors due to the constant threat of attack. Each village may have one or more stone towers in the past, and the Himalayan Towers remains a distinctive feature of some Qiang villages.

The modern Qiangs refer to themselves as IPA: [/ɹmæː/] or IPA: [/ɹmεː/] (Rma, 尔玛 erma in Chinese, or RRmea in Qiang orthography) or a dialect variant of this word. However, they did not define themselves with the Chinese term "Qiang ethnicity" (Chinese: 羌族) until the twentieth century as Qiang is a Han Chinese classification. Many have sought to gain Qiang status in the modern era due to government policy of prohibition of discrimination as well as economic subsidies for minority nationalities which has made minority status an attractive option since 1949. The number of Qiangs has therefore increased due to the reclassification of people, and there are about 200,000 Qiang people today in Sichuan, predominantly in the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, and in the counties of Mao, Wenchuan, Li, Heishui, and Songpan.


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