Qiang people 羌族
Qiang people 羌族, numbered about 320,000, is an official recognized ethnic group of China. The Qiang today are mountain dwellers who live in western Sichuan, predominantly in the five counties of Maoxian, Wenchuan 汶川县, Lixian, Beichuan 北川羌族自治县 and Heishui, of the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture 阿坝州. Most of the Qiang people that live in the upper reaches of Minjiang River 岷江 (north of Chengdu) have kept their primitive customs. On 12 May 2008, the Qiang people were heavily affected by the major Sichuan earthquake, whose epicenter was in Wenchuan County. Tens of thousands of Qiang perished and many houses in villages and towns were destroyed. The central Government laid out 150 billion USD in 5 years to compensate and rebuild for all quake victims.
Qiang people speak one of the two Qiang languages, which are members of the Qiangic sub-family of Tibeto-Burman and, by lacking a script of their own, the Qiangs use Chinese characters for their written materials. The majority of the Qiang adhere to a polytheist religion, known as Ruism, a religion that involves belief in the White Stones that were worshiped as representing the sun god, who will bring good luck to their daily aspects of life. Others, who live near the Tibetans follow Tibetan Buddhism. Small minorities of Muslims and Taoists exist as well their daily aspects of life. Others, who live near the Tibetans follow Tibetan Buddhism. Small minorities of Muslims and Taoists exist as well their husbands and lead agricultural activities, they act as the head of the family as well as the society. Romantic love is considered important, and sexual freedom is prevalent. The Qiangs live in granite stone houses generally consisting of two to three stories. The first floor is meant for keeping livestock and poultry, while the second floor is meant for the living quarters, and the third floor for grain storage. If the third floor does not exist, the grains will be kept on the first or second floor instead. Skilled in construction of roads and bamboo bridges, the Qiangs can build them on the rockiest cliffs and swiftest rivers. Using only wooden boards and piers, these bridges can stretch up to 100 meters.
An official portrait of a Qiang family
Distribution of Qiang people
A Qiang family lives on top of the high Himalayas mountains
A 1934 picture of Qiang people
A 1934 picture of a Qiang girl
A 1934 picture of two women singing
An oil painting of a Qiang village. Notice the high watch towers where they used to spot on intruders
尔玛依娜, a real life Qiang beauty queen
