Dajishan Qiang in China

The Dajishan Qiang have only been reported in China
Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction / History

The Qiang are one of the oldest and most famous of China's peoples. In ancient times they numbered 62 different tribes. Today's official Qiang nationality is a collection of 11 different tribes and languages, including the Dajishan Qiang. Numerous references to the Qiang tribes, dating back 4,000 years, are found in Chinese history. Sandwiched between the wild, warlike Tibetans to the west and the expanding Chinese to the east, these various nomadic tribes came to be known as the Qiang, a name that one source says means "herdsmen."

Linguist James Matisoff in 1991 discovered there to be "9 or 10 Qiangic languages." The Qiang have a legend of once possessing a script and "lost book" of their own. Dajishan Qiang is part of the Southern Qiang linguistic group. One linguist says, "Southern Qiang has been divided by researchers into five sub-dialects (including Dajishan) which are considered to be too divergent from each other to permit communication between people from different villages."


What Are Their Lives Like?

Almost all Qiang weddings and festivals are scheduled during the tenth month of the year. On the eve of the wedding day the bridegroom's family will send a "gift-bearer" to the bride's home with presents. After the wedding feast, which may last up to ten hours, the custom of "singing in the hall" commences. "The bride, whose face is veiled by a handkerchief, will first sing a song to bid farewell to her parents and thank them for her upbringing. She is then followed by the bridesmaids who will sing a song persuading her to go to the groom and live with him as man and wife."


What Are Their Beliefs?

Most Qiang are polytheists. "They believe that everything on earth - the earth itself, the sky, the sun, trees, fire, saplings, doors, even cauldron supports, pillars, white stones etc. - has a soul and they are all to be worshipped. They have no idols of any deity but choose a kind of milk-white stone as the symbol of all deities. Usually on the back wall on the top floor of every house there are five white stones representing deities of Heaven, Earth and Mountains.".

Thomas F. Torrance, from Scotland, was the first Protestant missionary among the Qiang. He served with the China Inland Mission from 1895 to 1909 and then with the American Bible Society until the 1930s. Torrance reported, "scores and scores of Christian converts among these tribesmen, especially in the Wenchuan and Weizhou [Maoxian] areas, and seven meeting places established around Tongmenwai." There are several hundred Qiang believers today, but it is unclear if any are from the Dajishan Qiang language group who live in Lixian County.


What Are Their Needs?

Their hearts need to be opened to faith in one God, despite the traditions that they have been taught over many years.


Prayer Points

Pray for a movement to monotheism and Christ in this generation.
Pray that they would recognize in their hearts that the worship of all things is empty in contrast to a relationship with the maker of heaven and earth.
Pray that the Lord would remove mountains of obstacles in order to get the gospel to the Dajishan Qiang people.


Scripture Prayers for the Qiang, Dajishan in China.


References

Operation China, Asia Harvest, Copyrighted © Used with permission


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

The Qiang

Source:  Asia Harvest      Download

People Name General Qiang, Dajishan
People Name in Country Qiang, Dajishan
Natural Name Dajishan Qiang
Pronunciation Dah-jee-shahn Chee-ung
Alternate Names Chiang, Dajishan; Dajishan; Daqishan Qiang; Qiang, Kortse; Ta-ch'i-shan Ch'iang
Population this Country 12,000
Population all Countries 12,000
Total Countries 1
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 1
People ID 18660
ROP3 Code 114286
ROP25 Code 306868
ROP25 Name Qiang
Country China
Region Asia, Northeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 19  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country A Chinese linguist in 1990 listed 7,400 speakers of the Dajishan Qiang language, living in ten districts within Lixian County in the Aba Prefecture of western Sichuan. The Qiang, who total approximately 200,000 people, inhabit an extremely rugged region, with gushing emerald-colored rivers cutting their way past 18,000-foot (5,480 m) snowcapped mountains.   Source:  Operation China, 2000
Country China
Region Asia, Northeast
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 19  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country A Chinese linguist in 1990 listed 7,400 speakers of the Dajishan Qiang language, living in ten districts within Lixian County in the Aba Prefecture of western Sichuan. The Qiang, who total approximately 200,000 people, inhabit an extremely rugged region, with gushing emerald-colored rivers cutting their way past 18,000-foot (5,480 m) snowcapped mountains..   Source:  Operation China, 2000
Primary Religion: Ethnic Religions
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 0.00 %)
0.00 %
Ethnic Religions
95.00 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
0.00 %
Non-Religious
5.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %
Primary Language Qiang, Southern
Language Code qxs   Ethnologue Listing
Primary Dialect Dajishan
Dialect Code 15826   Global Recordings Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 2
Secondary Languages
Qiang, Northern: Yadu
Primary Language Qiang, Southern
Language Code qxs   Ethnologue Listing
Primary Dialect Dajishan
Dialect Code 15826   Global Recordings Listing
Total Languages 2
Secondary Languages
  Qiang, Northern: Yadu
People Groups Speaking Qiang, Southern

Primary Language:  Qiang, Southern

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible-Portions Yes  (2023)
Bible-New Testament No
Bible-Complete No
Possible Print Bibles
Amazon
World Bibles
Forum Bible Agencies
National Bible Societies
World Bible Finder
Virtual Storehouse
Resource Type Resource Name Source
Audio Recordings Audio Bible teaching Global Recordings Network
Film / Video Jesus Film Jesus Film Project
Photo Source Copyrighted © 2024  Operation China, Asia Harvest  All rights reserved.  Used with permission
Map Source Bethany World Prayer Center  
Video Source Asia Harvest
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.



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