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TOPGeneral Information

Qiang Minority call themselves "Ri Ma", or "Ri Biao", or "Ru Ma", or "Er Ma", etc. Qiang in Chinese means shepherds. In history, Qiang people are famous as shepherds. And they regard Sacred Sheep as their god. Qiang Language belongs to a branch of Tibetan Language. And it has two different dialects in south and north. The south dialect is popular at some areas of Maoxian County, Wenchuan County, etc. And the north dialect is popular at Shaba, Chibusu, Songpan County, Heishui County, Beichuan County, etc. Although there are only have two main dialects, language at different areas is still a little different. Some Qiang people know a little Mandarin, who live near the roads and near the areas of Han and Tibet. In history, Qiang people use Mandarin characters, because they have no their own characters. In 1989, the Chinese government promoted to create Qiang characters. And now Qiang characters are tried to be used in Qiang areas.

Qiang people still keep the original religion. They believe that everything has anima. So they worship many deities. They respect four main kinds of deities, over 30 in total, such as Nature Worship, Ancestor Worship, Deities Worship, and Totem Worship.

TOPQiang History

In history, wizards in Qiang areas always organized and took charge of those religious organizations and temples. The wizards worked as other people in daily time. And only men could take charge of those important religious affairs. They could marry as well. As they have no characters, their scriptures are spread till now only by reciting. On some grand ceremonies, wizards couldn't eat Chinese onions and garlic 49 days early before the ceremony. In order to show their respects to the deities, they should take shower before holding the ceremony. Wizards should also deal some daily affairs, such as holding sacrificial rite to the Holy Mountain, curing diseases, repairing houses, holding the wedding ceremony, giving names to the new born babies, etc. Thus, wizards have very high positions in Qiang areas. They are not only the medium between human and god, but also the spreaders of their own culture.

TOPFestivals

The grandest folk festivals in Qiang area are the sacrificial rite to the Holy Mountain and "Qiang Nian Festival". They are held in spring and fall respectively. They pray to have good weather in spring and thank to the god for the harvest in fall. Those two festivals, in fact, are the activities for prayer and thanks, but they are filled with strong religious color. In different regions, they have different time to hold the sacrificial rite to the Holy Mountain. Some in January, some in April and some in May. Some of them hold once, some twice, while some three times in one year. The procedures of the rite are very complicated. Different areas have different totems, and there are three major forms in the rite. They are the Sacred Sheep, the Sacred Ox, and the Sacred Dog. The ceremony is held on a spacious land in the forest. At some areas, Qiang people are now allowed to fell firewood, cut grass, hunting, etc.

"Qian Nian Festival" is held on 1st, October of the lunar calendar every year. It lasts 3~5 days. Some villages spend 10 days on this festival. According to Qiang custom, people should office the sacrifice to the Sky Divinity, the Mountain Divinity, and the Village Divinity. At that time, people at the whole village will get together to have dinner. They will also drink, and dance on the festival. Of course, the festival is taken charge by the wizards.

TOPCeremony

There is a ceremony when a man grows 15 years old. People sit around the fire. And the man wearing new clothes will kowtow to the picture of their ancestor. The wizard then gives an amulet to him.

People living at the upper reaches of Minjiang River still keep the primitive custom of the Farming Period. They build stone residences along the hills and live a life of self-sufficiency.

The folk residences in Qiang Minority are always built with stones. Most of the residences are the single-floor houses, some are two-floor, while some are three-floor. Generally, 30 or 50 families make a village. Those villages are always distributed on the half-way down the hills, or on the river basins. "Deng Long" is a special residence. They always lie at the entrance of the village. They have the functions of defense and ramparts during the war. "Deng Long" is a culture phenomenon in Qiang Minority.

TOPQiang Clothes

Cloths are made by Qiang people themselves. The cloths are generally made of flax, furs of ox or sheep and fabric. After China's liberation, people living on the river basins wear Han dress. It produces apples, prickly ashes, walnuts, etc in the Qiang areas. The marriage regulation here is "One Husband and One Wife". In history, there were many customs about marriage. For instance, two babies were engaged even when two women were still pregnant. There was "Kids Marriage", which meant that the two kids were engaged without growing up. There are some procedures on engagement. After getting marriage and getting the new baby, there are also some customs to celebrate. There are many forms of funerals. Besides cremation, there is interment, sky burial, cliff burial, etc. Qiang people have rich folk literary works left from ancient time till now. Those works reflect that Qiang Minority is a nationality good at singing, dancing, etc. The art of embroider in Qiang Minority has a very important position in the history of handicraft art in China.