Qiang, Luhua October 8

Customs: In their small few have ever been fields the Luhua Qiang grow presented with the gospel in corn, red peppers, potatoes, a way they could cabbages, beans, and comprehend it and make an wheat. They also grow a fruit intelligent decision to accept called whadjou. In their mud- or reject the Savior. brick homes they keep pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, and GANSU some cattle. •Songpan • •Maoxian •Wenchuan • Religion: White stones are TIBET •Litang not only representative of • Qiang gods but are also a Scale symbol of good fortune. 0 KM 160 Some Qiang believe that Population in : “bringing a white stone into 14,000 (1990) 18,060 (2000) a house on New Year’s Day 23,300 (2010) will bring more property. So, Location: Sichuan when they visit a neighbor or Religion: Tibetan Buddhism relative… they present a Christians: None Known white rock and shout Overview of the ‘Property comes!’ The host Luhua Qiang receives it carefully and then Countries: China welcomes their blessing Pronunciation: wholeheartedly by carefully “Chee-Ung-Loo-hwa” placing it next to the Other Names: Chiang: Luhua, Ch’iang, Luhua ancestral tablets or the Population Source: 14,000 (1998 3 image of a deity.” Liu Guangkun – 1990 figure);

Midge Conner 12,000 (1998 J. Matisoff); Out of a total Qiang population of Location: The Chinese no longer view themselves Christianity: Foreign 198,252 (1990 census) linguist Liu Guangkun lists a as a distinct people. missionaries who worked in Location: W Sichuan: Heishui 1990 figure of 14,000 the Qiang region in the late County: Luhua, Shashiduo, Yangrong, Zegai, Ergulu, and speakers of the Luhua : Luhua Qiang is 1800s recounted this Zhuogedu districts language living in northwest one of four distinct varieties fascinating story of a brief Status: Sichuan Province in western of Northern Qiang in China. encounter with an unknown Officially included under Qiang China.1 The Luhua Qiang One researcher has noted, Language: Sino-Tibetan, tribe: “Years ago a Tibeto-Burman, Qiangic, Qiang, language is spoken in the “Although Qiang does not deputation from Ngapa Northern Qiang Luhua, Shashiduo, have a large population, came to Kwanhsien [today’s Dialects: 0 Yangrong, Zegai, Ergulu, and their language is divided into Guanxian County] with a Religion: Tibetan Buddhism, Zhuogedu districts of many dialects, and they are Polytheism, Animism request for pith helmets, Christians: None known Heishui (Black Water) not intelligible from one to guns, and Bibles. Their Scripture: None County in the Aba another. Even worse, each interest in the Gospel, like Jesus film: None Prefecture. Heishui County village uses a different the order, seemed mixed, Gospel Recordings: None had a total population of dialect. It is therefore very but… eleven years later, the Christian Broadcasting: None 58,000 in the 1990 census, difficult to research.”2 writer met a Prince from ROPAL code: None of which 49,600 (85.5%) Ngapa who greedily bought Status of Evangelization speak Qiang languages. History: For a long period of up 500 [Scripture] 92% time before 1949, the Qiang portionettes. ‘No,’ [the Identity: Although they lived in primitive conditions. Prince] said, ‘they are not belong to the Qiang A feudal landlord economy for sale. My people are nationality and speak Qiang, dominated production. Many interested in this Gospel.’”4 8% many of the Qiang in of these poor peasants This interesting story 0% Heishui County call eventually lost their land reflects the interest in the themselves Zangzu (Tibetan) due to excessive and unfair gospel the still A B C in Chinese but R’ma in their taxation. They became hired have today. They are A = Have never heard the gospel B = Were evangelized but did not own language. Having been laborers and wandered from unreached not because they become Christians acculturated to Tibetan place to place to make a are resistant to the claims C = Are adherents to any form of centuries ago, these Qiang living. of Christ, but rather because Christianity

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