Heihu Qiang in China

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

Introduction / History

The Qiang have migrated a vast distance across China during their history. During the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC - AD 220) they lived in the present-day Alxa Prefecture in Inner Mongolia. There they joined forces with the Hun and Wuhuan peoples to fight the Chinese. Because of numerous conflicts with other nationalities in the past, the Qiang built imposing stone fortresses, many of which still stand in the remote mountain passes of western Sichuan.

The Heihu Qiang have been combined with other related groups in Sichuan to form the official Qiang nationality.

Linguist Robert Ramsey, in his overview of the Qiang, states, "The Qiang are bound together only loosely. Groups have diverged linguistically, and the Qiang in one area are frequently unable to understand the speech of those in another area. No question of mutual intelligibility could possibly arise here; if groups from two areas were to come together, it is quite likely they would have to communicate with each other in Chinese."


What Are Their Lives Like?

The Qiang have a fond love for music. They are talented singers and dancers, and love to dance to the accompaniment of gongs, tambourines and bamboos.


What Are Their Beliefs?

Missionary Thomas Torrance amazed the world in the early 1900s with his claims that the Qiang people may be one of the lost tribes of Israel. He found numerous practices in Qiang culture and religion that he believed could only have come from a knowledge of the Old Testament. On a visit to Oir in 1925, Torrance met a Qiang priest who "explained their ancient sacrificial rites and told us of their two-fold sacrifice on their annual day of atonement: one goat was slaughtered at an altar in a sacred grove at a 'high place', and one goat was released into the wilds beyond. When my father read to the priest and his family the sixteenth chapter of the book of Leviticus, in which details of this same rite are found in the ancient Hebrew liturgy, the old priest leaped up from his stool in excitement, saying that these were the lost Qiang Scriptures!"

Mao's communist forces destroyed several Qiang churches when the Long March passed through the region in the summer of 1935. "All Qiang pastors and most of their families were executed by Mao's men. The communists tried to burn all Bibles and New Testaments, even tried to destroy the Christian's grain, so as to eliminate the Christian communities established in Wenchuan and Lifan counties. But in Tongmenwai the Christians saved some of their Bibles by burying them in caves. They resurrected them after Mao's forces had passed on."


What Are Their Needs?

Like all Qiang groups, the Heihu need the spiritual hunger it will take to seek and find the Lord.


Prayer Points

Pray that the sheer wonder of knowing Jesus and the impact he has on their lives and the joy he brings spur believers to share Christ with the Heihu Qiang people.
Pray the hearts of the Heihu Qiang people would be stirred by a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit readying them for the time when they hear the gospel message being shared with them.
Pray they will experience dreams and visions of Jesus leading them into a saving relationship with him.
Pray for an unstoppable movement to Jesus Christ among the Heihu Qiang people.


Scripture Prayers for the Qiang, Heihu 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, Heihu
People Name in Country Qiang, Heihu
Natural Name Heihu Qiang
Pronunciation Hay-hoo Chee-ung
Alternate Names Chiang, Heihu; Heihu; Hei-hu Ch'iang; Qiang, Lofuchai
Population this Country 27,000
Population all Countries 27,000
Total Countries 1
Indigenous Yes
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group No
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 1
PeopleID3 18661
ROP3 Code 114287
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 More than 20,000 speakers of the Heihu Qiang language inhabit nine districts in the central and southern parts of Maoxian County in western Sichuan Province. The various Qiang groups, including the Heihu, live in small, scattered communities, resulting in "large dialect differences."   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 More than 20,000 speakers of the Heihu Qiang language inhabit nine districts in the central and southern parts of Maoxian County in western Sichuan Province. The various Qiang groups, including the Heihu, live in small, scattered communities, resulting in "large dialect differences.".   Source:  Operation China, 2000
Primary Religion: Ethnic Religions
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 0.73 %)
0.80 %
Ethnic Religions
96.00 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
0.00 %
Non-Religious
3.20 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %
Primary Language Qiang, Southern (27,000 speakers)
Language Code qxs   Ethnologue Listing
Primary Dialect Heihu
Dialect Code 15827   Global Recordings Listing
Language Written Yes   ScriptSource Listing
Total Languages 1
Primary Language Qiang, Southern (27,000 speakers)
Language Code qxs   Ethnologue Listing
Primary Dialect Heihu
Dialect Code 15827   Global Recordings Listing
Total Languages 1
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: view in Qiang, Southern 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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