Tibetan, Deqen in China

People Name:	Tibetan, Deqen
Country:	China
10/40 Window:	Yes
Population:	121,000
World Population:	122,000
Primary Language:	Tibetan, Khams
Primary Religion:	Buddhism
Christian Adherents:	2.00 %
Evangelicals:	0.04 %
Scripture:	New Testament
Ministry Resources:	Yes
Jesus Film:	Yes
Audio Recordings:	Yes
People Cluster:	Tibetan
Affinity Bloc:	Tibetan-Himalayan Peoples
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

The language and many customs of the Deqen Tibetans are distinct from other Tibetan peoples. One Chinese scholar was "surprised to find that the life and customs of the people of the Deqen Prefecture differ from those of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Besides traditional Tibetan customs, they have developed quite a few of their own."



Formerly located in Tibet, Deqen was annexed by the Chinese in 1703 and has since been a part of Yunnan Province. Tibetans had migrated south into the region many centuries earlier.

What Are Their Lives Like?

The extreme north of Yunnan is an isolated, mountainous region with abundant rain and snowfall. Hot springs located throughout the region help the people alleviate their winter struggles.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Although most Deqen Tibetans are Buddhists, this group also has the largest number of professing Christians among any Tibetan group in the world.

Three Deqen Tibetan villages, located on the Tibetan side of the border, are Catholic. Another 700 Tibetans meet in a large Catholic church in Yanjing. The area was first converted by workers with the Paris Foreign Missionary Society in the late 1800s. The mission reached out in love to people all over the Tibetan world. In 1905 Tibetan lamas killed all of the French missionaries and the head of Father Dubernard was hung on the monastery gate. The Chinese authorities responded by demolishing several Tibetan temples in the region. Around the same time, emissaries of the Dalai Lama were dispatched to a Christian village near Yanjing to order the people to renounce Christianity. They shot several Christian families in a field that is called the "Field of Blood" to this day. Instead of intimidating the believers, this cruel act solidified their faith and helped them to renounce Buddhism. It has remained Christian ever since. By 1922 there were a reported 1,610 Tibetan Catholic converts in the area. The Pentecostal Missionary Union commenced work in Deqen in 1912 but gained few believers. In recent years Lisu evangelists have been sent to the Deqen Tibetans and have discipled hundreds of Tibetans in the ways of Christ. According to a Tibetan priest, Lu Rendi, there are 6,500 Tibetan Catholics in Southeast Tibet and at least a further 3,000 in neighboring areas of Yunnan Province.

What Are Their Needs?

Like people everywhere, the Deqen Tibetan people need to surrender their hearts to Jesus as their Savior and King, trusting him with every part of their lives.

Prayer Points

Pray for the Lord would multiply the movements of discipleship that are already happening and continue to give the believers wisdom and strategy.
Pray that the believers of the Deqen Tibetan people would be gripped with love and desire for their people to know the one true God.
Pray that as they read the New Testament in their translation, they would be awakened to hunger for relationship with Jesus.
Pray that they would know and experience the living God as their hope and their provider.