Qiang people

The Qiang people (Qiangic: Rrmea; ) are an ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approximately 310,000 in 2000. They live mainly in a mountainous region in the northwestern part of Sichuan (Szechwan) on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The modern Qiang refer to themselves as Rma (/ɹmæː/ or /ɹmɛː/, 尔玛, erma in Chinese or RRmea in Qiang orthography) or a dialect variant of this word. However, they did not define themselves with the Chinese term "Qiang ethnicity" (羌族) until 1950, when they were officially designated Qiāngzú. Qiang (historical people) People called "Qiang" have been mentioned in ancient Chinese texts since 3,000 years ago when they first appeared in oracle bone inscriptions. However, this term was applied to a variety of groups that might not be the same as the modern Qiang. Many of the people formerly designated as "Qiang" were gradually removed from this category in Chinese texts as they become sinicised or reclassified. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, the term "Qiang" denoted only non-Han people living in the upper Min River Valley and Beichuan area, the area now occupied by the modern Qiang. Nonetheless, most modern scholarship assume modern Qiang are descended from the historical Qiang people. When Qiang was officially designated an ethnic group in 1950, they numbered only 35,600. Many sought to gain Qiang status due to government policy of prohibition of discrimination as well as economic subsidies for minority nationalities. The number of Qiangs has therefore increased due to the reclassification of people, resulting in large numbers of people changing their ethnicity to Qiang. From 1982-1990, 75,600 Han people changed their ethnicity to Qiang, and from 1990-2000, 96,500 Han people became Qiang. Another 49,200 people reclaimed their Qiang ethnicity from 1982-1989. In total, some 200,000 Han people became Qiang.