Comparison between Central Plains Immigrants and Qiang Immigrants

Qiang people are divided into "pre-ancient Qiang", also known as "East Qiang" (the Yanhuang nationality before the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period) and "Post-ancient Qiang", also known as Xiqiang (the "Okoyi" nationality of Xiqiang after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period). * * * The same characteristics are: sheep as a totem of sacrifice. After being unified by the Qin Dynasty, the ancient Qiang people merged with the eastern nationalities to form the embryo of the Han nationality (source: Jane Bozan's History of the Pre-Qin Dynasty). Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the post-ancient Qiang people have flooded in from the northwest and developed into some ethnic minorities in the southwest today, including Tibetans, Yi, Bai, Naxi, Pumi, Lisu, Lahu, Jinuo, Achang, Jingpo, Dulong, Nu and Tujia. (Source: A Brief History of Qiang Nationality by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission) After liberation, the so-called "Qiang Nationality" was only one of the Qiang departments in ancient West China. Today's Qiang people and the descendants of the ancient West Qiang people have experienced many wars, migrations and vicissitudes, and finally settled in today's place. Today's ancient Qiang tribe "Qiang" called itself "Zila" before entering the Minjiang River and Fujiang River basins where it lives today (source: Zhuang Xueben's Ten Years of Journey to the West). After the "Qiang War", they were able to settle in Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and later called themselves "Ermayina people".

The ancient Qiang people were an important ethnic group in ancient China. It has deep roots with ancient Han nationality and ancient Tibetan nationality. Legend has it that it comes from Jiang, the descendant of Emperor Yan Shennong. According to records, there are four descendants of Emperor Yan, belonging to four clans and tribes of the ancient Qiang people. One of them is Shanshi Lie.

The recorded history can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. The Qiang people have been mentioned in the Book of Songs. When Dayu said yes, there was a saying in the Han and Wei Dynasties that "Yu went out of the West Qiang". During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Qiang people lived in Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai. When Qin expanded westward, there was a war with the Qiang people. During the Western Han Dynasty, all ethnic groups living in present-day Gansu, eastern Qinghai and western Sichuan were collectively called Bianqiang, but whether Qiang and Bianyi are the same ethnic group is still inconclusive. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were a large number of Qiang immigrants living together with Han people in Guanzhong area of Guinea. In the first year of Ping Dynasty (58 years), with Ma Wu as the general and lieutenant, he led 40,000 troops to pacify the Qiang people, chased them to the Eastern and Western Han Dynasties (now south of Hualong Hui Autonomous County in Qinghai), beheaded 4,600 people and captured 1,600 people.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, most Qiang people were brought under the rule of the Central Plains Dynasty. However, the Qiang people sometimes rebelled and sometimes fell, and they were indecisive again and again. During the Three Kingdoms period, Qiang people migrated to the Central Plains on a larger scale and entered the Hetao area. During the Sixteen Kingdoms Period in Wuhu, Yao Chang, a native of China, was defeated in the battle of the former Qin Dynasty, and Guanzhong was empty. In 384, he called himself the King of Qin. In 386, Yao Chang proclaimed himself emperor in Chang 'an, and the post-Qin Dynasty was founded in sixteen countries.

Primitive Tibetans are called Faqiang in China history books. Early Tibetan myths and legends believed that Tibetans originated in the East, that is, the neighboring areas of Sichuan, Tibet and Qinghai. Therefore, some people think that Tibetans originated from the Qiang nationality, that is, a branch of the Qiang nationality established the Tubo dynasty, and Songzan Gambu (569 -650) was in full swing.

The Tangut of Xixia established in the Northern Song Dynasty was also considered as a branch of Qiang people in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and was called Tangut Qiang. After the demise of Xixia, most Tangut people were killed by Mongolian troops, and some survivors moved south and merged into various ethnic groups in western Sichuan. According to the research of modern scholars, Jiarong Tibetans now retain the characteristics of more Tangut people.

So it can be said that Qiang people are one of the ancestors of Han nationality and many ethnic minorities.