Qiang (Chinese: 羌; pinyin: Qiāng; Wade–Giles: Ch'iang) was a name given to various groups of people at different periods in ancient China.

[6] The Qiang tribe expanded eastward and joined the Han people in the course of historical development, while the other branch that traveled southwards, crosses over the Hengduan Mountains, and entered the Yungui Plateau; some went even farther, to Burma, forming numerous ethnic groups of the Tibetan-Burmese language family.

[17] It has been suggested that the clan of Jiang Yuan, mother of Houji, a figure of Chinese legends and mythology and an ancestor of the Zhou dynasty, was possibly related or identical to the Qiang.

[14] During the Han dynasty, a group of nomads to the southwest of Dunhuang were known as the Chuo Qiang (Chinese: 婼羌).

They were described in the Book of Han as a people who moved with their livestock in search of water and pasture, made military weapons themselves using iron from the mountains, and possessed bows, lances, short knives, swords and armour.

[1] Genetic analyses of ancient Qiang (Di-Qiang) remains found high genetic affinity with modern Sino-Tibetan-speaking peoples, particularly modern Qiang people and Han Chinese, as well as with ancient 'Yellow River farmers' associated with the Yangshao culture.

[24] In the mid-2nd century BCE, elements of the Lesser Yuezhi reportedly migrated into southern Gansu, where they subsequently merged with the Qiang population.

[25] In 112 BCE, the Han dynasty invaded what is now eastern Tibet with 25,000 cavalry on grounds of Qiang raiding.

[26] In 61 BCE, the Han court uncovered a conspiracy between the Xiongnu and a Qiang noble to attack Shanshan and Dunhuang.

The Han commander, Zhao Chongguo famously pacified the rebellion in 60 BCE, largely attributed to his use of tuntian or "military-agricultural colonies" to win over the Qiang.

[27] In 42 BCE, the Qiang in the Longxi region rebel and initially defeated the Han forces sent to fight them.

The Han court sent Deng Zhi and Ren Shang against the invading army, and although the Qiang forces suffered significant casualties, they were defeated at Hanyang Commandery.

Qiang forces now threatened Han territory as far south as Hanzhong Commandery and as far east as Ji Province.

[33] In 116 CE, the Han general Deng Zun led 10,000 Southern Xiongnu cavalry in a raid on Lianchang's headquarters from the north.

[34] In 120 CE, the Qiang chieftain Jiwu attacked Jincheng Commandery and was defeated by the general Ma Xian.

[35] In 121 CE, the Qiang Shaodang tribe under Manu raided Wuwei Commandery but were defeated by the general Ma Xian the following year.

[34] In 167 CE, Duan Jiong conducted an anti-Qiang campaign and massacred Qiang populations as well as settled them outside the frontier.

[34] In 184 CE, Beigong Boyu, a member of the Auxiliary of Loyal Barbarians of Huangzhong, started the Liang Province rebellion.

A Han army was sent out against them led by Huangfu Song and Zhang Wen but they failed to achieve any major victory.

Although the coalition collapsed after the Battle of Tong Pass, some of the Qiang people continued to support Ma Chao in his attempt to retake Liang province in 213 CE before he was driven out.

[38] In the Three Kingdoms period (220–280), northwestern China became a contested region between the Cao Wei and Shu Han dynasties, and depending on their circumstances, the local Qiang people sided with one of the two states.

They, along with many other tribal people in northwestern China, participated in the rebellions of Tufa Shujineng (270–279) and Qi Wannian (296–299) against the Western Jin dynasty.

It was also under Qin when the Chinese monk, Faxian, began his pilgrimage to India from Chang'an and the Maijishan Grottoes were first constructed.

The Eastern Jin commander, Liu Yu took advantage of the chaos in Later Qin to launch his second northern expedition.

[40] During the period of Northern and Southern dynasties, Fan Ye (398–445) wrote a history of the Western Qiang describing traits such as "disheveled hair", folding their coat from the left side, and marriage customs where a widow would either marry her son or the deceased husband's brother.

[42] During the Tang dynasty, the Dangxiang Qiang moved to the region of Xiazhou around modern Jingbian County, Shaanxi Province.

According to the Da Qing yi tong zhi (1735), the Tibetan Empire was founded by a branch of the Fa Qiang.

A large entourage fetched the bride and delivered her to the groom's house where the wedding ceremony was held, which involved dancing and drinking highland barley wine.

The men traveled to their wives' residences and worked their land for a long period of time as bride service.

Men held all the important political and religious positions, although there is some evidence that female shamans existed at one point.