[3] Qiang has been a term that has historically referred less to a specific community, but more to the fluid western boundary of Han Chinese settlers.

Chinese philosophers of the Warring States period also mentioned a 'Di-Qiang' peoples living on the western edge of Han territory.

[4] People called "Qiang" have been mentioned in ancient Chinese texts since they first appeared in oracle bone inscriptions 3,000 years ago.

Recognized as a 'first ancestor culture', there is evidence of the Qiang in northwestern China dating back to the 16th-11th centuries B.C., when they were recorded bringing tribute to the Shang Dynasty.

[5][6] They were primarily known to practice pastoral nomadism, and resisted westward expansion of the Han Empire, gradually shifting to the south-west of their ancestral lands.

[9]Analysis of Han and Western (European) scholarly sources reveals that in the first half of the twentieth century, there was no coherent 'Qiang' culture in the Upper Min Valley of northwestern Sichuan.

Many sought to gain Qiang status due to government policy of prohibition of discrimination as well as economic subsidies for minority nationalities.

[18] In the late 1980s a writing system was developed for the Qiang language based on the Qugu (曲谷) variety of a Northern dialect using the Latin alphabet.

[5] This attests to the significant intra-diversity of the Qiang people, a phenomenon caused almost exclusively by the linguistic barriers and topographical difficulty of the regions they inhabit.

[4] Due to this, the mountain deities worshiped as village guardians became part of the lowest level of the western Tibetan Buddhist pantheon, while Taoism and Chinese Buddhism temples encroached upon the culture to the east.

Villages worship five great deities and twelve lesser ones, though the pantheon consists of gods of equal importance dedicated to almost every social function.

[5] They are also keepers of the two most important symbols of Qiang religion, known as the duangong's tools: the sheepskin drum and a preserved a monkey skull, known as the AbaMullah.

They are believed to have mysterious powers which allow them to be in constant communication with the world of spirits and ghosts, and thus straddle the line between healer and wizard.

[5] For most Qiang villages, consecrated white stones, believed to be imbued with powers of the gods through certain rituals, are placed on the top of towers as a good luck symbols.

These squared stone towers are traditionally located on the edge of Qiang villages and on the top of nearby hills as well.

In these small valleys, people cultivate narrow fluvial plains along creeks or mountain terraces, hunt animals or collect mushrooms and herbs (for food or medicine) in the neighboring woods, and herd yaks and horses on the mountain-top pastures.

[6] In terms of subsistence and diet, northwestern displayed greater reliance on animal husbandry than agriculture, thus consuming more dairy and meat products.

[20] Though Qiang villages historically served as fortified settlements with several defense mechanisms, these functions were lost over time.

Both the menfolk and womenfolk wear gowns made of gunny cloth, cotton, and silk with sleeveless wool jackets.

A common dress is the "Yangpi Gua" (a kind of sleeveless jacket made of sheepskin or goatskin), and bind puttees to protect against the cold weather.