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Xirong () or Rong were various people who lived primarily in and around the western extremities of ancient China (in modern Gansu and
Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
). They were known as early as the
Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
(1765–1122 BCE), as one of the
Four Barbarians Four Barbarians is the common English translation of the Chinese term ''sìyí'' 四夷 for various peoples living outside the borders of ancient China, namely, the '' Dōngyí'' "Eastern Barbarians", '' Nánmán'' "Southern Barbarians", '' ...
that frequently (and often violently) interacted with the
sinitic The Sinitic languages (漢語族/汉语族), often synonymous with "Chinese languages", are a group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is frequently proposed that there is ...
Huaxia ''Huaxia'' (華夏, ) is a historical concept representing the Chinese nation, and came from the self-awareness of a common cultural ancestry by the various confederations of pre-Qin ethnic ancestors of Han people. Etymology The earliest ...
civilization. They typically resided to the west of Guanzhong Plains from the
Zhou Dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
(1046–221 BCE) onwards. They were mentioned in some ancient Chinese texts as perhaps genetically and linguistically related to the people of the Chinese civilization.


Etymology

The historian Li Feng says that during the
Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended when the Quanrong noma ...
period, since the term ''Rong'' "warlike foreigners" was "often used in bronze inscriptions to mean 'warfare', it is likely that when a people was called 'Rong', the Zhou considered them as political and military adversaries rather than as cultural and ethnic 'others'." Paul R. Goldin also proposes that ''Rong'' was a "pseudo-ethnonym" meaning "bellicose". After the
Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
, the term usually referred to various peoples in the west during early and late medieval times. Xirong was also the name of a state during the Spring and Autumn and
Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
s of Chinese history. The Xirong together with the eastern
Dongyi The Dongyi or Eastern Yi () was a collective term for ancient peoples found in Chinese records. The definition of Dongyi varied across the ages, but in most cases referred to inhabitants of eastern China, then later, the Korean peninsula, and Ja ...
, northern
Beidi The Di or Beidi (Northern Di) were various ethnic groups who lived north of the Chinese (''Huaxia'') realms during the Zhou dynasty. Although initially described as nomadic, they seem to have practiced a mixed pastoral, agricultural, and hunting ...
, and southern
Nanman The Man, commonly known as the Nanman or Southern Man (, ''lit. Southern Barbarians''), were ancient indigenous peoples who lived in inland South and Southwest China, mainly around the Yangtze River valley. In ancient Chinese sources, the ter ...
were collectively called the '' Sìyí'' (). The ''
Liji The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Book ...
'' "Record of Rites" details ancient stereotypes about them.
The people of those five regions – the Middle states, and the
ong Ong or ONG may refer to: Arts and media * Ong's Hat, a collaborative work of fiction * “Ong Ong”, a song by Blur from the album The Magic Whip Places * Ong, Nebraska, US, city * Ong's Hat, New Jersey, US, ghost town * Ong River, Odisha, ...
i (and other wild tribes round them) – had all their several natures, which they could not be made to alter. The tribes on the east were called i They had their hair unbound, and tattooed their bodies. Some of them ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the south were called Man. They tattooed their foreheads, and had their feet turned in towards each other. Some of them (also) ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the west were called
ong Ong or ONG may refer to: Arts and media * Ong's Hat, a collaborative work of fiction * “Ong Ong”, a song by Blur from the album The Magic Whip Places * Ong, Nebraska, US, city * Ong's Hat, New Jersey, US, ghost town * Ong River, Odisha, ...
They had their hair unbound, and wore skins. Some of them did not eat grain-food. Those on the north were called i They wore skins of animals and birds, and dwelt in caves. Some of them also did not eat grain-food. The people of the Middle states, and of those i Man,
ong Ong or ONG may refer to: Arts and media * Ong's Hat, a collaborative work of fiction * “Ong Ong”, a song by Blur from the album The Magic Whip Places * Ong, Nebraska, US, city * Ong's Hat, New Jersey, US, ghost town * Ong River, Odisha, ...
and i all had their dwellings, where they lived at ease; their flavours which they preferred; the clothes suitable for them; their proper implements for use; and their vessels which they prepared in abundance. In those five regions, the languages of the people were not mutually intelligible, and their likings and desires were different. To make what was in their minds apprehended, and to communicate their likings and desires, (there were officers) – in the east, called transmitters; in the south, representationists; in the west, i-dis and in the north, interpreters. he term 狄鞮 ''didi'' (''ti-ti'') is identified as: “(''anc.'') Interpreter of the Di, barbarians of the west.” Translated and adapted from the French./blockquote> Note: "middle states" () in this quote refers to the " Middle Kingdom", i.e.
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Spade-foot three-legged pottery vessels as well as one and two handled pots were primary cultural characteristics of the Xirong.
William H. Baxter William Hubbard Baxter III (born March 3, 1949) is an American linguistics, linguist specializing in the history of the Chinese language and best known for Baxter's transcription for Middle Chinese, his work on the reconstruction on Old Chinese. ...
and
Laurent Sagart Laurent Sagart (; born 1951) is a senior researcher at the Centre de recherches linguistiques sur l'Asie orientale (CRLAO – UMR 8563) unit of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Biography Born in Paris in 1951, he earned hi ...
(2014) reconstruct the
Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
name of Róng as . Today, similar-sounding self-designated
ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
s among modern-day
Tibeto-Burman The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spea ...
peoples in western China include
Rgyalrong Gyalrong or rGyalrong (), also rendered Jiarong (), or sometimes Gyarung, is a subbranch of the Gyalrongic languages spoken by the Gyalrong people in Western Sichuan, China. Lai et al. (2020) refer to this group of languages as East Gyalrongic. ...
of
Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
, and Nung and Trung of northwestern
Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...
(''see also Rung languages''). Prusek suggests relations between the Rong during the Zhou dynasty and the Rén ( < OC *ni tribes during
Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
, however, the Rén () dwelt in southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu, thus east, not west, of the Shang.


Timeline

According to
Nicola Di Cosmo Nicola Di Cosmo (; born 1957, Bari, Apulia, Italy) is the Luce Foundation Professor in East Asian Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study. His main field of research is the history of the relations between China and Inner Asia from prehistory ...
, 'Rong' was a vague term for warlike foreigner. He places them from the upper
Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. The source of the Wei River is close to ...
valley and along the
Fen River The Fen River drains the center of Shanxi Province, China. It originates in the Guancen Mountains of Ningwu County in northeast Shanxi, flows southeast into the basin of Taiyuan, and then south through the central valley of Shanxi before turni ...
to the Taiyuan basin as far as the
Taihang Mountains The Taihang Mountains () are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over from north to south and has an average elevation of . The principal peak is ...
. This would be the northwestern edge of what was then China and also the transition zone between agricultural and steppe ways of life. *c. 964 BCE: King Mu of Zhou defeated the
Quanrong The Quanrong () or Dog Rong were an ethnic group, classified by the ancient Chinese as " Qiang", active in the northwestern part of China during and after the Zhou dynasty (1046–221 BCE). Their language or languages are considered to have been me ...
and the following year attacked the Western Rong and Xurong. *859 BCE:
King Yi of Zhou (Ji Xie) King Yí of Zhou (), personal name Ji Xie, was the ninth king of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 885–878 BC or 865–858 BC. He was preceded by his great-uncle, King Xiao of Zhou, who may have overthrown his father. ...
: Zhou capital attacked by the Rong of Taiyuan. *877-841 BCE:
King Li of Zhou King Li of Zhou (died in 828 BC) (), personal name Ji Hu, was the tenth king of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 877–841 BC or 857–842 BC (''Cambridge History of Ancient China''). King Li was a corrupt and decadent ...
: Western Rong and
Xianyun The Xianyun (; Old Chinese: ( ZS) *''g.ramʔ-lunʔ''; (Schuessler) *''hɨamᴮ-juinᴮ'' < *''hŋamʔ-junʔ'') was an ancient nomadic tribe that invaded the
raid deep into Zhou territory *827-782 BCE: King Xuan of Zhou sends the State of Qin to attack Western Rong who submit and cede territory, sends the State of Jin against the Northern Rong (probably 788); following year destroys the RongJiang clan. *781-771 BCE:
King You of Zhou King You of Zhou (; 795–771 BC), personal name Ji Gongsheng, was the twelfth king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty and the last of Western Zhou Dynasty. He reigned from 781 to 771 BC. History In 780 BC, a major earthquake hit Guanzhong. A sooths ...
is killed by the Quanrong, ending the
Western Zhou The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended when the Quanrong noma ...
. *During the Western Zhou various Rong groups are interspersed among the cities of the North China Plain. It seems that the
Beidi The Di or Beidi (Northern Di) were various ethnic groups who lived north of the Chinese (''Huaxia'') realms during the Zhou dynasty. Although initially described as nomadic, they seem to have practiced a mixed pastoral, agricultural, and hunting ...
were pressing the Rong from the north. *714 BCE: Northern (Bei) or Mountain (Shan) Rong attack the State of Zheng. *706 BCE: The same group attacks Qi. *693-662 BCE: ), ruler of the State of Lu has many wars with the Rong. *664 BCE: Shan Rong attack the
State of Yan Yan (; Old Chinese pronunciation: ''*'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Its capital was Ji (later known as Yanjing and now Beijing). During the Warring States period, the court was also moved to another capital at Xiadu ...
. *662 BCE:
Beidi The Di or Beidi (Northern Di) were various ethnic groups who lived north of the Chinese (''Huaxia'') realms during the Zhou dynasty. Although initially described as nomadic, they seem to have practiced a mixed pastoral, agricultural, and hunting ...
drive the Rong out of Taiyuan. *650 BCE: Beirong attacked by the States of Qi and Xu. *after 650 BCE the Rong are rarely mentioned. They seem to have been mostly absorbed by the States of Qi and Jin. *314 BCE: Qin defeated the last hostile Rong tribe. Threats from unified nomadic incursions would eventually reappear under the
Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
identity during the subsequent
Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...
and
Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
Dynasties.


Ethnicity

It is believed that the Quanrong during the Western Zhou-
Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
(1122–476 BC) spoke a
Tibeto-Burman The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spea ...
branch of the
Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...
languages, and united with the Jiang clan to rebel against the Zhou. Mencius mentioned that even King Wen of Zhou had ancestries from the "western barbarians" (西夷). 7th-century scholar
Yan Shigu Yan Shigu () (581–645), formal name Yan Zhou (), but went by the courtesy name of Shigu, was a famous Chinese historian, linguist, politician, and writer of the Tang Dynasty. Biography Yan was born in Wannian (, in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi). Hi ...
made these remarks about the
Wusun The Wusun (; Eastern Han Chinese *''ʔɑ-suən'' < (140 BCE < 436 BCE): *''Ɂâ-sûn'') were an ancient semi-
s: "Among the barbarians (戎; ''Róng'') in the Western Regions, the look of the Wusun is the most unusual. The present barbarians (胡人; ''húrén'') who have green eyes and red hair, and look like macaque monkeys, are the offspring of this people";''
Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. ...
''
with commentary by Yan Shigu
Original text: 烏孫於西域諸戎其形最異。今之胡人青眼、赤須,狀類彌猴者,本其種也。
the exonym ''Húrén'' "foreigners, barbarians", was used since the 6th century to denote
Iranian peoples The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separat ...
, especially
Sogdians :''This category lists articles related to historical Iranian peoples'' Historical Peoples Iranian Iranian Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples ...
, in
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, besides other non-Chinese peoples.Atwood, Christopher P. (2015)
"The Qai, the Khongai, and the Names of the Xiōngnú"
International Journal of Eurasian Studies. 2: p. 62 of 35–63.


See also

*
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 ...
*
Gyalrong people Gyalrong people (Tibetan: རྒྱལ་རོང, Chinese:嘉绒), also called Jiarong, rGyalrong, are speakers of the Qiangic Gyalrong language who live in the southern part of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, China. T ...
*
Tangut people The Tangut people ( Tangut: , ''mjɨ nja̱'' or , ''mji dzjwo''; ; ; mn, Тангуд) were a Tibeto-Burman tribal union that founded and inhabited the Western Xia dynasty. The group initially lived under Tuyuhun authority, but later submitte ...
*
Guirong Guifang () was an ancient ethnonym for a northern people that fought against the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE). Chinese historical tradition identified the Guifang with the Rong, Di,Old Text Bamboo Annals"Wu Yi"quote: "三十五年,周王季伐 ...
* Hua-Yi Distinction *
Ji Jili Jili was a leader of the Predynastic Zhou during the Shang dynasty of ancient China. His son King Wen and grandson King Wu would defeat the Shang to establish the Zhou dynasty. He was posthumously granted the title of king, and often referred ...
*
Qiang (historical people) Qiang () was a name given to various groups of people at different periods in ancient China. The Qiang people are generally thought to have been of Tibeto-Burman origin, though there are other theories. The Tangut people of the Tang, Sung and ...
*
Sinocentrism Sinocentrism refers to the worldview that China is the cultural, political, or economic center of the world. It may be considered analogous to Eurocentrism. Overview and context Depending on the historical context, Sinocentrism can refer to ...


References


Citations


Sources

* (in Chinese
"Exploring the roots of the Qin"
* (in Chinese) * ''Grand dictionnaire Ricci de la langue chinoise''. 7 volumes. Instituts Ricci (Paris – Taipei). Desclée de Brouwer. 2001. Vol. III, p. 555. * ''A Hypothesis about the Source of the Sai Tribes''. Taishan Yu. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 106. September, 2000. Dept. of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Pennsylvania. {{Historical Non-Chinese peoples in China Ancient peoples of China Zhou dynasty