Hbrogpa, which means "nomad" or "herder" in Tibetan, is the largest of four main Amdo languages. These in turn have been counted as part of the Tibetan nationality in China. "Within these groups are many subgroups, each speaking its own language and living in different areas."
Amdo is very different from other varieties of Tibetan. Within Amdo there are four mutually unintelligible languages, of which Hbrogpa is the largest. Various sources mention 15 unnamed dialects within Hbrogpa.
Horrendous clashes with the Chinese have resulted in massive loss of Amdo Tibetan life. The Dalai Lama listed 49,049 deaths from battles within the Amdo regions before 1983, in addition to 121,982 deaths from starvation.
Most Amdo are seminomadic herders of sheep, yaks, and goats. They move to new pastures whenever their animals have made good use of the land.
Although the vast majority of Amdo are Tibetan Buddhists, in recent years there has been a revival of interest in the pre-Buddhist religion of Bon.
Several mission agencies worked in the Amdo area prior to 1949. At least five small churches consisting of Amdo Tibetans remain today. One report optimistically estimates as many as 10,000 Tibetan believers near Hezuo. Approximately 200 Tibetan believers attend a church in Lintan County in southern Gansu, but they are Jone Tibetans, not Amdo. Cecil Pohill of the China Inland Mission started a mission station in Xining in 1888. Later he "opened up Songpan as a center for Tibetan work." In 1922 it was reported, "The confidence of the people has to a great extent been achieved, and not a few have an intelligent knowledge of the way of salvation." In 1986, "A few Christian households in Gansu Province gathered to worship during a Chinese New Year's celebration. Their neighbors, seeking to wipe out Christianity, told them to disperse. The Christians were unwilling to stop their meeting and were severely beaten by the crowd. The next morning the persecutors found their sheep, cows and horses were dying. Their family members also began to die one by one. Realizing that the wrath of God had fallen upon them, they pleaded with those who believed in Jesus to pray. The Lord heard the believers' prayers, and the sick and dying were healed. As a result, over a hundred Amdo Tibetans turned to the Lord!"
Scripture Prayers for the Amdo, Hbrogpa in China.
Profile Source: Operation China, Asia Harvest Copyrighted © Used with permission |
Global Prayer Digest: 2009-04-26 |
Global Prayer Digest: 2010-07-16 |
Global Prayer Digest: 2013-07-04 |
Global Prayer Digest: 2019-07-09 |
People Name General | Amdo, Hbrogpa |
People Name in Country | Amdo, Hbrogpa |
Pronunciation | Ahm-doe |
Natural Name | Hbrogpa Amdo |
Natural Pronunciation | DRUK-pah AHM-doe |
Population this Country | 750,000 |
Population all Countries | 750,000 |
Total Countries | 1 |
Indigenous | Yes |
Progress Scale | 1 ● |
Unreached | Yes |
Frontier People Group | Yes |
GSEC | 1 (per PeopleGroups.org) |
Pioneer Workers Needed | 15 |
Alternate Names | Amde; Amdo; Anduo; Brogpa; Hbrogpa; Made; Ngambo |
People ID | 18392 |
ROP3 Code | 113985 |
Country | China | ||
Region | Asia, Northeast | ||
Continent | Asia | ||
10/40 Window | Yes | ||
National Bible Society | Website | ||
Persecution Rank | 23 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) | ||
Location in Country | More than 550,000 speakers of the Hbrogpa Amdo language live in a vast, sparsely populated area. The majority are located in eastern Qinghai Province, as far north as the Qinghai-Gansu border. Significant numbers also live in southwest Gansu Province and in adjacent parts of northern Sichuan. The Hbrogpa region ranges from Qinghai Lake in the north - which at 4,000 square kilometers (1,560 sq. mi.) is the largest lake in China - to the town of Songpan in Sichuan in the south. Songpan, encircled by a wall built in 1379, once housed 10,000 families. The Amdo region was incorporated into the Chinese empire in the early 1700s. Source: Operation China, 2000 |
Country | China |
Region | Asia, Northeast |
Continent | Asia |
10/40 Window | Yes |
National Bible Society | Website |
Persecution Rank | 23 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) |
Location in Country | More than 550,000 speakers of the Hbrogpa Amdo language live in a vast, sparsely populated area. The majority are located in eastern Qinghai Province, as far north as the Qinghai-Gansu border. Significant numbers also live in southwest Gansu Province and in adjacent parts of northern Sichuan. The Hbrogpa region ranges from Qinghai Lake in the north - which at 4,000 square kilometers (1,560 sq. mi.) is the largest lake in China - to the town of Songpan in Sichuan in the south. Songpan, encircled by a wall built in 1379, once housed 10,000 families. The Amdo region was incorporated into the Chinese empire in the early 1700s.. Source: Operation China, 2000 |
Primary Language | Tibetan, Amdo (750,000 speakers) |
Language Code | adx Ethnologue Listing |
Primary Dialect | Hbrogpa |
Dialect Code | 6954 Global Recordings Listing |
Language Written | Yes ScriptSource Listing |
Total Languages | 1 |
Primary Language | Tibetan, Amdo (750,000 speakers) |
Language Code | adx Ethnologue Listing |
Primary Dialect | Hbrogpa |
Dialect Code | 6954 Global Recordings Listing |
Total Languages | 1 |
People Groups | Speaking Tibetan, Amdo |
Primary Language: Tibetan, Amdo
Bible Translation ▲ | Status (Years) |
---|---|
Bible-Portions | Yes |
Bible-New Testament | Yes (2017) |
Bible-Complete | No |
Possible Print Bibles | |
---|---|
Amazon | |
World Bibles | |
Forum Bible Agencies | |
National Bible Societies | |
World Bible Finder | |
Virtual Storehouse |
Resource Type ▲ | Resource Name |
---|---|
Audio Recordings | Audio Bible teaching (GRN) |
Audio Recordings | Online Scripture / Portions |
Audio Recordings | Story of Jesus audio (Jesus Film Project) |
Film / Video | God's Story Video |
Film / Video | Indigitube.tv Video / Animation |
Film / Video | Jesus Film: view in Tibetan, Amdo |
Film / Video | My Last Day (Jesus Film Project Anime) |
Film / Video | The Hope Video |
General | Four Spiritual Laws |
General | Got Questions Ministry |
Text / Printed Matter | Online Bible text (Scripture Earth) |
Text / Printed Matter | World Missionary Press Booklets |
Primary Religion: | Buddhism |
Religion Subdivision: | Tibetan |
Major Religion ▲ | Percent |
---|---|
Buddhism |
99.00 %
|
Christianity (Evangelical 0.05 %) |
0.05 %
|
Ethnic Religions |
0.00 %
|
Hinduism |
0.00 %
|
Islam |
0.00 %
|
Non-Religious |
0.95 %
|
Other / Small |
0.00 %
|
Unknown |
0.00 %
|
Christian Segments ▲ | Percent |
---|---|
Anglican |
0.0 %
|
Independent |
100.0 %
|
Orthodox |
0.0 %
|
Other Christian |
0.0 %
|
Protestant |
0.0 %
|
Roman Catholic |
0.0 %
|
Photo Source | Jiji Lee Creative Commons |
Map Source | People Group Location from IMB. Other map data / geography from GMI. Map by Joshua Project. |
Video Source | Asia Harvest |
Profile Source | Operation China, Asia Harvest Copyrighted © Used with permission |
Data Sources | Data is compiled from various sources. Read more |