The Chinese authorities have placed the Xiangtang under the official Yi nationality. Many Xiangtang in Simao have been thoroughly assimilated to Han Chinese culture and language. Only pockets of Xiangtang people living in more remote locations still retain their traditional way of life.
The Xiangtang are one of the southernmost Yi groups in China; this suggests that they may have been one of the earliest groups to migrate from the Yi homeland in today's Guizhou Province.
Since many Xiangtang have been gradually assimilated during the course of the twentieth century, most of their original customs have been lost. In the past, Xiangtang men had to pay a bride-price of five taels of silver to procure a wife. Alternatively, they could agree to work three years for the bride's family. In a Xiangtang home, guests of high status are seated behind the hearth, the host is seated on the right, and lower status people sit nearest the door. The main diet of the Xiangtang is maize, buckwheat, bean curd, pancakes, and sour and dried vegetables.
The Xiangtang believe in ancestor worship, mixed with animism. This remains the dominant religion among the Xiangtang, although many who live in urban areas have forsaken all religious practices. The Xiangtang living in Honghe are the only speakers of a Western Yi language in that prefecture. "While their language is widely different from the Yuanyang Nisu they live beside, the Xiangtang of Luchun County have been influenced by the Nisu culturally. Both groups worship and revere the dragon, but the Xiangtang also have reverence for the 'spirit of the ravine' whom they call to their aid every eighth day of the second lunar month."
The Xiangtang are one of many people groups in Yunnan Province with few or no known believers or Christian churches. It is possible that there are a few assimilated Xiangtang individuals attending Han Chinese churches. There are several thousand believers in the Jinghong and Mengla areas of Xishuangbanna Prefecture, but they are not known to be specifically focusing on unreached people groups for evangelism. The Xiangtang have been without a resident missionary or church-planting effort throughout their entire history.
The Xiangtang people need to put their trust and identity in the hands of the loving God of Creation who sent his son to make it possible for them to enter the Kingdom of God.
Pray for the spiritual blindness and bondage to the evil one to be removed so they can understand and respond to Christ.
Pray for the Lord to provide for their physical and spiritual needs as a testimony of his power and love.
Pray the Xiangtang people will have a spiritual hunger that will open their hearts to the King of kings.
Pray for an unstoppable movement to Christ among them.
Scripture Prayers for the Xiangtang in China.
Operation China, Asia Harvest, Copyrighted © Used with permission
Profile Source: Joshua Project |
People Name General | Xiangtang |
People Name in Country | Xiangtang |
Pronunciation | Shee-ung-tahn |
Alternate Names | Hsiangtan; Siang-Tan He-lou-jen; Xiangtan; Xiangtangpo |
Population this Country | 108,000 |
Population all Countries | 108,000 |
Total Countries | 1 |
Indigenous | Yes |
Progress Scale | 1 ● |
Unreached | Yes |
Frontier People Group | No |
GSEC | 1 (per PeopleGroups.org) |
Pioneer Workers Needed | 2 |
People ID | 18745 |
ROP3 Code | 114381 |
Country | China | ||
Region | Asia, Northeast | ||
Continent | Asia | ||
10/40 Window | Yes | ||
National Bible Society | Website | ||
Persecution Rank | 16 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) | ||
Location in Country | Approximately 80,000 Xiangtang people live in nine widely scattered counties in southwestern Yunnan Province. About 1,400 Xiangtang also live in the farwestern part of Luchun County in Honghe Prefecture. Missionary John Kuhn documented the existence of the Xiangtang in 1945. He called them Hsiangtan, which is the old way of spelling Xiangtang. Kuhn described them as living in "Mengka and Malipa." The first Western reference to the Xiangtang was by French ethnographer L. Gaide in 1903. Gaide called them the Siang-Tan He-lou-jen. Source: Operation China, 2000 |
Country | China |
Region | Asia, Northeast |
Continent | Asia |
10/40 Window | Yes |
National Bible Society | Website |
Persecution Rank | 16 (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking) |
Location in Country | Approximately 80,000 Xiangtang people live in nine widely scattered counties in southwestern Yunnan Province. About 1,400 Xiangtang also live in the farwestern part of Luchun County in Honghe Prefecture. Missionary John Kuhn documented the existence of the Xiangtang in 1945. He called them Hsiangtan, which is the old way of spelling Xiangtang. Kuhn described them as living in "Mengka and Malipa." The first Western reference to the Xiangtang was by French ethnographer L. Gaide in 1903. Gaide called them the Siang-Tan He-lou-jen.. Source: Operation China, 2000 |
Primary Religion: | Ethnic Religions |
Major Religion ▲ | Percent |
---|---|
Buddhism |
0.00 %
|
Christianity (Evangelical 0.12 %) |
0.12 %
|
Ethnic Religions |
94.88 %
|
Hinduism |
0.00 %
|
Islam |
0.00 %
|
Non-Religious |
5.00 %
|
Other / Small |
0.00 %
|
Unknown |
0.00 %
|
Primary Language | Lalo, Dongshanba (108,000 speakers) |
Language Code | yik Ethnologue Listing |
Language Written | Unknown |
Total Languages | 1 |
Primary Language | Lalo, Dongshanba (108,000 speakers) |
Language Code | yik Ethnologue Listing |
Total Languages | 1 |
People Groups | Speaking Lalo, Dongshanba |
Primary Language: Lalo, Dongshanba
Bible Translation Status: Unspecified
Resource Type ▲ | Resource Name | Source |
---|---|---|
None reported |
Photo Source | Copyrighted © 2023 Operation China, Asia Harvest All rights reserved. Used with permission |
Map Source | Joshua Project / Global Mapping International |
Profile Source | Joshua Project |
Data Sources | Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more. |