The earliest records of Qiang people appeared in Oracle Bone Inscriptions unearthed in Shang Dynasty. This shows that the Qiang people, or Qiang people, have a longer cultural heritage than our 5,000 years. According to "Biography of Western Qiang in the Later Han Dynasty", Qiang people came from Sanmiao, that is, "the difference of Jiang surname". Therefore, if we must trace back to the source, the Qiang people can at least trace back to the myths and legends of Emperor Yan. Because the tribe named Jiang belongs to the ancient Qiang nationality. In this way, the Qiang people are called "the living fossil of China's national evolutionary history" for certain reasons and basis. Qiang, originally meant shepherd. Originated in Hehuang area of Qinghai Province and the northwest grassland in the upper reaches of Weihe River, the Yellow River, Huangshui River, Taohe River in Gansu Province, Datong River in Sichuan Province and the upper reaches of Minjiang River are the main activity areas of ancient Qiang people. Later, Yan moved eastward, and a branch of Qiang moved into the Central Plains with Yan, where it thrived.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the "Yi Qu Guo" established by the Qiang people should be the most powerful historical period of the early Qiang people. By the time Qin became king, Yiqu had been completely annihilated. Under the background of "four barbarians merged with Han", the Qiang people who entered the Central Plains gradually merged into the Han people in the Central Plains. Influenced by the culture of the Central Plains, the Qiang people who stayed in the headquarters of the Qiang people began to change from a simple nomadic people with no fixed place to a nation combining nomadic and farming, and began to have a lifestyle of settling down and engaging in agricultural production. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the "Yi Qu Guo" established by the Qiang people should be the most powerful historical period of the early Qiang people. By the time Qin Zhaoxiang became king, "One Song" had been completely eliminated and conquered. Under the background of "four barbarians merged with Han", the Qiang people who entered the Central Plains gradually merged into the Han people in the Central Plains. Influenced by the culture of the Central Plains, the Qiang people who stayed in the headquarters of the Qiang people began to change from a simple nomadic people with no fixed place to a nation combining nomadic and farming, and began to have a lifestyle of settling down and engaging in agricultural production.

Except for some descendants of Emperor Yan who made up the Chinese nation, other Qiang people successively established some regimes, such as Xichang Yak, Ya 'an, Leshan Dynasty, Qing Yi Qiang State and the post-Qin Dynasty in the Sixteen Countries Period, but all of them were short-lived and had no influence. Until the end of the Tang Dynasty, Tuoba Sigong, a Tangut Qiang, was invaded by Tubo people, moved to Datang, settled in Ningxia, Shaanxi, and was given the surname Li. A country that has influenced China's history for hundreds of years was later established vigorously, but died vigorously until it disappeared in the long river of history. This is Xixia! The writing of Xixia characters draws lessons from the form of Chinese characters, which can be divided into simplified characters and combined characters. Most of the strokes are about ten strokes, with apostrophe, pressure and other oblique strokes. The structure is unified, the pattern is regular, the composition system and laws are relatively complete, and the personality characteristics are distinct.

After the demise of Xixia, the descendants of the minority Tangut continued to use it until the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Since then, it has been submerged by history and turned into a language of death. The officially recognized Qiang people in China mainly live in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Maoxian County, Wenchuan County, Lixian County, Beichuan County, Mianyang City, Pingwu County and other provinces and cities. At present, the population is about 309576 (20 10). In some areas of the Qiang nationality, primitive religions are still preserved, and the worship of gods with diverse beliefs is prevalent.