Gyalrong people

Gyalrong
Total population
120,000
Regions with significant populations
Sichuan, China
Languages
Mandarin, Gyalrong (traditional)
Religion
Tibetan Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Tibetan, Qiang, Tangut

The Gyalrong (Tibetan: རྒྱལ་རོང), also called the rGyalrong or Jiarong (Chinese: 嘉绒人), are speakers of the Qiangic Gyalrong language who live in the southern part of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, China. They are also found in Danba County of Garze Prefecture. The word Gyalrong is an exo-ethnonym and loanword from the Tibetan word rGyal-mo tsha-wa rong.[1]

The Gyalrong refer to themselves as Keru.[2] During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Gyalrong were ruled by local chieftains (Tusi). In 1746, Slob Dpon, the chieftain of Greater Jinchuan, was trying to unite tribes in Sichuan, forcing the Qing dynasty to launch campaigns to suppress them. After 1950, the People's Republic of China classified them as a sub-group of the Tibetan people.

The dominant religion of Gyalrong was once Bon, but in the early 15th Century CE the region received missionaries from central Tibet teaching the doctrine of the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism. Despite strenuous opposition from Bon priests, the Gelugpa succeeded in building many large monasteries in Gyalrong such as Dhe-Tsang Monastery.[3]

  1. ^ Prins, Marielle. 2011. A web of relations: A grammar of rGyalrong Ji omùzú, p. 18.
  2. ^ "in search of a language unrecognised". 8 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Built Heritage on the Eastern Tibetan plateau: Dhe-Tsang Monastery". 8 July 2024.