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
The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...
(1046–221 BCE). Their language or languages are considered to have been members of the
Tibeto-Burman branch of the
Sino-Tibetan languages
Sino-Tibetan (also referred to as Trans-Himalayan) is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. Around 1.4 billion people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 ...
.
Etymology
Scholars believe Quanrong was a later name for the
Xianyun 猃狁 (written with ''xian'', defined as a kind of dog with a long snout
'Erya''">Erya.html" ;"title="'Erya">'Erya''or a black dog with a yellow face [''Shuowen Jiezi">Erya">'Erya<_a>''.html" ;"title="Erya.html" ;"title="'Erya">'Erya''">Erya.html" ;"title="'Erya">'Erya''or a black dog with a yellow face [''Shuowen Jiezi'']). According to sinologist Li Feng (sinologist), Li Feng, "It is very probable that when the term Xianyun came to be written with the two characters 獫狁, the notion of 'dog' associated with the character ''xian'' thus gave rise to the term Quanrong 犬戎, or the 'Dog Barbarians'."
Claiming ancestry from two white dogs, the Quanrong tribe worshipped a
totem in the form of a white dog. They are classified as a nomadic tribe of the Qiang and were the sworn enemies of the
Yanhuang tribe.
History
According to the ''
Book of the Later Han'':
The Discourses of Zhou in the
Guoyu records that at the time of
King Mu of Zhou
King Mu of Zhou (), personal name Ji Man, was the fifth Chinese sovereign, king of the Zhou dynasty of China. The dates of his reign are 976–922 BC or 956–918 BC.
Life
King Mu came to the throne after his father King Zhao of Zhou, King Zha ...
the power of the Quanrong gradually increased. Conflicts during the king's reign made him consider a
punitive expedition to the west against them. Duke of Zhai was against his father's plan: "this is not advisable. The illustrious former Emperors did not advocate the use of force." King Mu did not listen but won an unexpected victory in the subsequent clash, capturing the five kings of the Quanrong along with five white wolves and five white deer.
In 771 BCE, the
Marquess
A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...
of
Shen invited the Quanrong to join him in an attack on
King You of Zhou. The joint force subsequently occupied the Zhōu capital
Haojing, killing King You and capturing his concubine
Bao Si. In the end, the invaders left after taking a tribute from the Zhou and stealing the
Nine Tripod Cauldrons.
Duke Xiang of Qin sent an army to assist the Zhou as well as troops to escort King You's son and heir
King Ping of Zhou to the eastern capital of
Chengzhou, effectively ending the Western Zhou and ushering in the beginning of the Eastern Zhou dynasty and the tumultuous
Spring and Autumn period
The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...
.
At the time of
Emperor Ming of Han
Emperor Ming of Han (15June 28 – 5September 75 AD), born and also known as and as , was the second Emperor of the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty.
He was the fourth son and second crown prince of Emperor Guangwu of Han, Empero ...
(reigned 58–75 CE) it was said:
During the reign of
Emperor Taizong of Tang (reigned 626–649 CE), Court Academician Liǔ Kàng petitioned:
The traditional base of the Quanrong is modern Wēiróng Town in
Jingning County,
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
.
See also
*
Xirong (people)
*
Shan Rong
*
Murong
*
Gyalrong people
*
Qiang people
The Qiang people (Qiangic languages, Qiangic: ''Rrmea''; ) are an List of ethnic groups in China, 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 approx ...
*
Chunwei
*
Guifang
*
Xianyun
Notes
References
Lectures on Wolf Totem (in Chinese) (Retrieved February 2010)*
{{Historical Non-Chinese peoples in China
Ancient peoples of China
Zhou dynasty
Dogs in China
ja:犬戎