Xirong

Template:ChineseText Xīróng (Chinese: 西戎), literally "Western Chariots", was the name of an ancient ethnic group who inhabited the Western part of China from the Zhou Dynasty (1046 – 221 BCE) onwards. Xīróng was also the name of a state during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history.

From the perspective of Sinocentrism, the Xīróng together with the Dōng Yí (東夷/东夷), Běidí (北狄) and Nánmán (南蛮) were collectively called the “Four Barbarian Tribes”^[A]. Spade-foot three-legged pottery vessels as well as one and two handled pots were primary cultural characteristics of the Xīróng.

Amongst the written records of the Xīróng many deal with their activities and wars, for example "the bigamy of Shēn Luò (申駱/申骆) and subjugation of the Xīróng"；“do not abandon the idea that the Marquess of Shen’s woman is the best for Luò and the Xīróng" and so on^[1].

References

^ Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, Qin Records

(in Chinese) "Exploring the roots of the Qin".
(in Chinese) “Ming Dynasty Record of 1574” Zhonghua Publishing ISBN-710-1006078.

Notes

^
Although the term “barbarian” is frequently used to describe such tribes, it does not have the connotations associated with Western barbarians of later periods such as the Huns or Visigoths. In the Chinese context the term is used to refer to “uncivilized people”, i.e. non-Chinese ethnic groups.

References

Notes

See also