The term "Qiang" appears in the Shi Jing in reference to Tang of Shang (trad.

1675–1646 BCE).

They seem to have lived in a diagonal band from northern Shaanxi to northern Henan, somewhat to the south of the later Beidi.

They are skilled in making oracle bones and have a close relation to Zhou.

One of their groups is called the "Many-Horse-Qiang".

Edwin G. Pulleyblank connects them with the later Rong people.

Not until the rise of the state of Qin under Duke Mu is the Qiang expansion effectively halted.

A Qiang leader, Yao Chang, founds the Later Qin kingdom (384–417 CE) during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history.The Qiang people form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approximately 200,000, living mainly in northwestern part of Sichuan province.