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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Tianba Nosu of China

The Tianba Nosu of China, numbering approximately 140,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a northern branch of the Nuosu Yi people of Sichuan's Liangshan region who developed a distinct identity on the frontier with Han Chinese communities while preserving traditional clan-based customs and culture. They mostly adhere to Chinese Folk Religion and Sichuan Yi is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Nosu, Tianba

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Nosu
Primary Language(s): Sichuan Yi (iii)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 140,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022214
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Pray for the Tianba Nosu of China

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

96%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sichuan Yi
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Nuosu Speakers

Media Resources in Sichuan Yi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sichuan Yi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sichuan Yi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tianba Nosu are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Tianba Nosu:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Tianba Nosu of China

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that those who do know about God's free gift will hear and believe that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and that they will joyfully accept this gift.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
readPsalm 19:1-2

Pray that the lost will see the glory of God revealed in the heavens, that they will hear the good news, and that their hearts will be softened to respond to God’s call, turning to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
readIsaiah 26:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, the Lord will keep them in perfect peace as they trust in Him.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns”
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that God will provide open doors for believers who cross cultures to share the good news of salvation with those who need it. Pray that He will give them joy as they see Him move.

Nosu, Tianba Across Countries (ROP3 - 114264) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Tianba NosuPG022214Tianba NosuChina140,000No Longer UnreachedSichuan YiChinese Folk Religion

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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