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Xirong () or Rong were various people who lived primarily in and around the western extremities of ancient China (in modern Gansu and Qinghai). They were known as early as the Shang dynasty (1765–1122 BCE), as one of the Four Barbarians that frequently (and often violently) interacted with the sinitic Huaxia civilization. They typically resided to the west of Guanzhong Plains from the Zhou dynasty (1046–221 BCE) onwards. They were mentioned in some ancient Chinese texts as perhaps genetically and linguistically related to the people of the China.Nicola Di Cosmo, Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History ,Cambridge University Press, 2004 pp. 108-112.
After the Zhou dynasty, the term usually referred to various peoples in the west during early and late medieval times. Xirong was also the name of a state during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of Chinese history.
The Xirong together with the eastern Dongyi, northern Beidi, and southern Nanman were collectively called the Four Barbarians (). The Liji "Record of Rites" details ancient stereotypes about them.
The people of those five regions – the Middle states, and the Rong, Yi, (and other wild tribes round them) – had all their several natures, which they could not be made to alter. The tribes on the east were called Yi. They had their hair unbound, and tattooed their bodies. Some of them ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the south were called Man. They tattooed their foreheads, and had their feet turned in towards each other. Some of them (also) ate their food without its being cooked. Those on the west were called Rong. They had their hair unbound, and wore skins. Some of them did not eat grain-food. Those on the north were called Di. They wore skins of animals and birds, and dwelt in caves. Some of them also did not eat grain-food. The people of the Middle states, and of those Yi, Man, Rong, and Di, all had their dwellings, where they lived at ease; their flavours which they preferred; the clothes suitable for them; their proper implements for use; and their vessels which they prepared in abundance. In those five regions, the languages of the people were not mutually intelligible, and their likings and desires were different. To make what was in their minds apprehended, and to communicate their likings and desires, (there were officers) – in the east, called transmitters; in the south, representationists; in the west, Di-dis; and in the north, interpreters. Book of Rites, Wangzhi 36. This translation: James Legge (1879), The Li Ki, Clarendon Press, vol.1, pp. 229-230. Chinese text also available at [2]: 中國戎夷，五方之民，皆有其性也，不可推移。東方曰夷，被髮文身，有不火食者矣。南方曰蠻，雕題交趾，有不火食者矣。西方曰戎，被髮衣皮，有不粒食者矣。北方曰狄，衣羽毛穴居，有不粒食者矣。中國、夷、蠻、戎、狄，皆有安居、和味、宜服、利用、備器，五方之民，言語不通，嗜欲不同。達其志，通其欲：東方曰寄，南方曰象，西方曰狄鞮，北方曰譯。 The
Note: "middle states" () in this quotation refers to the "Middle Kingdom", i.e. China.
Spade-foot three-legged pottery vessels as well as one and two handled pots were primary cultural characteristics of the Xirong.
William H. Baxter and Laurent Sagart (2014)Baxter, William H. and Laurent Sagart. 2014. Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction. Oxford University Press, . reconstruct the Old Chinese name of Róng as . Today, similar-sounding self-designated among modern-day Tibeto-Burman peoples in western China include Rgyalrong of Sichuan, and Nung and Trung language of northwestern Yunnan ( see also Rung languages). Průšek suggests relations between the Rong during the Zhou dynasty and the Rén ( < OC *niŋ) tribes during Shang dynasty,Jaroslav Průšek. Chinese Statelets and the Northern Barbarians in the period 1400-300 BC. New York, 1971. p.38 however, the Rén () dwelt in southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu, thus east, not west, of the Shang.Di Cosmo, Nicola (1999). "The northern frontier in pre-imperial China". In Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward L. (eds.). The Cambridge History of Ancient China. Cambridge University Press. p. 908 of pp. 885–966.
7th-century scholar Yan Shigu made these remarks about the , one group included to the "western barbarians": "Among the barbarians (戎; Róng) in the Western Regions, the look of the Wusun is the most unusual. The present barbarians (胡人; húrén) who have green eyes and red hair, and look like macaque monkeys, are the offspring of this people"; Book of Han, with commentary by Yan Shigu Original text: 烏孫於西域諸戎其形最異。今之胡人青眼、赤須，狀類彌猴者，本其種也。Yu, Taishan. A Study of Saka History, (1998) pp. 141-142. Sino-Platonic Papers, Number 80. University of Pennsylvania. Book of Han, vol. 96b the exonym Húrén "foreigners, barbarians", was used from the 6th century to denote Iranian peoples, especially , in Central Asia, besides other non-Chinese peoples.Atwood, Christopher P. (2015). "The Qai, the Khongai, and the Names of the Xiōngnú". International Journal of Eurasian Studies. 2: p. 62 of 35–63.
Genetic data on ancient Qiang remains associated with the Xirong were determined to display high genetic affinity with contemporary Sino-Tibetan peoples as well as with ancient 'Yellow River farmers' of the Yangshao culture.
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