Most of the Kang live in the southwestern corner of the Yunnan province, near the Laotian border. They generally live a little further north than most other Dai groups, and their classification is somewhat uncertain. Some scholars believe that they are more closely related to the Dong minority than to the Dai.

The Kang homeland is characterized by beautiful mountains, valleys, and streams and has a subtropical, spring-like climate year round. The years are not divided into summers and winters but rather into rainy and dry seasons. Palm trees, banana trees, and bamboo grow in abundance, and the vast forests are inhabited by animals such as elephants, tigers, leopards, bears, monkeys, and peacocks.

What are their lives like?
The overwhelming majority of the Kang farm for a living. Rice, grown in irrigated fields, is by far the primary crop, but the Kang usually reap a small harvest. Plowing, cultivating, planting, weeding, and harvesting are still accomplished with primitive hand instruments such as iron plowshares and wooden hoes and sickles. Other crops include tea, cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, pineapples, and mangoes.

Typical Kang villages have 30 to 40 households, although many settlements are larger. They are characterized by huge banyan trees and delicately designed Buddhist temples or pagodas. Among most Dai-related peoples, houses are made of bamboo and are built about six to nine feet above the ground on 21 wooden posts in three rows. The area below the house is used as a shelter for livestock and as a storage area. The walls and rafters are made of bamboo, while the roof is thatched. The interior of the house is divided lengthwise into two rooms.

Each year the Kang, along with all other Dai groups, hold a famous celebration known as the Water Sprinkling Festival. Although the festival was once a Buddhist holiday, today it is celebrated more as an expression of Dai culture and has become a popular tourist attraction. During the festival, the Dai build small sand replicas of pagodas, listen to monks reciting prayers, venerate a statue of Buddha, and sprinkle each other with water.

In the past, when a boy reached the age of 8 or 9, he was sent to a Buddhist temple to live as a monk for at least two years, but more often, for ten years. At the temple, the boy received a new name. If he chose to leave and return to secular life, he received another new name. Upon the birth of his first child, he and his wife would both receive new names. During the Cultural Revolution, this practice was repressed, but today it is making a comeback.

What are their beliefs?
Many of the Kang follow ancient Chinese folk religions. Chinese folk religion is characterized by a blending of religions. It has added Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist elements over the course of time and is centered on the concept of maintaining harmony. The Kang are superstitious, consulting horoscopes in an attempt to determine which course of action will promote harmony and bring good luck.

They also believe in a pantheon of spirits who inhabit the earth. The spirits of their ancestors supposedly roam the earth, and, if treated properly, are benign and bring good luck. Deities are supposedly the souls of people who lived especially virtuous lives. They are believed to have spiritual powers that they can use to benefit those who worship them.

What are their needs?
The lives of the Kang have improved since China's 1949 Communist revolution. More recently, China has witnessed dramatic economic development. However, much of the new investment is in the major cities and focused on industry and trade. In the regions inhabited by the Kang, progress has been slow, and the people there remain far behind the rest of the nation.

Prayer Points

• Ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into the Yunnan province to share God's love with the Kang.
• Pray that God will reveal Himself to the Kang through dreams and visions.
• Pray that God will give the Kang believers boldness to share Christ with their people.
• Take authority over the spiritual principalities and powers that are keeping the Kang bound.
• Ask God to raise up prayer teams who will begin breaking up the soil through worship and intercession.
• Ask the Lord to bring forth a triumphant Kang church for the glory of His name!
• Pray that Christian radio broadcasts, evangelical literature, and the Jesus film will be made available to the Kang.
• Ask the Lord to save key leaders among the Kang who will boldly declare the Gospel.

THE PEOPLE

• People name: Kang
• Country: China
• Their language: Kang
• Population: (1990) 34,100
  (1995) 36,000
  (2000) 37,900
• Largest religion: Ethnic religionist 99%
• Christian: 1%
• Church members: 360
• Scriptures in their own language: None
• Jesus Film in their own language: None
• Christian broadcasts in their own language: None
• Mission agencies working among this people: 0
• Persons who have heard the Gospel: 5,400 (15%) Those evangelized by local Christians: 2,500 (7%)
  Those evangelized from the outside: 2,900 (8%)
• Persons who have never heard the Gospel: 30,600 (85%)

• Country: China
• Population: (1990) 1,135,043,400
  (1995) 1,199,901,200
  (2000) 1,262,195,800
• Major peoples in size order: Han Chinese (Mandarin) 67.7%
  Han Chinese (Wu) 7.5%
  Han Chinese (Cantonese) 4.5%
• Major religions: Nonreligious 55%
  Chinese folk-religionists 17%
  Atheists 12.7%
• Number of denominations: 42