The May 12 , 2008 earthquake in Wenchuan impacted the entire Qiang area , and post-disaster cultural reconstruction became the focus of both the international and domestic aca-demic circles.Through a case study of the inheri-tors of the Qiang oral traditions , the Shibi rituals, language use and cultural performances , the author researched the post -disaster situation of these Qiang’ s oral traditions, in order to reflect on their current circumstances as well as the direction of their future development . Generally speaking , the post -disaster living circumstances of the Shibi has improved greatly . However , compared with traditional Shibi , the post-disaster living circumstances of the Shibi has al-so experienced some changes .These changes are reflected in two aspects .The first aspect is that there are still a few Shibi who have kept their tradi-tional life way;they live in the villages , engage in farming, and hold Shibi rituals during festivals , weddings, funerals, and house building ceremo-nies.The second aspect is that there are now some Shibi who have moved to towns or cities after the disaster .They do not engage in farming anymore , and make their living by conducting rituals and performing cultural performances .There are also some Shibi who are in between these two ways of living, that is, they go back to the village during the farming season , and return to the town or city in the slack season .However , the numbers en-gaged in this kind of circumstance is not big;their living place or working time is not fixed , and they do not reflect the mainstream . Those who are the bearers of thee Qiang ’ s o-ral tradition can mostly be divided into two types:the Shibi practioner and the folk singer .In looking at the survey , we can see that the Qiang ’ s oral tradition is endangered . There are many reasons why the the Qiang language has become endan-gered.The first is because the Qiang language it-self has various dialects , and among them there is no one dialect designated as the “official” or pub-lic language .The second reason is that the Qiang live between the Han and Tibetan cultures , and their language is influenced or infiltrated by the languages of these two powerful groups .The third reason is that historically , the feudal rulers had im-plemented a cultural policy of “yixiabianyi” ( the replacement of the barbarian ’ s culture with the mainstream culture ) .The rulers looked down on the Qiang language , regarding it as part of “bar-barian culture”, and tried to transform and assimi-late it into their culture .The fourth reason is that the fast pace of modernization also changes tradi-tional culture quickly .The folklore activities and traditional entertainment which were transmitted through the Qiang language have changed . The stronger influence of the Han language , together with its modern values , materialism and technolo-gy, has impacted the cultural ecology of language , and consequently , the practical function of the Qiang language was weakened .Therefore, saving the Qiang language is the key for saving the oral traditions of the Qiang . 1.The Combination of the “Four Compari-son” and the “Four Measures ”: Collecting and Sorting Out of the Qiang ’ s Oral Traditions The collecting and sorting out of the Qiang ’ s oral tradition , as represented by the “Shibi Scrip-tures”, has achieved some results .However , it isstill far from being enough to offer satisfaction .The most typical feature in sorting out the texts is that it uses the “four comparison”, this is a style which includes the international phonetic signs , literal translation and transliteration in Chinese , and an-notation.However, the shortcoming with this ap-proach is that it lacks a biography of the Shibi;the context of the content;and the dialect and phonet-ic system.In addition, the oral scriptures of the Shibi are chanted within the practical rituals them-selves.Therefore, the content and way of chanting are restricted by the ritual rules and the scale of the ritual.Moreover, because the numbers of Shibi practioners are decreasing rapidly , the cultural e-cology is, thus, even more seriously endangered . Therefore , it is even more important to save , col-lect and sort out the oral scriptures through various aids, disciplines and methods .Speaking practical-ly, the combination of the “four comparison” with the other four methods , including video , sound re-cording , photography , and writing records , could sort out present first -hand documents efficiently and comprehensively . 2.Walking on Two legs: Training the Bear-ers of the Shibi Tradition The Shibi practitioners are facing two different situations after the disaster .One is the situation with those Shibi based in the villages , and the oth-er is with those based in the towns .From the pres-ent research , we can see that many view the Shibi who are village -based as positive , and who are based in the towns as negative .They think that the Shibi based in the towns will end up changing the traditions or commercializing them .However , my point of view is that the Shibi ’ s going into the towns and developing town -based Shibi rituals is not only a rational development of traditional cul-ture, but is also a kind of innovation to the tradi-tion in the new era .It undoubtedly contains a great inner driving force for the sustainable development of tradition . The Qiang area is in the process of urbaniza-tion and industrialization .Hence, the Shibi culturewhich is rooted within an agricultural society is fa-cing a serious transformation .The village -based Shibi , a way with an efficient cooperation with the state , governmental institutes , scholars and villag-ers, is undoubtedly efficient and worthy of encour-agement.However, compared with those “protec-ted” practioners , there is no doubt that the town -based ones have more creativity and vitality , be-cause the latter must adapt to the new living envi-ronment, and make rational reform to the tradition-al Shibi culture , and by doing so , the ancient cul-ture could be regenerated . 3.Qiang Language Protection: Putting into Practice Is the Key The Qiang language ’ s endangered situation is not only a weighty topic , but also both an old and fresh topic .This issue has been obvious since the founding of New China in the middle of the 20th century .There are many relevant field reports , or research findings on this topic .The call to save the Qiang language has never stopped , especially in present time .However , the key problem is that most of these reports , discussions , and suggestions are only “discussed but provide no solutions”. Hence , the endangered status of this language has become more and more serious .The reason for a language ’ s development and disappearance is complex , however , its utilitarian and practical na-ture is the most prominent . It is too much for the ordinary Qiang people to understand if we always emphasize culture values , research the meaning of the Qiang language as part of the efforts to save and transmit the endangered Qiang language .Hence , it is important to create a good environment for transmitting the Qiang lan-guage through varies medias , including radio broadcast , TV, films, etc.as well as educational methods . 4 .Cultural Performance:Grasp the Degree of the Culture and Economics Culture is a conceptual system with a splendid connotation , among which it also includes econom-ic attributes.Therefore, putting culture and eco-nomics in opposite position is not reasonable .Cul-tural industries are not only an important part of e-conomic development , but they also have meaning and play an important role for promoting national i-dentity and ethnic confidence .Especially for the minorities in the western regions , the rise of cul-tural performance and cultural industries has had a profound significance . Of course , putting the culture and economics in equal positions is also not correct , and can even be dangerous .The connotation of culture includes economic attributes.The cultural attribute and e-conomic attributes exist in unity , but also exist in-dependently .Hence , they form a contradictory u-nity, and, we should treat them dialectically .Tra-ditional culture is a complex system with splendid connotation .It is not true that all traditional cul-ture could be used and developed . We should make a careful , scientific research , and analyze the composition of traditional culture , recommen-ding different treatments of various cultural con-tents .