The Manchus are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and Qing (1636–1912) dynasties of China were established and ruled by the Manchus,who are descended from the Jurchen people who earlier established the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in northern China.
Jurchen is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian Tungusic-speaking peoples,descended from the Donghu people. They lived in the northeast of China,later known as Manchuria,before the 18th century. The Jurchens were renamed Manchus in 1635 by Hong Taiji. Different Jurchen groups lived as hunter-gatherers,pastoralist semi-nomads,or sedentary agriculturists. Generally lacking a central authority,and having little communication with each other,many Jurchen groups fell under the influence of neighbouring dynasties,their chiefs paying tribute and holding nominal posts as effectively hereditary commanders of border guards.
The Changbai Mountains are a major mountain range in Northeast Asia that extends from the Northeast Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang,Jilin and Liaoning,across the border between China and North Korea,to the North Korean provinces of Ryanggang and Chagang. They are also referred to as the Šanggiyan Mountains in Manchu. Most peaks exceed 2,000 meters in height．
Hong Taiji,also rendered as Huang Taiji and sometimes referred to as Abahai in Western literature,also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizong of Qing,was the second khan of the Later Jin dynasty and the founding emperor of the Qing dynasty. He was responsible for consolidating the empire that his father Nurhaci had founded and laid the groundwork for the conquest of the Ming dynasty,although he died before this was accomplished. He was also responsible for changing the name of the Jurchen ethnicity to "Manchu" in 1635,and changing the name of his dynasty from "Great Jin" to "Great Qing" in 1636. The Qing dynasty lasted until 1912.
The House of Aisin-Gioro was a Manchu clan that ruled the Later Jin dynasty (1616–1636),the Qing dynasty (1636–1912),and Manchukuo (1932–1945) in the history of China. Under the Ming dynasty,members of the Aisin Gioro clan served as chiefs of the Jianzhou Jurchens,one of the three major Jurchen tribes at this time. Qing bannermen passed through the gates of the Great Wall in 1644,conquered the short-lived Shun dynasty and the Southern Ming dynasty. The Qing dynasty later expanded into other adjacent regions,including Xinjiang,Tibet,Outer Mongolia,and Taiwan,gaining total control of China. The dynasty reached its zenith during the High Qing era and under the Qianlong Emperor,who reigned from 1735 to 1796. This reign was followed by a century of gradual decline.
Jiu Manzhou Dang is a set of Manchu archives stored at the National Palace Museum in Taipei,Taiwan. It is the sourcebook of Manwen Laodang and a primary source of early Manchu history. It is often called yuandang.
The Jianzhou Jurchens were one of the three major groups of Jurchens as identified by the Ming dynasty. Although the geographic location of the Jianzhou Jurchens changed throughout history,during the 14th century they were located south of the Wild Jurchens and the Haixi Jurchens,and inhabited modern-day Liaoning and Jilin provinces in China. The Jianzhou Jurchens were known to possess an abundant supply of natural resources. They also possessed industrial secrets,particularly in processing ginseng and the dyeing of cloth. They were powerful due to their proximity to Ming trading towns such as Fushun,Kaiyuan,and Tieling in Liaodong,and to Manpojin camp near Korea.
The Mohe,Malgal,or Mogher,or Mojie,were an East Asian Tungusic people who lived primarily in the modern geographical region of Northeast Asia. The two most powerful Mohe groups were known as the Heishui Mohe,located along the Amur River,and the Sumo Mohe,named after the Songhua River.
Hūlun was a powerful alliance of Jurchen tribes in the late 16th century,based primarily in modern Jilin province of China.
Li Chengliang was a Ming dynasty general.
The Wanyan clan was among the clans of the Heishui Mohe tribe living in the drainage region of the Heilong River during the time of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. Of the Heishui Mohe,the clan was counted by the Liao dynasty among the "uncivilized Jurchens" (生女真) indicating that the clan was not subject to the direct rule of the Liao emperors. Those Heishui Mohe clans ruled by the Liao dynasty were referred to as "civilized Jurchens" (熟女真). The Wanyan clan later founded the Jin dynasty.
The History of Liao,or Liao Shi,is a Chinese historical book compiled officially by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (1271–1368),under the direction of the historian Toqto'a (Tuotuo),and finalized in 1344. Based on Khitan's primary sources and other previous official Chinese records,it details the Khitan people,Khitan's tribal life and traditions,as well as the official histories of the Liao dynasty and its successor,the Western Liao dynasty.
Nurhaci,also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing,was a Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th century in Manchuria. A member of the House of Aisin-Gioro,he reigned as the founding khan of the Later Jin dynasty of China from 1616 to 1626.
Jin Qicong or Aisin-Gioro Qicong was a Chinese historian and linguist of Manchu ethnicity who is known for his studies of the Manchu and Jurchen languages. His works include the first modern dictionary of Jurchen (1984),various books about the Manchu people,and editions of the poetry of his great-great-grandfather Aisin-Gioro Yihui (1799–1838) and his wife Gu Taiqing.
The History of Jin is a Chinese historical text,one of the Twenty Four Histories,which details the history of the Jin dynasty founded by the Jurchens in northern China. It was compiled by the Yuan dynasty historian and minister Toqto'a.
Shamanism was the dominant religion of the Jurchen people of northeast Asia and of their descendants,the Manchu people. As early as the Jin dynasty (1115–1234),the Jurchens conducted shamanic ceremonies at shrines called tangse. There were two kinds of shamans:those who entered in a trance and let themselves be possessed by the spirits,and those who conducted regular sacrifices to heaven,to a clan's ancestors,or to the clan's protective spirits.
Identity in China was strongly dependent on the Eight Banner system prior to and during the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1644–1912). China consisted of multiple ethnic groups,of which the Han,Mongols and Manchus participated in the banner system. Identity,however,was defined much more by culture,language and participation in the military until the Qianlong Emperor resurrected the ethnic classifications.
The New Qing History is a historiographical school that gained prominence in the United States in the mid-1990s by offering a wide-ranging revision of history of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. Orthodox historians tend to emphasize the power of the Han people to "sinicize" their conquerors in their thought and institutions. In the 1980s and early 1990s,American scholars began to learn Manchu and took advantage of newly opened Chinese- and Manchu-language archives. This research found that the Manchu rulers were savvy in manipulating their subjects and from the 1630s through at least the 18th century,emperors developed a sense of Manchu identity and used traditional Han Chinese culture and Confucian models to rule,while blending with models from other ethnic groups across the vast empire,including those from northern China,the Eurasian Steppe,Inner Asia,and Central Asia. According to some scholars,at the height of their power,the Qing regarded the Han Chinese as only a part,although a very important part,of a much wider empire that extended into the Inner Asian territories of Mongolia,Tibet,Manchuria and Xinjiang.
Bukūri Yongšon was a legendary ancestor of the future emperors of the Qing dynasty.
The Jurchen unification was a series of events in the late 16th and early 17th centuries that led to the unification of the Jurchen tribes under Nurhaci,a Jianzhou Jurchen leader who had an antagonistic relationship with the Ming dynasty due to their involvement in events early on in his life that led to the death of his father and grandfather. From 1583 to the early 1600s,Nurhaci led a series of military and influence campaigns that led to the unification of the majority of Jurchen tribes. In 1616,Nurhaci established the Later Jin dynasty and ruled as its founding khan.
