Mengjiang, also known as Mengkiang or the Mongol Border Land, officially referred to as the Mengjiang United Autonomous Government, was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, formed in 1939 as a puppet state of the Empire of Japan, then from 1940 being under the nominal sovereignty of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China. It consisted of the previously Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia. It has also been called Mongukuo or Mengguguo. The capital was Kalgan, from where it was under the nominal rule of Mongol nobleman Demchugdongrub. The territory returned to Chinese control after the defeat of the Japanese Empire in 1945.
Yoshiko Kawashima, born Aisin Gioro Xianyu, was a Qing dynasty princess of the Aisin-Gioro clan. She was raised in Japan and served as a spy for the Japanese Kwantung Army and Manchukuo during the Second Sino-Japanese War. She is sometimes known in fiction under the pseudonym "Eastern Mata Hari". After the war, she was captured, tried, and executed as a traitor by the Nationalist government of the Republic of China. She was also a notable descendant of Hooge, eldest son of Hong Taiji.
Demchugdongrub, also known as Prince De, courtesy name Xixian, was a Qing dynasty Chinese Mongol prince descended from the Borjigin imperial clan who lived during the 20th century and became the leader of an independence movement in Inner Mongolia. He was most notable for being the chairman of the pro-Japanese Mongol Military Government (1938–39) and later of the puppet state of Mengjiang (1939–45), during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the modern day, some see Demchugdongrub as a Mongol nationalist promoting Pan-Mongolism, while others view him as a traitor and a pawn of the Japanese during World War II.
Chahar, also known as Chaha'er, Chakhar or Qahar, was a province of the Republic of China in existence from 1912 to 1936, mostly covering territory in what is part of Eastern Inner Mongolia. It was named after the Chahar Mongols.
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.
Yi Bangja, Crown Princess of Korea was the wife of Crown Prince Euimin, the last Crown Prince of the Korean Empire. She was born as Princess Masako of Nashimoto, a member of the Japanese Imperial Family. In 1973, she wrote her autobiography, "The World is One: Princess Yi Bangja's Autobiography".
The Imperial House, also referred to as the Imperial Family and the House of Yamato, is the royal family of Japan, consisting of those members of the extended family of the reigning emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the emperor is "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people". Other members of the Imperial Family perform ceremonial and social duties, but have no role in the affairs of government. The duties as an emperor are passed down the line to their male children. This Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. The Imperial House recognizes 126 monarchs, beginning with Emperor Jimmu, and continuing up to the current emperor, Naruhito. However, scholars have agreed that there is no evidence of Jimmu's existence, that the traditional narrative of Japan's founding is mythical, and that Jimmu is a mythical figure. Historical evidence for the first 25 emperors is mythical, but there is sufficient evidence of an unbroken agnatic line since the early 6th century. Historically, verifiable emperors of Japan start from AD 539 with Emperor Kinmei.
The Inner Mongolian Army, also sometimes called the Mengjiang National Army, referred to the Inner Mongolian military units in service of Imperial Japan and its puppet state of Mengjiang during the Second Sino-Japanese War, particularly those led by Prince Demchugdongrub. It was primarily a force of cavalry units, which mostly consisted of ethnic Mongols, with some Han Chinese infantry formations.
Kawashima Naniwa was a Japanese spy who worked in Manchuria. He was a close friend of Shanqi, the 10th Prince Su, who had inherited the allegiance of the tribes of Inner Mongolia, and aided Shanqi and his Royalist Party in attempts to create an independent Manchu state. Prince Su was also a close friend of Prince Kan'in Kotohito, the uncle of the Japanese empress.
Prince Nagahisa Kitashirakawa of Japan, was the 4th head of the Kitashirakawa-no-miya collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army.
The Inner Mongolian campaign in the period from 1933 to 1936 were part of the ongoing invasion of northern China by the Empire of Japan prior to the official start of hostilities in the Second Sino-Japanese War. In 1931, the invasion of Manchuria secured the creation of the puppet state of Manchukuo and in 1933, Operation Nekka detached the province of Rehe from the Republic of China. Blocked from further advance south by the Tanggu Truce, the Imperial Japanese Army turned its attention west, towards the Inner Mongolian provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, with the goal of establishing a northern China buffer state. In order to avoid overt violation of the Truce, the Japanese government used proxy armies in these campaigns while Chinese resistance was at first only provided by Anti-Japanese resistance movement forces in Chahar. The former included in the Inner Mongolian Army, the Manchukuo Imperial Army, and the Grand Han Righteous Army. Chinese government forces were overtly hostile to the anti-Japanese resistance and resisted Japanese aggression only in Suiyuan in 1936.
Li Shouxin was a pro-Japanese commander in the Manchukuo Imperial Army and later the Mengjiang National Army.
The Grand Han Righteous Army (大漢義軍) was a collaborationist Chinese army cooperating with the Empire of Japan in campaigns in northern China and Inner Mongolia immediately prior to the official start of hostilities of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
John Gombojab Hangin was a scholar of Mongolian studies. He authored several Mongolian dictionaries and textbooks and is credited by The New York Times with helping to establish recognition for the Mongolian People's Republic from the United Nations and the United States.
Jodbajab, also known under the courtesy name of Shih Hai was an Inner Mongolian military officer and government official during the late Qing dynasty and Mengjiang governments. He was an ethnic Mongol belonging to the Plain and Bordered White Banner of Xilin Gol League.
Altanochir was an Inner Mongolian jasagh, politician, and general under the Republic of China and Mengjiang governments. He served as deputy head of Yeke-juu League. An ethnic Mongol, he was a native of Right-Wing Rear Banner, Ordos.
Jin Moyu, also known as Aisin Gioro Xianqi, was a Chinese educator and the last surviving Manchu princess. She was the 17th and youngest daughter of Shanqi, the 10th heir to the Prince Su peerage of the Aisin Gioro clan, the imperial clan of the Qing dynasty, which ended with the Xinhai Revolution in 1911.
Shanqi, courtesy name Aitang (艾堂), formally Prince Su of the First Rank, was a prince of the Aisin-Gioro clan, the ruling clan of the Qing dynasty, as well as a minister in the late Qing. He was from the Bordered White Banner.
