Aisin Gioro

Aisin Gioro ({{zh-stp|t=愛新覺羅|s=????|p=àixīn juéluó}}) was the clan name of the Manchu emperors of the Qing dynasty and the later Manchukuo regime. The word aisin means gold in the Manchu language, but the meaning of gioro is unknown, probably surname.

Foundation myth

The Veritable Records and other documents contain the foundation myth of the Aishin Gioro clan:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:There was a lake called Bulhūri at the foot of Bukūri Mountain, located to the east of the Changbai Mountains. When three angels bathed in that lake, a magpie left a fruit on the youngest angel Fekulen's clothes. She ate the fruit and became pregnant. She mothered Bukūri Yong?on, the founder of Aishin gioro. He was later welcomed by the people as the Beile. He settled at Odoli Castle on the Omohoi Plain and became the founder of the Manchu State.

Related Topics:
Changbai Mountains - Angel - Magpie - Beile - Castle

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This myth has interested many historians. Similar stories can be found in other northern people's mythology. Yong?on seems to have come from Chinese yingxiong (英雄; hero) and Odoli would be modern-day Hoenyŏng (會寧) in Hamgyŏngnamdo, North Korea. A recent study found that a 1635 article of Jiu Manzhou Dang (old Manchu archives), which was omitted from later documents, says that a man from the Hūrha tribe on the Upper Amur River told the exactly same myth. In fact, Kangxi period maps shows Bukūri Mountain and Bulhūri Lake near Heilongjiang. It is considered that the Manchu imperial family incorporated Hūrha's legend into their own foundation myth.

Related Topics:
North Korea - 1635 - Jiu Manzhou Dang - Amur River - Kangxi

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although the Changbai Mountains (golmin ?anggiyan alin in Manchu) are regarded as the birthplace of the Aishin Gioro clan, their relationship with this legend is questionable. As explained above, the mythical arena was near Heilongjiang, not the Changbai Mountains. In addition, a careful analysis on early Manchu records proved that the description of the Changbai Mountains at the beginning of this legend had been inserted for the first time in the Shunzhi-era version of the Veritable Records for Nurhaci.

Related Topics:
Manchu - Shunzhi

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~