Manchuria

Manchuria (Manchu: Manju, {{zh-stp |s=满洲 |t=滿洲 |p=Mǎnzhōu}}) is name given to a vast territorial region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is divided between China and Russia.

History

Earlier history

Manchuria was the home of several nomadic tribes, including the Manchu, Ulchi, Goldi and Nanai. Various ethnic groups or kingdoms, including the Fuyu, Goguryeo, Xianbei, Khitan, Bohai (Mohe) and Jurchen, have risen to power in Manchuria.

Related Topics:
Ulchi - Goldi - Nanai - Fuyu - Goguryeo - Xianbei - Khitan - Bohai - Mohe - Jurchen

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Han Chinese dynasties in China loosely controlled southern Manchuria up until the Song dynasty. During the Song dynasty, the Khitan set up the Liao dynasty in Manchuria. Later, the Jurchen (Manchu) overthrew the Liao and formed the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), which went on to conquer Northern China. In 1234, the Jin Dynasty fell to the Mongols, who were later thrown out by the Ming Dynasty in 1368. In 1644, the Manchu conquered the entirety of China and established the Qing dynasty (1644-1912).

Related Topics:
Han Chinese - Song dynasty - Khitan - Liao - Jurchen - Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) - 1234 - Ming Dynasty - 1368 - 1644 - 1912

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To the south, the region was separated from China proper by the Inner Willow Palisade, a ditch and embankment planted with willows intended to restrict the movement of the Han Chinese into Manchuria during the Qing dynasty, as the area was off-limits to the Han until the Qing started colonizing the area with them later on in the dynasty's rule. The Manchu area was still separated from modern-day Inner Mongolia by the Outer Willow Palisade, which kept the Manchu and the Mongols in the area separate.

Related Topics:
Willow - Qing dynasty - Inner Mongolia

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Russian and Japanese influence

To the north, the boundary with Russian Siberia was fixed by the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689) as running along the watershed of the Stanovoy mountains. South of the Stanovoy Mountains, the basin of the Amur and its tributaries belonged to the Manchu Empire. North of the Stanovoy Mountains, the Uda valley and Siberia belonged to the Russian Empire. In 1858, a weakening Manchu China was forced to cede Manchuria north of the Amur to Russia at the Treaty of Aigun. In 1860, at the Treaty of Peking, the Russians managed to extort a further large slice of Manchuria, east of the Ussuri River, so that Manchuria was divided into a Russian half known as "Outer Manchuria", and a remaining Chinese half known as "Inner Manchuria". In modern literature, 'Manchuria' usually refers to Inner (Chinese) Manchuria. (cf. Inner and Outer Mongolia). As a result of the Treaties of Argun and Peking, Manchuria (and China) lost access to the Sea of Japan.

Related Topics:
Russia - Siberia - Treaty of Nerchinsk - 1689 - Stanovoy - Amur - Manchu Empire - Russian Empire - 1858 - Treaty of Aigun - 1860 - Treaty of Peking - Ussuri River - Outer Manchuria - Mongolia - Sea of Japan

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Manchuria was known for its shamanism, ginseng and tigers. The Manchu imperial symbol was a tiger with a ball of opium in its mouth. Manchu Emperors were, first and foremost, accomplished shamans. By the 19th century, Manchu rule had become increasingly sinicized and, along with other borderlands of the Chinese Empire such as Mongolia and Tibet, came under the influence of colonial powers. Britain nibbled at Tibet, France at Hainan and Germany at Shantung, while Russia encroached upon Turkestan and Outer Mongolia, having annexed Outer Manchuria.

Related Topics:
Shamanism - Ginseng - Tiger - Shaman - 19th century - Sinicized - Mongolia - Tibet - Britain - France - Hainan - Germany - Shantung - Russia - Turkestan - Outer Mongolia

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Inner Manchuria also came under strong Russian influence with the building of the Chinese eastern railway through Harbin to Vladivostok. Japan replaced Russian influence in Inner Manchuria as a result of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905, and Japan laid the South Manchurian Railway in 1906 to Port Arthur (Japanese: Ryojun).

Related Topics:
Harbin - Vladivostok - Japan - Russo-Japanese War - 1904 - 1905 - South Manchurian Railway - 1906 - Port Arthur

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Between World War I and World War II, Manchuria became a political and military battleground. Japanese influence extended into Outer Manchuria in the wake of the Russian Revolution, but Outer Manchuria had reverted to Soviet Russian control by 1925. Japan took advantage of the disorder following the Russian Revolution to occupy Outer Manchuria, but Soviet successes and American economic pressure forced Japanese withdrawal.

Related Topics:
World War I - World War II - Russian Revolution - Soviet Russia - 1925 - American

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During the period of the warlords in China, Chang Tso-Lin established himself in Inner Manchuria but, being too independent on the increasing Japanese influence, was murdered; the last Manchu emperor, Pu Yi, was then placed on the throne to lead a Japanese puppet government. Inner Manchuria was proclaimed as an independent state, Manchukuo, which was in reality controlled by the Japanese. Inner Manchuria was thus formally detached from China by Japan in the 1930s to create a buffer zone to defend Japan from Russia's Southing Strategy and, with Japanese investment and rich natural resources, became an industrial powerhouse. Prior to World War II, Manchuria was colonized by the Japanese, and Manchukuo was used as a base to invade China, an expensive action (in terms of the damage to men, matériel and political integrity) that was as costly to Japan as the invasion of Russia was to Nazi Germany, and for the same reasons.

Related Topics:
Warlord - Chang Tso-Lin - Pu Yi - Puppet government - Manchukuo - 1930s - Nazi Germany

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After World War Two

After the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945, the Soviet Union invaded from Russian Manchuria as part of its declaration of war against Japan. From 1945 to 1948, Inner Manchuria was a base area for the Communist People's Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. With the encouragement of Soviet Russia, Manchuria was used as a staging ground during the Civil War for the Chinese Communists, who were victorious in 1949.

Related Topics:
Atomic bomb - 1945 - Soviet Union - 1948 - Communist - People's Liberation Army - Chinese Civil War - Staging ground - Chinese Communists - 1949

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During the Korean War of the 1950s, 300,000 soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army crossed the Chinese-Korean border from Manchuria to recapture Korea from South Korean and American Forces.

Related Topics:
Korean War - 1950s - People's Liberation Army

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In the 1960s, Manchuria became the site of the most serious tension between Soviet Russia and Communist China. The treaties of 1858 and 1860, which ceded territory north of the Amur, were ambigious as to which course of the river was the boundary. This ambiguity led to dispute over the political status of several islands. This led to armed conflict in 1969, called the Sino-Soviet border conflict.

Related Topics:
1960s - 1969 - Sino-Soviet border conflict

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With the end of the Cold War, this boundary issue was discussed through negotiations. In 2004, Russia agreed to transfer Yinlong Island, as well as one half of Heixiazi Island to China, ending a long-standing border dispute. Both islands are found at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, and were until then administered by Russia and claimed by China. The event was meant to foster feelings of reconciliation and cooperation between the two countries by their leaders, but it has also sparked different degrees of discontents on both sides. Russians, especially Cossack farmers of Khabarovsk, who would lose their plowlands on the islands, were unhappy about the apparent loss of territory, while news and information regarding the border treaty were censored in Mainland China by the PRC government.

Related Topics:
Cold War - 2004 - Yinlong Island - Heixiazi Island - Amur - Ussuri - Cossack - Khabarovsk - Mainland China

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Some Chinese communities among ROC, oversea Chinese and those few who could manage to bypass the information blockade set by PRC authorities criticized the treaty as an official acknowledgement of the legitimacy of Russian rule over Outer Manchuria, which was ceded by the Qing Dynasty to Imperial Russia under a series of Unequal Treaties, which included the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 and the Convention of Peking in 1860, in order to exchange exclusive usage of Russia's rich oil resourses. The transfer has been ratified by both the Chinese National People's Congress and the Russian State Duma, but has yet to be carried out to date.

Related Topics:
ROC - Oversea Chinese - Outer Manchuria - Qing Dynasty - Imperial Russia - Unequal Treaties - Treaty of Aigun - Convention of Peking - National People's Congress - State Duma

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Today, irredentism is popular in China, with many calling for the territory to be returned to China, whether by negotiation, subversion, military conquest, or demographic swamping. Russia also faces mounting problems with increasing numbers of Chinese immigrants pouring into relatively empty Outer Manchuria from crowded Inner Manchuria.

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