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Manchuria (Manchu: Manju, simplified Chinese: 满洲; traditional Chinese: 滿洲; pinyin: Mǎnzhōu, Russian: Маньчжурия) is a vast territorial region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within the today's People's Republic of China, or is divided between China and Russia.

Manchuria was the traditional homeland of the Xianbei, the Khitan and the Jurchen, who built several dynasties in both Manchuria and China proper, and most recently and famously the Manchus, who lent their name to the region and, in the 17th century, conquered and ruled China until the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. The area of Manchuria inside China is at least 1.55 million square kilometres.

Extent of Manchuria

Depending on the definition one uses, “Manchuria” can refer to any of several regions of various sizes. These are, from smallest to largest:

1. Northeast China: generally defined as the three provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning
2. The above, plus part of northeastern Inner Mongolia
3. The above, plus the Jehol region of Hebei province. The part of Manchuria in China is commonly called Inner Manchuria to contrast it with Outer Manchuria (see below)
4. The above, plus Outer Manchuria or Russian Manchuria, a region in Russia that stretches from the Amur and Ussuri rivers to the Stanovoy Mountains and the Sea of Japan. Russian Far East comprises Primorsky Krai, southern Khabarovsk Krai, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Amur Oblast. These were part of Manchu China according to the Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689, but were ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Aigun (1858);
5. The above, plus Sakhalin Oblast, which is generally included on Chinese maps as part of Outer Manchuria, even though it is not explicitly mentioned in the Treaty of Nerchinsk.

Manchuria borders Mongolia in the west, Siberia in the north, China proper to the south and North Korea in the southeast. Inner Manchuria has access to the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea to the south, while Outer Manchuria has access to the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk to the east and northeast.

Naming

Manchuria is a translation of the Manchurian word Manzhou. After the 1911 revolution in China, which resulted in the collapse of the Manchu's Qing empire, the name of the region where the Manchus originated, Manzhou or Manchuria, was replaced by "the Northeast" in official documents. Due to the tumultous history of Manchuria in the 20th century, the name "Manchuria" now may evoke a mixed reaction in the region: on one hand, some, especially among the older generations, still prefer to call their homeland "Bei Man (Northern Manchuria)" or "Nan Man (Southern Manchuria)"; on the other hand, the memory of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state in Manchuria from 1932 to 1945, has resulted in a stigma among the Chinese in other regions surrounding the name "Manchuria", due to connotations of separatism and collaboration with the invaders. The stigma applies only to the geographical term. "Manchu" (simplified Chinese: 满族; traditional Chinese: 滿族; pinyin: Mǎnzú) is considered a legitimate and neutral name for one of the ethnic group that originated in Manchuria.

An inhabitant of "the Northeast", or Northeast China, is a "Northeasterner" (Dōngběirén). "The Northeast" is a term that denotes the entire region, encompassing its history, culture, traditions, dialects, cuisines, and so forth. In effect, it replaces the concept of "Manchuria". As such, other provinces in the northeastern part of China (such as Hebei) are not considered to be a part of "the Northeast". This is similar to the situation in the United States, where "The South" usually refers only to the southeastern states and their culture and history, and not to states like California and other "geographic southern" states such as Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana.

For the terms "Inner" and "Outer Manchuria", see Extent of Manchuria or Russian and Japanese influence.

The term "Manchuria (Manzhou)" is regaining popularity in recent years along with the relaxation of political control and increasing access to internet in China.

Geography and climate

Manchuria consists primarily of the northern side of the funnel-shaped North China Craton, a large area of highly tiled and overlaid Precambrian rocks. The North China Craton was an independent continent prior to the Triassic period, and is known to have been the most northerly land in the world during the Carboniferous. The Khingan Mountains in the west are a Triassic mountain range formed by the collision of the North China Craton with the Siberian Craton, which in fact marked the final stage of the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea.

Although no part of Manchuria was glaciated during the Quaternary, the surface geology of most of the lower-lying and more fertile parts of the region consists of extremely deep layers of loess, which have been formed by the wind-born movement of dust and till particles formed in glaciated parts of the Himalayas, Kunlun Shan and Tien Shan, as well as the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts. Soils are mostly fertile Mollisols and Fluvents, except in the more mountainous parts where they are poorly developed Orthents, as well as the extreme north where permafrost occurs and Orthels dominate.

The climate of Manchuria has extreme seasonal contrasts, ranging from humid, almost tropical heat in the summer to windy, dry, Arctic cold in the winter. This extreme character occurs because the position of Manchuria on the boundary between the great Eurasian continental landmass and the huge Pacific Ocean causes a complete monsoonal wind reversal.

In summer, when the land heats up faster than the ocean, low pressure forms over Asia and warm, moist south to southeasterly winds bring heavy, thundery rain, yielding annual rainfalls ranging from 400 millimetres (16 inches), or less in the west, to over 1150 millimetres (45 inches) in the Changbai Mountains. Temperatures in the summer are very warm to hot, with July averages ranging from 31°C (88°F) in the south to 24°C (75°F) in the extreme north. Except in the far north near the Amur River, high humidity causes major discomfort at this time of year.

In the winter, however, the vast Siberian High causes very cold, north to northwesterly winds that bring temperatures as low as −5°C (23°F) in the extreme south and −30°C (-22°F) in the north, where the zone of discontinuous permafrost reaches northern Heilongjiang. However, because the winds from Siberia are exceedingly dry, snow only falls on a few days every winter and it is never heavy. This explains why, whereas corresponding latitudes of North America were fully glaciated during glacial periods of the Quaternary, Manchuria, though equally cold, always remained too dry to form glaciers – a state of affairs enhanced by stronger westerly winds from the surface of the ice sheet in Europe.

History

Earlier history

Manchuria was the homeland of several nomadic tribes, including the Manchu, Ulchs, Hezhen (also known as the Goldi and Nanai). Various ethnic groups and their respective kingdoms, including the Gojoseon, Sushen, Xianbei, Buyeo, Mohe, Goguryeo, Balhae, Khitan, and Jurchens, have risen to power in Manchuria.

Han Chinese dynasties in China loosely controlled southern Manchuria 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 replaced by the Ming Dynasty in 1368. In 1644, the Manchu conquered the entirety of China and established the Qing dynasty (1644–1912).

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.

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, except for a small region known as the Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang River. In 1860, at the Treaty of Peking, the Russians managed to extort a further large slice of Manchuria, east of the Ussuri River. Finally, in 1900, Russia invaded and occupied the Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang River. As a result, 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.

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.

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).

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 of 1917, but Outer Manchuria had reverted to Soviet 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.

During the period of the warlords in China, Chang Tso-Lin established himself in Inner Manchuria but, being too dependent 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.

After World War II

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 the Soviet Union, Manchuria was used as a staging ground during the Civil War for the Chinese Communists, who were victorious in 1949.

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 UN forces led by the United States.

In the 1960s, Manchuria became the site of the most serious tension between the Soviet Union and Communist China. The treaties of 1858 and 1860, which ceded territory north of the Amur, were ambiguous 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.

With the end of the Cold War, this boundary issue was discussed through negotiations. In 2004, Russia agreed to transfer Yinlong Island and 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. Meanwhile, some Chinese both at home and abroad have 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 resources. As a result of these criticisms, news and information regarding the border treaty were censored in Mainland China by the PRC government. 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.

Demographics and Economy

The three provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning have a total population of 107,400,000 people, the majority of which is Han Chinese. Manchus form a significant minority, and have been almost completely assimilated into the Han Chinese; the Manchu language is almost extinct, and many Han Chinese in Northeast China, as well as the rest of China, can claim some Manchu ancestry. Other major ethnic groups include the Mongols, the Koreans, and the Hui.

Manchuria was one of the earlier regions to industrialize in China. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Northeast China continued to be a major industrial base of the country. Recent years, however, has seen the stagnation of Northeast China's heavy-industry-based economy, as China's economy continues to liberalize and privatize; the government has initialized the Revitalize the Northeast campaign to counter this problem.

The region is, on the whole, more heavily urbanised than most parts of China, largely because it was the first part of the country to develop heavy industry owing to its abundant coal reserves. Major cities include Shenyang, Dalian, Harbin and Changchun, all with several million inhabitants. Other cities include the steel making centres of Fushun and Anshan in Liaoning, Jilin City in Jilin, and Qiqihar and Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang. Harbin, more than any other city in China, possesses significant Russian influences: there are many Orthodox churches that have fallen out of use since the Cultural Revolution.

The rural population of Manchuria is heavily concentrated in the warmer southern part of the area, where very warm to hot summer weather permits crops such as maize and millet to be grown with high yields. Soybeans and flax are also very important, as are wheat and barley. The region possesses large flocks of sheep, and pigs are abundant in the more densely settled southern part. The northern half of Heilongjiang is so cold and poorly drained that agriculture is almost impossible; however, the Amur River provides very rich fishing prospects, and sheep are even more abundant than in southern Heilongjiang.

Culture

The concept of "the Northeast or the East to the Great Wall" is important in the way Northeasterners view themselves. People from Northeast usually define themselves as "Northeasterners" first and then by province (Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang). This stands in contrast with the rest of China, where people usually identify themselves first and foremost by province.

This self-concept exists in part because the three provinces share the common history and are culturally homogeneous — Northeasterners have a sense that they are similar to each other, and different from the "inner Wall" China. This is because most people in Northeast China are descended from relatively recent immigrants, who left their homes in the late 19th or early 20th century to trailblaze a new life in Manchuria, which was scarcely populated and had plenty of available rich farmland at the time. Also, provincial boundaries in the Northeast have been more temporary than in other parts of China, thus giving little time for provincial identities or cultural contrasts to take hold. Most other provincial boundaries were fixed during the Ming dynasty, some as early as in the Yuan dynasty, while those in Northeast China were first drawn in the late 19th century and have been changed numerous times since then.

In general, the culture of the Northeast takes its elements from the cultures of north China (especially Shandong, where most of the Han Chinese migration into Manchuria originated), the native Tungus peoples and its own innovations. Traces of Russian and Japanese influence are also seen in the culture of Manchuria, especially the architecture and cuisine.

People from the Northeast speak northeastern varieties of Mandarin Chinese, known collectively as Dongbeihua, or the Northeast China dialect. This dialect is very similar to the Beijing dialect, upon which standard Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) is based, and some Northeasterners claim to speak a more pure form of Mandarin than those in China's capital.

However, Dongbeihua also retains elements from native Tungus languages, Japanese and Russian: there are enough differences to give the dialect its own distinctive characteristics. Ethnic Manchus speak Mandarin, and the Manchu language is almost extinct due to widespread assimilation to Han culture over the last four centuries. Ethnic Koreans and Mongols tend to be bilingual in both their own languages (Korean language and Mongol language) and the Chinese language.

The northeastern Chinese cuisine reflects the region's ethnic diversity. Native Manchu, Korean, Northern Chinese, Russian and Japanese cooking styles all find their traces in Manchurian cooking. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the cuisine is the use of uncooked fresh vegetables. In almost every other region of China, vegetables are cooked thoroughly before being eaten. Suan cai (similar to sauerkraut) and grits (in Southern Manchuria) are among the well known food items in Manchuria. Northeast China is also distinguished by the popularity of extremely strong distilled spirits, known collectively as baijiu or shaojiu.

Errenzhuan, Yang-ge and Jiju are popular forms of traditional entertainment in Northeast China.

Because of its climatic conditions, Northeast China is the base for China's winter sports. Ice hockey and skating athletes often come from or were educated in Northeast China.

Sea also

• Manchu
• Manchukuo

• Disputed territories
• Manchuria
• Regions of China