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Manchuria and Northeast China are names for a region (ca. 1,550,000 km2) in Northeast Asia which is today the northeast part of People's Republic of China. Manchuria was the traditional homeland of peoples such as the Xianbei, the Khitans, the Jurchen, and most recently and famously, the Manchus, who lent their name to the region. Today, Manchuria has a population of about 100 million, of which the vast majority are Han Chinese.
The literal translation Manchuria in Chinese is Manzhou (滿洲), but Chinese generally find the use of that name in Chinese highly offensive because of its separatist connotations and because it invokes the memory of the Japanese occupation and puppet state of Manchukuo. Instead, Chinese almost universally refer to the region as the Northeast (东北 pinyin Dōngběi), or, in English, Northeast China. Calling someone from Northeast China a "Manchurian" (Manzhouren) may be construed as an insult, since this alludes to Manchukuo, Japanese occupation, and collaborationism; the usual term used is "Northeasterner" (Dongbeiren). The use of the term Manchuria in English does not provoke nearly as strong a negative reaction among Chinese, but it is generally frowned upon. It is also worth noting that there are no significant groups of people who find the term Manchuria or Manzhou to have positive connotations.
The region borders Mongolia in the west, Russia in the north and North Korea in the east. Since 1956 it has comprised Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning provinces (see map in Political divisions of China). Traditionally, the borders also included the eastern part of Inner Mongolia (specifically, the areas administered today by Hulunbuir, Xing'an League, Chifeng, and Tongliao), and the northernmost part of Hebei Province, around Chengde.
Manchuria is more technically referred to as Inner Manchuria or Chinese Manchuria, and is contrasted with Outer Manchuria, or Russian Manchuria, which stretches from the Amur and Ussuri rivers to the Stanovoy Mountains and the Sea of Japan, encompassing Sakhalin. These regions were part of the Manchu Qing Dynasty before being ceded to Russia in 1858 and 1860. Outer Manchuria is today administered by Russia as Primorsky Krai, southern Khabarovsk Krai, Sakhalin Oblast, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, and Amur Oblast.
The region is the original homeland of the Manchu rulers of China during the Ming and Qing (=Manchu) dynasties. To the south, the region was separated from China proper by the willow palisade, a ditch and embankment planted with willows intended to keep the Manchus out of China during the Ming dynasty and intended to keep Han Chinese out of Manchuria during the Qing Dynasty.
To the north, the boundary with 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 huge 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]. Haishenwei was renamed Vladivostok. Russian Manchuria, Kirin (=Jilin) and Heilungkiang (=Heilongjiang) are drained by the Amur; Liaoning faces the Yellow Sea.
Major cities:
Manchuria was the home of nomadic tribes of Manchu, Ulchi, Goldi and Nanai. Various ethnic groups or kingdoms including the Fuyu, Goguryeo, Xianbei, Khitan, Bohai (Mohe) and Jurchen have risen into power in Manchuria.
The Government of the Han Chinese 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). In 1644 the Manchu conquered China and established the Qing dynasty (1644-1912)
It was known for its shamanism, opium 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. England nibbled at Tibet, France at Hainan, Germany at Shantung while Russia encroached upon Turkestan and Outer Mongolia, having annexed Outer Manchuria.
Inner Manchuria as well 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 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.
During the period of the warlords in China, Chang Tso-Lin established himself in Inner Manchuria but, being too independent for the increasing Japanese influence, he was murdered and the last Manchu emperor, Pu Yi, placed on the throne as a Japanese puppet, and inner Manchuria was proclaimed as an "independent" state, Manchukuo. 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 Stragegy 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 (in pinyin, 'Manzhouguo') was used as a base to invade China, a foolhardy, unnecessary and expensive (in men, matériel and political integrity) move that was as costly to Japan as the invasion of Russia was to Germany, and for the same reasons.
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, Manchuria (Inner Manchuria) was a base area for the People's Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War and with the encouragement of Soviet Russia, Manchuria was used as a staging ground during the Chinese Civil War for the Chinese Communists, victorious in 1949.
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 Amur was the boundary which lead to dispute over the sovereignty of several islands. This led to shooting in 1969 (see Damansky Island Soviet-Chinese Border Conflict). However, with the end of the Cold War, this boundary issue has been resolved.
Manchuria was the first region to industrialize in China. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Northeast China continued to be a major industrial base of China. 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 three provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning have a total population of 107,400,000 people. The majority of the population of Northeast China is Han Chinese. Manchus form a significant minority, and have been almost completely assimilated into the Han Chinese; the Manchu language is almost extinct. Other major ethnic groups include the Mongols and the Koreans.
Main article: Culture of Northeast China
Today, the concept of "Northeast China" is an important concept in the self-conception of people from that area. People from Northeast China 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 most people in Northeast China are relatively recent immigrants, being able to trace their roots in the area only the the late 19th or early 20th century, and because provincial boundaries in the Northeast have been more temporary than in other parts of China. Most other provincial boundaries were fixed during the Ming dynasty while those in Northeast China were first drawn in the late 19th century and have been changed numerous times since then.
People from Northeast China speak northeastern varieties of Mandarin, known collectively as Dongbeihua, or the Northeast China dialect.
The cuisine of Northeast China depends greatly on the use of uncooked vegetables.
Errenzhuan is a popular form of traditional entertainment in Northeast China.
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