- A member of a people native to Manchuria who ruled China during the Qing dynasty.
- The Tungusic language of the Manchu.
Of or relating to the Manchu or their language or culture.
[Manchu manju.]
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Of or relating to the Manchu or their language or culture.
[Manchu manju.]
Manchus (also called Ching or Qing). The Manchus conquered China and established an imperial dynasty which ruled between 1644 and 1911. At first an energetic and powerful ruling dynasty, the Manchus trebled the size of the Chinese empire.
The Manchu dynasty was first established in 1636 in Manchuria. They were not powerful enough to conquer China alone, but took advantage of the opportunities of the civil war that racked the last years of the Ming dynasty. When rebel leader Li Zicheng (1605-45) captured Peking (correctly Beijing), Ming Gen Wu Sangui enlisted the help of the Manchus and together they defeated Li Zicheng. The Manchus took advantage of the power vacuum in Beijing to seize the city and install the first Manchu emperor in 1644.
The first thirty years of Manchu rule were restricted to northern China; the south remained in the hands of Wu Sangui and others who supported a variety of Ming pretenders. Had the Chinese quickly united under Wu Sangui they might well have succeeded in dislodging the rather tenuous Manchu hold on power. However, by the time Wu Sangui raised his banner against the new dynasty, the new and energetic Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722) was on the throne. He crushed Wu Sangui and extended Manchu control over southern China, the last Ming bastion falling in 1683.
The acquisition of China and its vast resources allowed the Manchus considerable scope for expansion. Kangxi met and countered Russian penetration along the Manchurian border and forced the Russian stronghold at Albazin to surrender. Under the Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689 the Russians withdrew from Albazin and the area north of the Amur river. The Manchus conquered Outer Mongolia in 1697 and to the west their armies took Turkestan before 1700, Tibet in 1720, and Zungharia in 1757. Their expansion into the steppe was of lasting strategic benefit to China because it finally ended the ancient menace of nomad raiders. To the south the Manchus re-established suzerainty over Burma and Vietnam.
The Manchus, a minority within the 250 million Chinese population, ensured control over the administration by reserving half of all civil service posts for themselves. This led to a considerable degree of complacency among the Manchus who needed no exceptional talents to gain office while able Chinese candidates, particularly in the south, were continuously frustrated. This frustration could lead to open revolt—indeed the most serious, the Taiping rebellion, was started by a failed civil service candidate. However, the growing crisis within China was largely economic. The population of China had grown dramatically yet food production and industry had not kept pace. Popular unrest followed, further exacerbated by famine. Rebellion after rebellion had to be put down and the embattled dynasty was forced to rely increasingly on Chinese militia as the standard of the purely Manchu units had declined dramatically.
The Taiping rebellion was by far the most serious of these. In terms of human life, it is the costliest civil war in history and second bloodiest war of any kind, being only exceeded in casualities by WW II. Between 20 and 30 million people died during its fourteen-year course from 1850 to 1864. Inspired by Hung Hsiu-chuan and drawing on his own personal interpretation of Christianity, the rebels sought to sweep away the Manchus. They captured Nanking, which was established as the revolutionary capital. In 1860 a revitalized government aided by the ‘Ever Victorious Army’ under Gordon began to regain the territory lost to the rebels and Nanking was retaken in 1864.
The British involvement in the rebellion was indicative of the other problem facing the corrupt and inward-looking Manchus. The clash between the dynasty and British traders led to Chinese defeat in the Opium war. The shock of capitulation to such a small British force was considerable and demonstrated the fragility of the Manchu empire to the world. Further conflict followed over the opium trade between 1856 and 1858 culminating in a surprisingly good Chinese showing at the Taku forts. However, hostilities were renewed resulting in a decisive Anglo-French victory in 1860. Taking advantage of Manchu difficulties the Russians seized the vast territories along the Amur river. In 1885 Britain took over Burma and France Vietnam. The Japanese invaded Korea in 1895. The repeated defeats and humiliating concessions granted to foreign powers coupled with a failure effectively to reform or modernize underscored the bankruptcy of the Manchus which was only underlined by the hopeless failure of the Boxer rebellion of 1900. The dynasty was finally swept away by a republican revolution in 1911. The last emperor became a WW II Japanese puppet in Manchukuo (Manchuria), where it all started.
Bibliography
— Chris Mann
For more information on Manchu, visit Britannica.com.
A dynasty, Manchurian in origin, that came to power in China in the seventeenth century and that greatly expanded China's control in Asia. The dynasty was overthrown in 1911. (See Kuomintang.)
| Manchu (Manju, Man) 满族 |
|---|
| Total population |
|
approx. 10.68 million (2000) [1] |
| Regions with significant populations |
There may also be members in North Korea and Siberia |
| Language(s) |
| Manchu (historical), Mandarin Chinese |
| Religion(s) |
| Shamanism |
| Related ethnic groups |
| Xibe, other Tungusic peoples |
The Manchu people (Manchu:
Manju; simplified Chinese: 满族; traditional Chinese: 滿族; pinyin: Mǎnzú, Mongolian: Манж) are a
Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria (today's
Northeastern China). During their rise in the seventeenth
century, they conquered the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until its abolition in 1912 after the
Xinhai Revolution, and which established a
republican government in its place.
The Manchu ethnicity have largely been assimilated with the Han Chinese. The Manchu language is almost extinct, now spoken only among a small number of elderly in remote rural areas of northeastern China and a few scholars; there are around ten thousand speakers of Sibe (Xibo), a Manchu dialect spoken in the Ili region of Xinjiang. In recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in Manchu culture among both ethnic Manchus and Han. The number of Chinese today with some Manchu ancestry is quite large, and the adoption of favorable policies towards ethnic minorities (such as preferential university admission and government employment opportunities) has encouraged some people with mixed-Han and Manchu ancestry to re-identify themselves as Manchu.
Much of the recent scholarship in ethnic identity emphasizes the degree to which ethnic categories are not static, objective ones, but rather fluid, subjective ones. This applies to the notion of a Manchu ethnicity which much of the recent scholarship suggests was strengthened in the early 19th century to distinguish members of the Qing military elites from the peoples they ruled. [1]
Aspects of Manchu customs and traditions can be seen in local cuisines, language and customs in today's Manchuria as well as cities in that region. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Manchus also adopted many Han customs and traditions.
Their traditional clothing (including qi pao and ma gua, Mandarin dress) is still popular all over China. The man's clothing once consisted of a short and adjusted jacket over a long gown with a belt at the waist to facilitate horse-riding and hunting.
The women once coiled their hair in high tufts on top of their heads and wore earrings, long gowns and embroidered shoes. The women with higher social standing wore silk and satin clothing while cotton clothing was worn by women of lower social standing. Unlike the Han, the Manchu did not practice foot binding.
The traditional Manchu dwellings were made up of three quarters. In the center of the house was the kitchen while the wings contained the dormitory and the living room. The unique Manchu tradition did not allow people to die on nahan to the west or north. Believing that doors were made for living souls, the Manchus allowed dead bodies to be taken out only through windows. Ground burial was the general practice.
Ancestors of the Manchu were the peoples of the Mongolian steppes. The first ancestors of the Manchu were the Sushen, a people who lived during the second and first millennia BC. They were followed by the Yilou people, who were active during 202 to 220 AD. The Wuji followed in the fifth century and the tribes of the Mohe in the sixth century. One of the tribes of the Mohe, the Heishui (Black Water) tribe, eventually became the ancestors of the Jurchens.[2] The Manchus were related to the Jurchens, who had conquered a vast area in northeastern Asia in the twelfth century and established the Jin Dynasty (literally Golden Dynasty) under the Wanyan clan that ruled over northern half of China and rivaled the Song Dynasty in southern part of China until being conquered and destroyed by the Mongols under Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan’s descendants eventually established the Yuan Dynasty, ruling all of China and was followed by the Ming Dynasty in the historiography of Chinese history. Nurhaci's son Hong Taiji decided the Jurchens would call themselves Manju (Manchus) and prohibited the use of the name Jurchen.
The Manchu language is a member of the
The early significance of Manchu has not been established satisfactorily, although it seems that it may have been an old term for the Jianzhou Jurchens. One theory claims that the name came from the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī (the Bodhisattva of Wisdom), of which Nurhaci claimed to be an incarnation. Another theory is that the Manchus, like a number of other Tungusic peoples, take their name from the common Tungusic word *mangu(n), 'a great river'. Before the seventeenth century, the ancestors of the Manchus were generally a pastoral people, hunting, fishing and engaging in limited agriculture and pig-farming.
Politically, Prime Yellow Banner was of great importance as the ruling Aisin Gioro (Chinese Aixin Jueluo) were Prime Yellow Banners. Because of the exalted place in Manchu spirituality held by the Moon Goddess, the White Banner held a very special significance and membership to it was often related to matters of religion. A woman born to the White Banner was presumed to be spiritually gifted. Shamans or those of shamanic potential were required to be white banner--either by birth or by adoption to white banner earned through rigorous tests for spiritual ability. Once ordained, the Manchu shaman was considered a holy vessel of great wisdom with the female shamans considered of greater spiritual power compared to their male counterparts.
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In 1616 a Manchu leader, Nurhaci (1559-1626) broke away from the power of the decaying Ming Dynasty and established
the Later Jin Dynasty (後金 Hòu Jīn) / Amaga Aisin Gurun (
), domestically called the State of Manchu (manju gurun) (![]()
Nurhaci later conquered the Mukden (modern-day Shenyang) area and built it into a new capital of Qing Empire in 1621. When Beijing was captured by Li Zicheng's peasant rebels in 1644, the Qing Dynasty collaborated with Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui and invaded Li Zicheng's Shun Dynasty and moved the capital from Mukden (Walled city since the Warring States Period) to Beijing.
For political purposes, the early Manchurian emperors took wives descended from the
Mongol Great Khans, so that their descendants (such as the
Near the end of the Qing Dynasty, Manchus were portrayed as outside colonizers by Chinese nationalists such as Sun Yat-Sen, even though the Republican revolution he brought about was supported by many reform-minded Manchu officials and military officers. This portrayal quickly dissipated after the 1911 revolution as the new Republic of China now sought to include Manchus within its national identity.
In 1931, the Empire of Japan created a puppet state in Manchuria called Manchukuo. The new state was nominally ruled by Emperor Puyi. By this time the population of Manchuria was overwhelmingly Han Chinese, and though Manchukuo was intended to be a state for Manchus, the way its borders were drawn produced a state that had a majority Han population. Manchukuo was abolished at the end of World War II, with its territory incorporated back into China.
| Province (or equivalent) |
prefecture-level city | Name | Chinese | pinyin | Designated minority | Local name | Capital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hebei | Chengde | Fengning Manchu Autonomous County | 豊寧滿族自治縣 (T) 丰宁满族自治县 (S) |
Fēngníng Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn | Manchu | Fengning Manju Zijysiyan | Daming |
| Kuancheng Manchu Autonomous County | 寛城滿族自治縣 (T) 宽城满族自治县 (S) |
Kuānchéng Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn | Kuwanceng Manju Zijysiyan | Kuancheng | |||
| Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County | 青龍滿族自治縣 (T) 青龙满族自治县 (S) |
Qīnglóng Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn | Cinglung Manju Zijysiyan | Qinglong | |||
| Qinhuangdao | Weichang Manchu and Mongol Autonomous County | 圍場滿族蒙古族自治縣 (T) 围场满族蒙古族自治县 (S) |
Wéichǎng Mǎnzú Měnggǔzú Zìzhìxiàn | Manchu and Mongol | ? | Waichang Town | |
| Jilin | Siping | Yitong Manchu Autonomous County | 伊通滿族自治縣 (T) 伊通满族自治县 (S) |
Yītōng Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn | Manchu | ? | Yitong Town |
| Liaoning | Fushun | Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County | 新賓滿族自治縣 (T) 新宾满族自治县 (S) |
Xīnbīn Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn | ? | Xinbin Town | |
| Qingyuan Manchu Autonomous County | 清原滿族自治縣 (T) 清原满族自治县 (S) |
Qīngyuán Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn | ? | Qingyuan Town | |||
| Benxi | Benxi Manchu Autonomous County | 本溪滿族自治縣 (T) 本溪满族自治县 (S) |
Běnxī Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn | ? | Xiaoshi Town | ||
| Huanren Manchu Autonomous County | 桓仁滿族自治縣 (T) 桓仁满族自治县 (S) |
Huánrén Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn | Huwanren Manju Zijysiyan | Huanren Town | |||
| Anshan | Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County | 岫岩滿族自治縣 (T) 岫岩满族自治县 (S) |
Xiùyán Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn | Xiuyan Town | |||
| Dandong | Kuandian Manchu Autonomous County | 寛甸滿族自治縣 (T) 宽甸满族自治县 (S) |
Kuāndiàn Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn | Kuwandiyan Manju Zijysiyan | Kuandian Town |
| Ethnic groups in China as classified by the People's Republic of China |
|---|
| Achang · |
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - manchu (indbygger), manchurisk
adj. - indbygger i Manchuriet
Nederlands (Dutch)
Mantsjoe, Mantsjoerijs
Français (French)
n. - Mandchou
adj. - mandchou
Deutsch (German)
n. - Manchu (chinesische Volksgruppe)
adj. - Manchu-
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - Μαντσού
adj. - της αυτοκρατορίας των Μαντσού
Português (Portuguese)
n. - manchu (m)
adj. - manchu
Русский (Russian)
манчжур, манчжурка, манчжурский
Español (Spanish)
n. - Manchú
adj. - manchuriano, relativo al Manchú
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - manchu, manchuiska (kvinna), manchuiska (språket)
adj. - manchuisk
中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
满族人, 满族语, 满族人的, 满语的
中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 滿族人, 滿族語
adj. - 滿族人的, 滿語的
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 만주족, 만주어
adj. - 만주족[어]의
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 満州人, 満州語
adj. - 満州の, 満州人の
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) منتسب لقبيله المانشو (صفه) ما يخص المانشو
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - בן העם ששלט בסין במאות ה-71-02, מנצ'ו, מנצ'ו (שפה)
adj. - של בני המנצ'ו או לשונם
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