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Manchu

 
Dictionary: Man·chu   (măn'chū, măn-chū') pronunciation
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n., pl., Manchu, or -chus.
  1. A member of a people native to Manchuria who ruled China during the Qing dynasty.
  2. The Tungusic language of the Manchu.
adj.

Of or relating to the Manchu or their language or culture.

[Manchu manju.]


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Military History Companion: Manchus
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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

  • Cotterell, Arthur, China: A History (London, 1988)

— Chris Mann

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Manchu
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People, many of Juchen ancestry, who acquired a Manchu identity in the 17th century before conquering Ming China and forming the Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911/12). Though official policy aimed to maintain the Manchu as a distinct people, this did not prevent considerable intermarriage and adoption of Chinese customs in areas of maximum contact with Chinese. China today recognizes the Manchu as a distinct ethnic group; its more than 10 million members live mainly in northeastern China.

For more information on Manchu, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Manchu
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Manchu (măn'chū), people who lived in Manchuria for many centuries and who ruled China from 1644 until 1912. These people, related to the Tungus, were descended from the Jurchen, a tribe known in Asia since the 7th cent. They were first called Manchu in the early 17th cent. Originally pastoral nomads in Manchuria, the Manchu (or Jurchen) swept into N China in the early 12th cent. but were forced by the Mongols to withdraw in the mid-13th cent. The Manchu settled in the Songhua River valley and developed an agrarian civilization. Under the emperor Nurhaci (1559-1626) they secured the allegiance of many tribes and increased their territory. The Manchu claim of relation to the Ch'in dynasty of China was the justification for conquering China in the 17th cent. and establishing the Ch'ing dynasty. The Manchu tried to keep themselves from being absorbed by the Chinese, but when the dynasty was overthrown in the 20th cent. these efforts failed; gradually, they have become part of the general Chinese population.

History Dictionary: Manchu dynasty
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(man-chooh, man-chooh)

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.)

Wikipedia: Manchu
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For other uses, see Manchu (disambiguation).
Manchu (Manju, Man)
滿族, 满族
Manchus dressed as royal family.jpg
Total population
approx. 10.68 million (2000)[1]
Regions with significant populations
 China (Heilongjiang · Jilin · Liaoning)
There may also be members in  North Korea,  Taiwan,  Russia (Siberia),  Canada, and  Japan
Languages

Mandarin Chinese,
Manchu (very small population, almost extinct)
Religion

Historically Shamanism, Heaven worship and Ancestor worship; nowadays Buddhism and Ancestor worship[2][3]
Related ethnic groups

Xibe, other Tungusic peoples

The Manchu people (Manchu: Manjui gisun.svg Manju; simplified Chinese: 满族; traditional Chinese: 滿族; pinyin: Mǎnzú, Mongolian: Манж, Russian: Маньчжуры) are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria (today's northeastern China). During their rise in the seventeenth century, with the help of Ming rebels (such as general Wu Sangui), they conquered the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which established a republican government in its place.

The Manchu ethnicity has largely been assimilated with the Han Chinese. The Manchu language is almost extinct, now spoken only among a small number of elderly people 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,[4] 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.

Contents

Culture

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.

They traditionally 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. Variants of such costumes (including qi pao and ma gua, Mandarin dress) are 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. Unlike the Han, the Manchu did not practice foot binding.[5]

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 (Nahan1.png) 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 and ground burial was the general practice.

The Manchu language is a member of the Tungusic language group, itself a member of the proposed Altaic language family.

Origins

One of the Qianlong Emperor's Manchu First Grade Bodyguards, Baturu Zhanyinbao (1760).

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 from AD 202 to 220. 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, from whom the Manchu originated.[6]

The Jurchens under the Wanyan clan established the Jin Dynasty (literally Golden Dynasty) that ruled the northern half of China (1115–1234) and rivaled the Song Dynasty in southern China. The Jin were conquered by the Mongols under Genghis Khan.

Before the seventeenth century, the ancestors of the Manchus were generally a pastoral people, hunting, fishing and engaging in limited agriculture and pig-farming.

Traditional society

One of the old tradition of Manchu is the system of bondservants, boo-i or nucai, another Manchu word with similar meaning, was adopted into Han Chinese culture and is used in everyday life.

The Jurchen tribes employed Chinese agricultural boo-i as early as the 1400s, and it was common practice for Manchu military commanders to have their field and house bondservants serving in boo-i units during military campaigns. The Manchu masters treated their slaves in much harsher terms than their Han Chinese counterparts, and punished their slaves with much stiffer terms, such as to have their face tattooed, then send to remote regions doing hard labour for life.[neutrality disputed][7]

In 1673 the killing of a 'Boo-i's slaves to accompany their dead master to the grave was outlawed.

Founding of the Qing Dynasty

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 (Amaga aisin gurun1.png), domestically called the State of Manchu (manju gurun) (Manju gurun.png), and unified Manchu tribes, establishing (or at least expanding) the Manchu Banner system, a military structure which made their forces quite resilient in the face of superior Ming Dynasty numbers in the field. Nurhaci later conquered Mukden (modern-day Shenyang) and built it into the new capital in 1621. In 1636 Nurhaci's son Huang Taiji, reorganized the Manchus, including those other groups (such as Hans and Mongols) who had joined them, changed the nation's name to Qing Dynasty, and formally changed the name of the ethnic designation to Manchu.

The early significance of Manchu has not been established satisfactorily. 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'.

Plaque at the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, in both Chinese (left) and Manchu (right).

When Beijing was captured by Li Zicheng's peasant rebels in 1644, the last Ming Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide. The Manchu then allied with Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui and seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty. Over the next two decades, the Manchu took command of all of China.

For political purposes, the early Manchu emperors took wives descended from the Mongol Great Khans, so that their descendants (such as the Kangxi Emperor) would also be seen as legitimate heirs of the Mongol-ruled Yuan dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchu government made efforts to preserve Manchu culture and language. These efforts were largely unsuccessful in that Manchus gradually adopted the customs and language of the surrounding Han Chinese and, by the nineteenth century, spoken Manchu was rarely used even in the Imperial court. Written Manchu, however, was still used for the keeping of records and communication between the emperor and the Banner officials until the collapse of the dynasty. The Qing dynasty also maintained a system of dual appointments in which all major imperial offices would have a Manchu and a Han Chinese member. Because of the small number of Manchus, this insured that a large fraction of them would be government officials.

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.[8] This portrayal dissipated somewhat after the 1911 revolution as the new Republic of China now sought to include Manchus within its national identity.[9] Until 1924, the government continued to pay stipends to Manchu bannermen; however, many cut their links with their banners and took on Han-style names in an attempt to hide their Manchu origins and avoid widespread discrimination.[10] The official total of Manchu people fell by more than half during this period, as they refused to admit their ethnicity when asked by government officials or other outsiders.[11]

Manchukuo

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.

People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China recognised the Manchu as one of the country's official minorities in 1952.[12] In the 1953 census, 2.5 million people identified themselves as Manchu.[13] The Communist government also attempted to improve the treatment of Manchu people; some Manchu people who had hidden their ancestry during the period of KMT rule thus became more comfortable to reveal their ancestry, such as the writer Lao She, who began to include Manchu characters in his fictional works in the 1950s (in contrast to his earlier works which had none).[14] Between 1982 and 1990, the official count of Manchu people more than doubled from 4,299,159 to 9,821,180, making them China's fastest-growing ethnic minority.[15] In fact, however, this growth was not due to natural increase, but instead people formerly registered as Han applying for official reclassification as Manchu.[16]

Autonomous Areas designated for Manchus

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
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
Qinhuangdao Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County 青龍滿族自治縣 (T)
青龙满族自治县 (S)		 Qīnglóng Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn Manchu Cinglung Manju Zijysiyan Qinglong
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 Itung Manju Zijysiyan 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 Sinbin Manju Zijysiyan 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 Cingyuwan Manju Zijysiyan 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

Famous Manchu

Pre-Qing Dynasty era

The Qing Dynasty era

Emperors

Nobility and aristocrats

Aisin Gioro Clan (愛新覺羅氏)
Others

Military officers in the Sino-Japanese War

Politicians

Martial artists

Athletes

Writers and Poets

Artists

Musicians

  • Lang Lang (郎朗) - famous pianist.
  • Jin Tielin (金铁霖) - famous music teacher.
  • Guan Mucun (关牧村) - famous singer.
  • Wang Liping (王立平) - famous composer.
  • Tong Tiejin (佟铁鑫) - famous singer.
  • Na Ying (那英) - famous singer and pop star.

Media and entertainment industry

Others

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Ethnic Groups - china.org.cn - The Manchu ethnic minority". http://www.china.org.cn/e-groups/shaoshu/shao-manchu.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-26. 
  2. ^ Sate Nationalities Affairs Commission (September 2005). Zhang Yongfa and Fang Yongming. ed. Selected pictures of Chinese ethnic groups (First edition ed.). China Pictorial Publishing House. pp. 48. ISBN 7-80024-956-5. 
  3. ^ Wang Can; Wang Pingxing (May 2004). Ethnic groups in China. China Intercontinental Press. ISBN 7-5085-0490-9. 
  4. ^ With 10.68 million members, Manchu is the 3rd largest ethnic group in China after the Han and the Zhuang. See: Wang & Wang 2005, p. 9, 109
  5. ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 62
  6. ^ Huang, P.: "New Light on the origins of the Manchu," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, vol. 50, no.1 (1990): 239-82. Retrieved from JSTOR database July 18, 2006.
  7. ^ "The Chʻing Imperial Household Department by：Preston M. Torbert". Harvard Univ Asia Center. http://books.google.com/books?id=heuaCqIrf60C&pg=PA239&dq=Ch%27ing+Administration:+Three+Studies+(Harvard-Yenching+Institute+Studies)&lr=&hl=zh-TW#PPA70,M1. Retrieved 2008-10-27. 
  8. ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 265
  9. ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 275
  10. ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 270
  11. ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 270, 283
  12. ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 277
  13. ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 276
  14. ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 280
  15. ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 282
  16. ^ Rhoads 2000, p. 283

Sources

External links


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Undistinguished ethnic groups in China

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Translations: Manchu
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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

Italiano (Italian)
manciù

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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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Military History Companion. The Oxford Companion to Military History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
History Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Manchu".  Read more
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