Origin ns capturing a
reindeer Mohe origin When the Jurchens first entered Chinese records in 748, they inhabited the forests and river valleys of the land which is now divided between
China's
Heilongjiang Province and
Russia's
Primorsky Krai. In earlier records, this area was known as the home of the
Sushen ( BC), the
Yilou (around AD 200), the
Wuji (), and the
Mohe (). Scholarship since the Qing period traces the origin of the Jurchens to the "Wanyen tribe of the Mohos" around Mt Xiaobai, or to the Heishui or
Blackwater Mohe, and some sources stress the continuity between these earlier peoples with the Jurchen but this remains conjectural. The tentative ancestors of the Jurchens, the
Tungusic Mohe tribes, were people of the multi-ethnic kingdom of
Balhae. The Mohe enjoyed eating pork, practiced pig farming extensively, and were mainly sedentary. They used both pig and dog skins for coats. They were predominantly farmers and grew soybean, wheat,
millet, and rice in addition to hunting. the Mohe practiced slavery. Horses were rare in the region they inhabited until the 10th century under the domination of the
Khitans. The Mohe rode reindeer.
Wanyan origin There is no dated evidence of the Jurchens before the time of
Wugunai (1021-74), when the Jurchens began to coalesce into a nation-like federation. According to tradition passed down via oral transmission, Wugunai was the 6th generation descendant of
Hanpu, the founder of the Wanyan clan, who therefore must have lived around the year 900. Hanpu originally came from the
Heishui Mohe tribe of Balhae. According to the
History of Jin, when he came to the Wanyan tribe, it was for the repayment of a murder and a form of compensation. He had two brothers, one who stayed in
Goryeo and the other in
Balhae when he left. By the time he arrived and settled among the Wanyan, he was already 60 years old and accepted as a "wise man". He succeeded in settling a dispute between two families without resorting to violence, and as a reward, was betrothed to a worthy unmarried maiden also 60 years old. The marriage was blessed with the gift of a dark ox, which was revered in Jurchen culture, and from this union came one daughter and three sons. With this, Hanpu became the chief of the Wanyan and his descendants became formal members of the Wanyan clan. Because Hanpu arrived from Goryeo, some South Korean scholars have claimed that Hanpu hailed from Goryeo. According to Alexander Kim, this cannot be easily identified as him being Korean because many Balhae people lived in Goryeo at that time. Later when
Aguda appealed to the Balhae people in the
Liao dynasty for support by emphasizing their common origin, he only mentioned those who descended from the "seven Wuji tribes", which the Goguryeo people were not a part of. It seems by that point, the Jurchens saw only the
Mohe tribes as a related people. Some western scholars consider the origin of Hanpu to be legendary in nature. Herbert Franke described the narrative provided in the
History of Jin as an "ancestral legend" with a historical basis in that the Wanyan clan had absorbed immigrants from Goryeo and Balhae during the 10th century.
Frederick W. Mote described it as a "tribal legend" that may have born the tribe's memories. The two brothers remaining in Goryeo and Balhae may represent ancestral ties to those two peoples while Hanpu's marriage may represent the tribe's transformation from a matrilineal to patrilineal society.
Qing origin Hongtaiji, the
Qing dynasty emperor of the Aisin Gioro clan, claimed that their progenitor,
Bukūri Yongšon (布庫里雍順), was conceived from a virgin birth. According to the legend, three heavenly maidens, namely Enggulen (恩古倫), Jenggulen (正古倫) and Fekulen (佛庫倫), were bathing at a lake called Bulhūri Omo near the
Changbai Mountains. A magpie dropped a piece of red fruit near Fekulen, who ate it. She then became pregnant with Bukūri Yongšon. However, another older version of the story by the Hurha (Hurka) tribe member Muksike recorded in 1635 contradicts Hongtaiji's version on location, claiming that it was in
Heilongjiang province close to the
Amur river where Bulhuri lake was located where the "heavenly maidens" took their bath. This was recorded in the
Jiu Manzhou Dang and is much shorter and simpler in addition to being older. This is believed to be the original version and Hongtaiji changed it to the Changbai mountains. It shows that the Aisin Gioro clan originated in the Amur area and the Heje (
Hezhen) and other Amur valley Jurchen tribes had an oral version of the same tale. It also fits with Jurchen history since some ancestors of the Manchus originated north before the 14th-15th centuries in the Amur and only later moved south.
Liao vassals By the 11th century, the Jurchens had become vassals of the
Khitan rulers of the
Liao dynasty. The Jurchens in the
Yalu River region had been tributaries of
Goryeo since the reign of
Wang Geon, who called upon them during the wars of the
Later Three Kingdoms period, but the Jurchens opportunistically switched allegiance between Liao and Goryeo multiple times. They offered tribute to both courts out of political necessity and the desire for material benefits. In 1019, Jurchen pirates
raided Japan for slaves. The Jurchen pirates slaughtered Japanese men while seizing Japanese women as prisoners. Fujiwara Notada, the Japanese governor was killed. In total, 1,280 Japanese were taken prisoner, 374 Japanese were killed and 380 Japanese owned livestock were killed for food. Only 259 or 270 were returned by Koreans from the eight ships. The woman Uchikura no Ishime's report was copied down. One of the causes of the Jurchen rebellion and the fall of the Liao was the
custom of raping married Jurchen women and Jurchen girls by Khitan envoys, which caused resentment from the Jurchens. The custom of having sex with unmarried girls by Khitan was itself not a problem, since the practice of guest prostitution - giving female companions, food and shelter to guests - was common among Jurchens. Unmarried daughters of Jurchen families of lower and middle classes in Jurchen villages were provided to Khitan messengers for sex, as recorded by Hong Hao. Song envoys among the Jin were similarly entertained by singing girls in Guide, Henan. There is no evidence that guest prostitution of unmarried Jurchen girls to Khitan men was resented by the Jurchens. It was only when the Khitans forced aristocratic Jurchen families to give up their beautiful wives as guest prostitutes to Khitan messengers that the Jurchens became resentful. This suggests that in Jurchen upper classes, only a husband had the right to his married wife while among lower class Jurchens, the virginity of unmarried girls and sex with Khitan men did not impede their ability to marry later. The Jurchens and their Manchu descendants had Khitan linguistic and grammatical elements in their personal names like suffixes. Many Khitan names had a "ju" suffix.
Goryeo-Jurchen war The Jurchens in the
Yalu River region were tributaries of Goryeo since the reign of
Taejo of Goryeo (r. 918-943), who called upon them during the wars of the
Later Three Kingdoms period. Taejo relied heavily on a large Jurchen cavalry force to defeat
Later Baekje. The Jurchens switched allegiances between Liao and Goryeo multiple times depending on which they deemed the most appropriate. The Liao and Goryeo competed to gain the allegiance of Jurchen settlers who effectively controlled much of the border area beyond Goryeo and Liao fortifications. These Jurchens offered tribute but expected to be rewarded richly by the Goryeo court in return. However the Jurchens who offered tribute were often the same ones who raided Goryeo's borders. In one instance, the Goryeo court discovered that a Jurchen leader who had brought tribute had been behind the recent raids on their territory. The frontier was largely outside of direct control and lavish gifts were doled out as a means of controlling the Jurchens. Sometimes Jurchens submitted to Goryeo and were given citizenship. Goryeo inhabitants were forbidden from trading with Jurchens. The tributary relations between Jurchens and Goryeo began to change under the reign of Jurchen leader
Wuyashu (r. 1103–1113) of the
Wanyan clan. The Wanyan clan was intimately aware of the Jurchens who had submitted to Goryeo and used their power to break the clans' allegiance to Goryeo, unifying the Jurchens. The resulting conflict between the two powers led to Goryeo's withdrawal from Jurchen territory and acknowledgment of Jurchen control over the contested region. As the geopolitical situation shifted, Goryeo unleashed a series of military campaigns in the early 12th century to regain control of its borderlands. Goryeo had already been in conflict with the Jurchens before. In 984, Goryeo failed to control the Yalu River basin due to conflict with the Jurchens. In 1056, Goryeo repelled the Eastern Jurchens and afterward destroyed their stronghold of over 20 villages. In 1080,
Munjong of Goryeo led a force of 30,000 to conquer ten villages. However by the rise of the Wanyan clan, the quality of Goryeo's army had degraded and it mostly consisted of infantry. There were several clashes with the Jurchens, usually resulting in Jurchen victory with their mounted cavalrymen. In 1104, the Wanyan Jurchens reached
Chongju while pursuing tribes resisting them. Goryeo sent Lim Gan to confront the Jurchens, but his untrained army was defeated, and the Jurchens took Chongju castle. Lim Gan was dismissed from office and reinstated, dying as a civil servant in 1112. The war effort was taken up by
Yun Kwan, but the situation was unfavorable and he returned after making peace. Yun Kwan believed that the loss was due to their inferior cavalry and proposed to the king that an elite force known as the
Byeolmuban (別武班; "Special Warfare Army") be created. it existed apart from the main army and was made up of cavalry, infantry, and a
Hangmagun ("Subdue Demon Corps"). In December 1107, Yun Kwan and O Yŏnch’on set out with 170,000 soldiers to conquer the Jurchens. The army won against the Jurchens and built Nine Fortresses over a wide area on the frontier encompassing Jurchen tribal lands, and erected a monument to mark the boundary. However due to unceasing Jurchen attacks, diplomatic appeals, and court intrigue, the Nine Fortresses were handed back to the Jurchens. In 1108, Yun Kwan was removed from office and the Nine Fortresses were turned over to the Wanyan clan. It is plausible that the Jurchens and Goryeo had some sort of implicit understanding where the Jurchens would cease their attacks while Goryeo took advantage of the conflict between the Jurchens and Khitans to gain territory. According to Breuker, Goryeo never really had control of the region occupied by the Nine Fortresses in the first place and maintaining hegemony would have meant a prolonged conflict with militarily superior Jurchen troops that would prove very costly. The Nine Fortresses were exchanged for Poju (
Uiju), a region the Jurchens later contested when Goryeo hesitated to recognize them as their suzerain. Later, Wuyashu's younger brother
Aguda founded the
Jin dynasty (1115–1234). When the Jin was founded, the Jurchens called Goryeo their "parent country" or "father and mother" country. This was because it had traditionally been part of their system of tributary relations, its rhetoric, advanced culture, as well as the idea that it was "bastard offspring of Koryŏ". The Jin also believed that they shared a common ancestry with the
Balhae people in the
Liao dynasty. The Jin went on to conquer the Liao dynasty in 1125 and capture the Song capital of
Kaifeng in 1127 (
Jingkang incident). The Jin also put pressure on Goryeo and demanded that Goryeo become their subject. While many in Goryeo were against this, Yi Cha-gyöm was in power at the time and judged peaceful relations with the Jin to be beneficial to his own political power. He accepted the Jin demands and in 1126, the king of Goryeo declared himself a Jin vassal (tributary). However the Goryeo king retained his position as "Son of Heaven" within Goryeo. By incorporating Jurchen history into that of Goryeo and emphasizing the Jin emperors as bastard offspring of Goryeo, and placing the Jin within the template of a "northern dynasty", the imposition of Jin suzerainty became more acceptable.
Jin dynasty Wanyan Aguda, chief of the
Wanyan tribe, unified the various Jurchen tribes in 1115 and declared himself emperor. In 1120 he seized
Shangjing, also known as Linhuang Prefecture (), the northern capital of the Liao dynasty. During the
Jin–Song Wars, the Jurchens invaded the
Northern Song dynasty and overran most of northern China. The Jurchens initially created the puppet regimes of
Da Qi and
Da Chu but later adopted a dynastic name and became known as "
Jin" 金, which means "gold", not to be confused with the earlier Jin 晋 dynasties named after the region around
Shanxi and
Henan provinces. The name of the Jurchen dynasty in Chinese — meaning "
gold"—is derived from the "Gold River" (
Jurchen:
antʃu-un;
Manchu:
Aisin) in their ancestral homeland. The Jurchens who settled into urban communities eventually intermarried with other ethnicities in China. The Jin rulers themselves came to follow
Confucian norms. The Jin dynasty captured the Northern Song dynasty's capital,
Bianjing, in 1127. Their armies pushed the Song all the way south to the
Yangtze River and eventually settled on a border with the
Southern Song dynasty along the
Huai River. Poor Jurchen families in the southern Routes (Daming and Shandong) Battalion and Company households tried to live the lifestyle of wealthy Jurchen families and avoid doing farming work by selling their own Jurchen daughters into slavery and renting their land to Han tenants. The Wealthy Jurchens feasted and drank and wore damask and silk. The
History of Jin (Jinshi) says that
Emperor Shizong of Jin took note and attempted to halt these things in 1181. After 1189, the Jin dynasty became increasingly involved in conflicts with the
Mongols. By 1215, after losing much territory to the Mongols, the Jurchens moved their capital south from
Zhongdu to
Kaifeng. The Jin emperor
Wanyan Yongji's daughter, Jurchen Princess Qiguo was married to Mongol leader
Genghis Khan in exchange for relieving the
Mongol siege upon Zhongdu. After
a siege lasting about a year, Kaifeng fell to the Mongols in 1233.
Emperor Aizong fled to Caizhou for shelter, but Caizhou also
fell to the Mongols in 1234, marking the end of the Jin dynasty.
Ming dynasty Chinese chroniclers of the
Ming dynasty distinguished three different groups of Jurchens: the
Wild Jurchens () of what became
Outer Manchuria, the
Haixi Jurchens () of modern
Heilongjiang Province and the
Jianzhou Jurchens of modern
Jilin Province. They led a pastoral-agrarian lifestyle, hunting, fishing, and engaging in limited agriculture. In 1388, the
Hongwu Emperor dispatched a mission to establish contact with the Odoli, Huligai and T'owen tribes. The issue of controlling the Jurchens was a point of contention between Joseon Korea and the early Ming. The
Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) found allies among the various Jurchen tribes against the Mongols. He bestowed titles and surnames to various Jurchen chiefs and expected them to send periodic tribute. One of the Yongle Emperor's consorts was a Jurchen princess, which resulted in some of the eunuchs serving him being of Jurchen origin. Chinese
commanderies were established over tribal military units under their own hereditary tribal leaders. In the Yongle period, 178 commanderies were set up in Manchuria. Later on, horse markets were established in the northern border towns of
Liaodong. Increased contact with the Chinese gave Jurchens the more complex and sophisticated organizational structures. The
Koreans dealt with the Jurchen military through appeals to material benefits and launching punitive expeditions. To appease them the
Joseon court handed out titles and degrees, trading with them, and sought to acculturate them by having Korean women marry Jurchens and integrating them into Korean culture. These measures were unsuccessful and fighting continued between the Jurchen and the Koreans. This relationship between the Jurchens and Koreans was ended by the Ming which envisioned the Jurchens as a form of protective border to the north. In 1403, Ahacu, chieftain of Huligai, paid tribute to the
Yongle Emperor. Soon after,
Mentemu, chieftain of Odoli clan of the
Jianzhou Jurchens, defected from paying tribute to Korea, becoming a tributary to China instead.
Yi Seong-gye, the first ruler of Joseon, asked the Ming dynasty to send Mentemu back but was refused. The Yongle Emperor was determined to wrest the Jurchens out of Korean influence and have China dominate them instead. The Koreans tried to persuade Mentemu to reject the Ming dynasty's overtures but were unsuccessful. The Jurchen tribes presented tribute to the Ming dynasty in succession. They were divided in 384 guards by the Ming dynasty about 100 km upstream from
Nikolayevsk-on-Amur in the
Russian Far East) in the vicinity of Heilongjiang. The Jurchens came under the nominal administration of the Nurgan Command Post which lasted only 25 years and was abolished in 1434. Leaders of the Haixi and Jianzhou tribes did, however, accept the Ming titles. From 1411 to 1433, the Ming eunuch
Yishiha (who himself was a
Haixi Jurchen) led ten large missions to win over the allegiance of the Jurchen tribes along the
Songhua River and
Amur River. His fleet sailed down the Songhua into the Amur, and set up the Nurgan Command at Telin near the mouth of the Amur River. These missions are not well recorded in the Ming histories, but there exist two stone steles erected by Yishiha at the site of the Yongning Temple, a Guanyin temple commissioned by him at Telin. The inscriptions on the steles are in four languages: Chinese, Jurchen, Mongol, and Tibetan. There is probably quite a lot of propaganda in the inscriptions, but they give a detailed record of the Ming court's efforts to assert suzerainty over the Jurchen. When Yishiha visited Nurgan for the 3rd time in 1413, he built a temple called Yongning Temple at Telin and erected the
Yongning Temple Stele in front of it. Yishiha paid his 10th visit to Nurgan in 1432, during which he rebuilt the Yongning Temple and re-erected a stele in front of it. The stele bore the heading "Record of Re-building Yongning Temple". The setting up of the Nurgan Command Post and the repeated declarations to offer blessings to this region by Yishiha and others were all recorded in this and the first steles. In the ninth year of the Ming
Xuande emperor the
Jurchens in
Manchuria under Ming rule suffered from famine forcing them to sell their daughters into slavery and moving to Liaodong to beg for help and relief from the Ming dynasty government.
Establishment of the Manchu Over a period of 30 years from 1586,
Nurhaci, a chieftain of the
Jianzhou Jurchens, united the Jurchen tribes. In 1635, his son and successor,
Hong Taiji, renamed his people the
Manchus as a clear break from their past as Chinese vassals. During the Ming dynasty, the Koreans of
Joseon referred to the Jurchen-inhabited lands north of the Korean peninsula, above the rivers Yalu and Tumen as part of the "superior country" (sangguk) which they called Ming China. The Qing deliberately excluded references and information that showed the Jurchens (Manchus) as subservient to the Ming dynasty, when composing the
History of Ming to hide their former subservient relationship. The
Veritable Records of Ming were not used to source content on Jurchens during Ming rule in the History of Ming because of this. The
Yongzheng Emperor attempted to rewrite the historical record and claim that the Aisin Gioro were never subjects of past dynasties and empires trying to cast
Nurhaci's acceptance of Ming titles like Dragon Tiger General (longhu jiangjun 龍虎將軍) by claiming he accepted to "please Heaven". During the Qing dynasty, the two original editions of the books of the "
Qing Taizu Wu Huangdi Shilu" and the "
Manzhou Shilu Tu" (Taizu Shilu Tu) were kept in the palace, forbidden from public view because they showed that the Manchu Aisin Gioro family had been ruled by the Ming dynasty. == Culture ==