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Xiongnu

Xiongnu

The Xiongnu () were a nomadic (and probably Hunnic/proto-Turkic) people of Central Asia, generally based in present day Mongolia. From the 3rd century BC they controlled a vast steppe empire extending west as far as the Caucasus. They were active in the areas of southern Siberia, western Manchuria and the modern Chinese provinces of Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang. Very ancient (perhaps legendary) historic records say that the Xiongnu descended from the founders of China's first dynasty, Xia Dynasty. However, due to internal differences and strife, the Xiongnu fled north and north-west. Relations between the Chinese and the Xiongnu were complicated and included military conflict, exchanges in tribute and trade, as well as marriage treaties. The overwhelming amount of information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources. There is no way of reconstructing any substantial part of the Xiongnu language. What little we know of their titles and names come from Chinese transliterations. The Chinese terms for the people - "Xiongnu" - or its leaders - "chanyu" (單于) - presumably reflects the sound of the foreign tongue.

Origins and early history of the Xiongnu

According to Sima Qian, the Xiongnu were descendants of Chunwei (淳維), possibly a son of Jie, the final ruler of the Xia Dynasty. However, while there is no direct evidence contradicting this theory, there is no direct evidence supporting it either, and it should be noted that ancient Chinese historians often credit, without sufficient evidence, theories of origins for foreign nations that relate their ancestry back to ancient Chinese figures. Based on later historians, Xiongnu were not Turkic, but it appears to also be a stretch to consider their origin to be common with the Chinese.

Confederation under Modu

In 209 BC, just three years before the founding of the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu were brought together in a powerful confederacy under a new chanyu named Modu (冒頓). The Xiongnu's political unity transformed them into a much more formidable foe by enabling them to concentrate larger forces and exercise better strategic coordination. The cause of the confederation, however, remains unclear. It has been suggested that the unification of China prompted the nomads to rally around a political centre in order to strengthen their position.¹ Another theory is that the reorganisation was their response to the political crisis that overtook them 215 BC, when Qin armies evicted them from their pastures on the Yellow River.² After forging internal unity, Modu expanded the empire on all sides. To the north he conquered a number of nomadic peoples, including the Dingling of southern Siberia. He crushed the power Dong-Hu of eastern Mongolia and Manchuria, as well as the Yuezhi in the Gansu corridor. He was able, moreover, to recover all the lands taken by the Qin general Meng Tian. Before the death of Modu in 174 BC, the Xiongnu had driven the Yuezhi from the Gansu corridor completely and asserted their presence in the Western Regions in modern Xinjiang.

Nature of the Xiongnu state

Under Modu, a dualistic system of political organisation was formed. The left and right branches of the Xiongnu were divided on a regional basis. The chanyu - supreme ruler equivalent to the Chinese "Son of Heaven" - exercised direct authority over the central territory. Longcheng (蘢城), near Koshu-Tsaidam in Mongolia, was established as the annual meeting place and de facto capital.

The marriage treaty system

In the winter of 200 BC, following a siege of Taiyuan, Emperor Gao personally led a military campaign against Modu. At the battle of Baideng, he was ambushed reputedly by 300,000 elite Xiongnu cavalry. The emperor was cut off from supplies and reinforcements for seven days, only narrowly escaping capture. After the defeat at Pingcheng, the Han emperor abandoned a military solution to the Xiongnu threat. Instead, in 198 BC, the courtier Liu Jing (劉敬) was despatched for negotiations. The peace settlement eventually reached between the parties included a Han princess given in marriage to the chanyu (called heqin 和亲 or "harmonious kinship"); periodic gifts of silk, liquor and rice to the Xiongnu; equal status between the states; and the Great Wall as mutual border. This first treaty set the pattern for relations between the Han and the Xiongnu for some sixty years. Up to 135 BC, the treaty was renewed no less than nine times, with an increase of "gifts" with each subsequent agreement. In 192 BC, Modu even asked for the hand of the widowed Empress Lü. His son and successor, the energetic Jiyu (稽粥), known as the "Laoshang chanyu" (老上單于), continued his father's expansionist policies. Laoshang succeeded in negotiating with Emperor Wen, terms for the maintenance of a large-scale government-sponsored market system. While much was gained by the Xiongnu, from the Chinese perspective marriage treaties were costly and ineffective. Laoshang showed that he did not take the peace treaty seriously. On one occasion his scouts penetrated to a point near Chang'an. In 166 BC he personally led 140,000 cavalry to invade Anding, reaching as far as the imperial retreat at Yong. In 158 BC, his successor sent 30,000 cavalry to attack the Shang commandery and another 30,000 to Yunzhong.

War with Han China

Han China was making preparations for a military confrontation from the reign of Emperor Wen. The break came in 134 BC, following an abortive trap to ambush the chanyu at Mayi. By that point the empire was consolidated politically, militarily, and financially, and was led by an adventurous pro-war faction at court. In that year, Emperor Wu reversed the decision he had made the year before to renew the peace treaty. Full scale war broke out in autumn 129 BC, when 40,000 Chinese cavalry made a surprise attack on the Xiongnu at the border markets. In 127 BC, the Han general Wei Qing (衛青) retook the Ordos. In 121 BC, the Xiongnu suffered another setback when Huo Qubing (霍去病) led a force of light cavalry westward out of Longxi and within six days fought his way through five Xiongnu kingdoms. The Xiongnu Hunye king was forced to surrender with 40,000 men. In 119 BC both Huo and Wei, each leading 50,000 cavalrymen and 30,000 to 50,000 footsoldiers, and advancing along different routes, forced the chanyu and his court to flee north of the Gobi Desert.³ Major logistical difficulties limited the duration and long-term continuation of these campaigns. According the analysis of Yan You (嚴尤), the difficulties were two-fold. Firstly there was the problem of supplying food across long distances. Secondly, the weather in the northern Xiongnu lands was difficult for Han soldiers, who could never carry enough fuel.⁴ According to official reports, each side lost 80,000 to 90,000 men. Out of the 140,000 horses the Han forces had brought into the desert, fewer than 30,000 returned to China. As a result of these battles, the Chinese controlled the strategic region from the Gansu corridor to Lop Nor. They succeeded in separating the Xiongnu from the Qiang peoples to the south, and also gained direct access to the Western Regions.

Leadership struggle among the Xiongnu

As the Xiongnu empire expanded, it became clear that the original leadership structures lacked flexibility and could not maintain effective cohesion. The traditional succession to the eldest son became increasingly ineffective in meeting wartime emergencies in the 1st century BC. To combat the problems of succession, the chanyu Huhanye (58 BC-31 BC) later laid down the rule that his heir apparent must pass the throne on to a younger brother. This pattern of fraternal succession did indeed become the norm. The growth of regionalism became clear around this period, when local kings refused to attend the annual meetings at the chanyus court. During this period, chanyu were forced to develop power bases in their own regions to secure the throne. In the period 114 BC to 60 BC, the Xiongnu produced altogether seven chanyu. Two of them, Chanshilu and Huyanti, assumed the office while still children. In 60 BC, Tuqitang, the "wise king of the right", became chanyu Wuyanjuti. No sooner had he come to the throne, than he began to purge from power those whose base lay in the left group. Thus antagonised, in 58 BC the nobility of the left put forward Huhanye as their own chanyu. The year 57 BC saw a struggle for power among five regional groupings, each with its own chanyu. In 54 BC Huhanye abandoned his capital in the north after being defeated by his brother, the chanyu Zhizhi.
Tributary relations with the Han
54 BC In 53 BC Huyanye decided to enter into tributary relations with Han China. The original terms insisted on by the Han court were that, first, the chanyu or his representatives should come to the capital to pay homage; secondly, the chanyu should send a hostage prince; and thirdly, the chanyu should present tribute to the Han emperor. The political status of the Xiongnu in the Chinese world order was reduced from that of a "brotherly state" to that of an "outer vassal" (外臣). During this period, however, the Xiongnu maintained political sovereignty and full territorial integrity. The Great Wall continued to serve as the line of demarcation between Han and Xiongnu. Huyanye sent his son, the "wise king of the right" Shuloujutang, to the Han court as hostage. In 51 BC he personally visited Chang'an to pay homage to the emperor on the Chinese New Year. On the financial side, Huhanye was amply rewarded in large quantities of gold, cash, clothes, silk, horses and grain for his participation. Huhanye made two more homage trips, in 49 BC and 33 BC; with each one the imperial gifts were increased. On the last trip, Huhanye took the opportunity to ask to be allowed to become an imperial son-in-law. As a sign of the decline in the political status of the Xiongnu, Emperor Yuan refused, giving him instead five ladies-in-waiting. One of them was Wang Zhaojun, famed in Chinese folklore as one of the Four Beauties. When Zhizhi learned of his brother's submission, he also sent a son to the Han court as hostage in 53 BC. Then twice, in 51 BC and 50 BC, he sent envoys to the Han court with tribute. But having failed to pay homage personally, he was never admitted to the tributary system. In 33 BC, a junior officer named Chen Tang, with the help of Gan Yanshou, protector-general of the Western Regions, assembled an expeditionary force that defeated Zhizhi and sent his head as a trophy to Chang'an. Tributary relations were discontinued during the reign of Huduershi (AD 18-48), corresponding to the political upheavals of the Xin Dynasty in China. The Xiongnu took the opportunity to regain control of the Western Regions, as well as neighbouring peoples such as the Wuhuan. In AD 24, Hudershi even talked seriously about reversing the tributary system.
Northern and southern Xiongnu
The Xiongnu's new power was met with a policy of appeasement by Emperor Guangwu. At the height of his power, Huduershi even compared himself to his illustrious ancestor, Modu. Due to growing regionalism among the Xiongnu, however, Huduershi was never able to establish unquestioned authority. When he designated his son as heir apparent (in contravention of the principle of fraternal succession established by Huhanye), Bi, the Rizhu king of the right, refused to attend the annual meeting at the chanyus court. As the eldest son of the preceding chanyu, Bi had a legitimate claim to the succession. In AD 48, two years after Huduershi's son Punu ascended the throne, eight Xiongnu tribes in Bi's powerbase in the south, with a military force totalling 40,000 to 50,000 men, acclaimed Bi as their own chanyu. Throughout the Eastern Han period, these two groups were called the southern Xiongnu and the northern Xiongnu, respectively. Hard pressed by the northern Xiongnu and plagued by natural calamities, Bi brought the southern Xiongnu into tributary relations with Han China in AD 50. The tributary system was considerably tightened to keep the southern Xiongnu under Han supervision. The chanyu was ordered to establish his court in the Meiji district of Xihe commandery. The Southern Xiongnu were resettled in eight frontier commanderies. At the same time, large numbers of Chinese were forced to migrate to these commanderies, where mixed settlements began to appear. Economically, the southern Xiongnu relied almost totally on Han assistance. Tensions were evident between the settled Chinese and practitioners of the nomadic way of life. Thus, in 94 chanyu Anguo joined forces with newly subjugated Xiongnu from the north and started a large scale rebellion against the Han. Towards the end of the Eastern Han, the southern Xiongnu were drawn into the rebellions then plaguing the Han court. In 188, the chanyu was murdered by some of his own subjects for agreeing to send troops to help the Han suppress a rebellion in Hebei - many of the Xiongnu feared that it would set a precedent for unending military service to the Han court. The murdered chanyu's son succeeded him, but was then overthrown by the same rebellious faction in 189. He travelled to Luoyang (the Han capital) to seek aid from the Han court, but at this time the Han court was in disorder from the clash between Grand General He Jin and the eunuchs, and the intervention of the warlord Dong Zhuo. The chanyu (named Yufuluo, with the title of Chizhisizhu) had no choice but to settle down with his followers in Pingyang, a city in Shanxi. In 195, he died and was succeeded by his brother Hucuquan. In 216, the warlord-statesman Cao Cao detained Hucuquan in the city of Ye, and divided his followers in Shanxi into five divisions: left, right, south, north, and centre. This was aimed at preventing the exiled Xiongnu in Shanxi from engaging in rebellion, and also allowed Cao Cao to use the Xiongnu as auxiliaries in his cavalry. Eventually, the Xiongnu aristocracy in Shanxi changed their surname from Luanti to Liu for prestige reasons, claiming that they were related to the Han imperial clan through the old intermarriage policy.

The Xiongnu after the Han Dynasty

The complicated ethnic situation of the mixed frontier settlements instituted during the Eastern Han had grave consequences, not fully apprehended by the Chinese government until the end of the 3rd century. At that time, non-Chinese unrest reached alarming proportions along the whole of the Western Jin frontier. In 304 the descendants of the southern Xiongnu rose in rebellion in Shanxi, taking advantage of the Civil War of the Princes then raging around the Western Jin capital Luoyang. Under the leadership of the sinicised Liu Yuan 刘渊, a grandson of Yufuluo, they were joined by a large number of frontier Chinese. Liu Yuan used 'Han' as the name of his state, hoping to tap into the lingering nostalgia for the glory of the Han dynasty, and established his capital in Pingyang. The Xiongnu use of large numbers of heavy cavalry with iron armour for both rider and horse gave them a decisive advantage over Jin armies already weakened and demoralised by three years of civil war. In 311, they captured Luoyang, and with it the Jin emperor Sima Chi (Emperor Huai). In 316, the next Jin emperor was captured in Chang'an, and the whole of north China came under Xiongnu rule while remnants of the Jin dynasty survived in the south (known to historians as the Eastern Jin dynasty). In 318, after suppressing a coup by a powerful minister in the Xiongnu-Han court (in which the Xiongnu-Han emperor and a large proportion of the aristocracy were massacred), the Xiongnu prince Liu Yao 刘曜 moved the Xiongnu-Han capital from Pingyang to Chang'an and renamed the dynasty as Zhao 赵(it is hence known to historians collectively as Han Zhao). However, the eastern part of north China came under the control of a rebel Xiongnu-Han general of Jie 羯 (probably Sogdian) ancestry named Shi Le 石勒. Liu Yao and Shi Le fought a long war until 329, when Liu Yao was captured in battle and executed. Chang'an fell to Shi Le soon after, and the Xiongnu dynasty was wiped out. North China was ruled by Shi Le's Later Zhao dynasty for the next 20 years. However, the Xiongnu remained active in the north for at least another century. The Tiefu 铁弗 branch of the Xiongnu gained control of the Inner Mongolian region in the 10 years between the conquest of the Tuoba Xianbei state of Dai by the Former Qin empire in 376, and its restoration in 386 as the Northern Wei. After 386, the Tiefu were gradually destroyed by or surrendered to the Tuoba, with the submitting Tiefu becoming known as the Dugu 独孤. Liu Bobo 刘勃勃, a surviving prince of the Tiefu fled to the Ordos Loop, where he founded a state called the Xia (thus named because of the Xiongnu's supposed ancestry from the Xia dynasty) and changed his surname to Helian 赫连. The Helian-Xia state was conquered by the Northern Wei in 428-431, and the Xiongnu thenceforth effectively ceased to play a major role in Chinese history, assimilating into the Xianbei and Han ethnicities.

Did the Xiongnu become the Huns?

The Xiongnu have often been identified with the Huns, who populated the frontiers of Europe, starting with the writings of the French historian de Guignes in the eighteenth century. This theory remains at the level of speculation, although it is accepted by a large number of scholars including Chinese ones. DNA testing of Hun remains has not proven conclusive in determining the origin of the Huns. It is interesting to note that a different reading of the word 匈 (Xiong) can be found in those Chinese dialects that preserve ancient pronunciations, such as Cantonese, i.e., . It could lend credence to the theory that the Huns were in fact descendants of the Western Xiongnu who migrated westward, or that the Huns were using a name borrowed from the Western Xiongnu, or that these Xiongnu made up part of the Hun confederation. In the 1998 Walt Disney animated film Mulan, the invaders of China in the original English version of the film were called the Huns, while in the Cantonese and Mandarin versions of the film, they were referred to as the Xiongnu.

Footnotes

- ¹ Barfield, Thomas. The Perilous Frontier (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989).
- ² Di Cosmo, "The Northern Frontier in Pre-Imperial China", in The Cambridge History of Ancient China, edited by Michael Loewe and Edward Shaughnessy, pp. 885-966. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
- ³ These campaigns are described in detail by Michael Loewe, "The campaigns of Han Wu-ti", in Chinese ways in warfare, ed. Frank A. Kierman, Jr., and John K. Fairbank (Cambridge, Mass., 1974).
- ⁴ This view was put forward to Wang Mang in AD 14: Han Shu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju edition) 94B, p. 3824.

References

Primary sources

- Ban Gu (班固), Han shu (漢書). Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1962.
- Fan Ye (范曄) et al., comp. Hou Han shu (後漢書). Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1965.
- Sima Qian (司馬遷) et al., Shi ji (史記). Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1959.

Secondary sources

- de Crespigny, Rafe. Northern frontier: The policies and strategies of the Later Han empire. Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1984.
- Hill, John E. 2004. The Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu. Draft annotated English translation.[http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html]
- Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation. [http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html]
- Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. E. J. Brill, Leiden.
- Yü Ying-shih, "Han foreign relations", Cambridge History of China, pp. 377-462. Category:Ancient peoples of China Category:Ancient peoples Category:History of China Category:Huns ko:흉노 ja:匈奴

Central Asia

Central Asia (Russian: Среднaя Азия/"Srednaya Azia" for "Middle Asia" or Центральная Азия/"Tsentrallnaya Azia" for "Central Asia"; Mandarin Chinese: 中亚/ pinyin: "Zhŏngyà"; Arabic: ﺔﻄﻮﺳﻠﺍ ﺎﺴﻴﺁ/"Asya al Wsta") is a vast landlocked region of Asia. Though various definitions of its exact composition exist, no one definition is universally accepted. Despite this uncertainty in defining borders, it does have some important overall characteristics. For one, Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. As a result, it has acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent. It is also sometimes known as Turkestan.

Definitions

The idea of Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was introduced in 1843 by the geographer Alexander von Humboldt. The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions. Many text books still refer to this area as Turkestan, which was the name used prior to Stalin's rule. The most limited definition was the official one of the Soviet Union that defined the "Middle Asia" as consisting solely of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, but did not include Kazakhstan. This definition was also often used outside the USSR in this period. However, the Russian language has two distinct terms: Средняя Азия (Srednyaya Azia or "Middle Asia", the narrower definition which includes only those traditionally non-Slavic, "Central Asian" lands that were incorporated within those borders of historical Russia) and Центральная Азия (Tsentral'naya Azia or "Central Asia", the wider definition which includes "Central Asian" lands that have never been part of historical Russia). However, there lacks a meaningful distinction between the two in the English language; and so "Central Asia" is used for both Russian usages, thus creating some confusion. The new post-USSR Russian Federation has now included Kazakhstan in its new definition of "Middle Asia". Soon after independence, the leaders of the five former Soviet Central Asian Republics met in Tashkent and declared that the definition of Central Asia should include Kazakhstan as well as the original four included by the Soviets. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia. The UNESCO general history of Central Asia, written just before the collapse of the USSR, defines the region based on climate and uses far larger borders. According to it, Central Asia includes Mongolia, Western China (including Tibet), northeast Iran, Afghanistan and western Pakistan, central-east Russia south of the Taiga, the former Central Asian Soviet Republics (the five "Stans" of the former Soviet Union), but also even the Punjab, northern India and Pakistan. An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity, and in particular, areas populated by Eastern Turkic, Eastern Iranian, or Mongolian peoples. These areas include Xinjiang, the Turkic/Muslim regions of southern Siberia, the five republics, and Afghan Turkestan. The Tibetans are also included. Insofar, the mentioned peoples are considered the "indigenous" peoples of the vast region. Colonization and settlement by Chinese, Iranians, and Russians was to come later.

Geography

Russians Central Asia is an extremely large region of varied geography, including high plateaus and mountains (Tian Shan), vast deserts (Kara Kum, Kyzyl Kum, Taklamakan), and especially treeless, grassy steppes. Much of the land is too dry or too rugged for farming. The Gobi desert extends from the foot of the Pamirs, 77° east, to the Great Khingan (Da Hinggan) Mountains, 116°-118° east. Central Asia has the following geographic extremes:
- The world's northernmost desert (sand dunes), at Buurug Deliin Els, Mongolia, 50°18' north.
- The Northern Hemisphere's southernmost permafrost, at Erdenetsogt sum, Mongolia, 46°17' north.
- The world's shortest distance between desert and permafrost: 770 km (440 mi). A majority of the people earn a living by herding livestock. Industrial activity centers in the region's cities. Major rivers of the region include the Amu Darya, the Syr Darya and the Hari Rud. Major bodies of water include the Aral Sea and Lake Balkhash, both of which are part of the huge west/central Asian endorheic basin that also includes the Caspian Sea. Both of these bodies of water have shrunk significantly in recent decades due to diversion of water from rivers that feed them for irrigation and industrial purposes. Water is an extremely valuable resource in arid Central Asia, and can lead to rather significant international disputes. Caspian Sea in the northeast. The arid climates of the Ferghana Valley, Takla Makan and Gobi deserts are also prominently visible.]]

Climate

Since Central Asia is not buffered by a large body of water, temperature fluctuations are more severe. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Central Asia is part of the Palearctic ecozone. The largest biome in Central Asia is the Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome. Central Asia also contains the Montane grasslands and shrublands, Deserts and xeric shrublands and Temperate coniferous forests biomes.

History

:Main article:History of Central Asia The history of Central Asia is defined by the area's climate and geography. The aridness of the region made agriculture difficult and its distance from the sea cut it off from much trade. Thus few major cities developed in the region, instead the area was for millennia dominated by the nomadic horse peoples of the steppe. Relations between the steppe nomads and the settled people in and around Central Asia were long marked by conflict. The nomadic lifestyle was well suited to warfare and the steppe horse riders became some of the most militarily potent peoples in the world, only limited by their lack of internal unity. Periodically great leaders or changing conditions would organize several tribes into to one force, and create an almost unstoppable power. These included the Hun invasion of Europe, the Wu Hu attacks on China and most notably the Mongol conquest of much of Eurasia. The dominance of the nomads ended in the sixteenth century, as firearms allowed settled peoples to gain control of the region. Russia, China, and other powers expanded into the region and had captured the bulk of Central Asia by the end of the nineteenth century. After the Russian Revolution the Central Asian regions were incorporated into the Soviet Union. Mongolia remained independent but became a Soviet satellite state. The Soviet areas of Central Asia saw much industrialization and construction of infrastructure, but also the suppression of local cultures, hundreds of thousands of deaths from failed collectivization programs, and a lasting legacy of ethnic tensions and environmental problems. With the collapse of the Soviet Union five countries gained independence. In all the new states former Communist Party officials retained power as local strongmen. In no state is repression as great as it was in Soviet times, but none of the new republics could be considered functional democracies. Other parts of Central Asia remain part of China or Russia.

Geostrategy

:Main article: Geostrategy in Central Asia Central Asia has long been a strategic location merely because of its proximity to several great powers on the Eurasian landmass. The region itself never held a dominant stationary population, nor was able to make use of natural resources. Thus it has rarely throughout history become the seat of power for an empire or influential state. Much like Poland throughout European history, Central Asia has been divided, redivided, conquered out of existence, and fragmented time and time again. Central Asia has served more as the battleground for outside powers, than as a power in its own right. Central Asia had both the advantage and disadvantage of a central location between four historical seats of power. From its central location, it has access to trade routes, or lines of attack, to all the regional powers. On the other hand, it has been continuously vulnerable to attack from all sides throughout its history, resulting in political fragmentation or outright power vacuum, as it is successively dominated.
- To the North, the steppe allowed for rapid mobility, first for nomadic horseback warriors like the Huns and Mongols, and later for Russian traders, eventually supported by railroads. As the Russian empire expanded to the East, it would also push down into Central Asia towards the sea, in a search for warm water ports. The Soviet bloc would reinforce dominance from the North, and attempt to project power as far south as Afghanistan.
- To the East, the demographic and cultural weight of Chinese empires continually pushed outward into Central Asia. The Mongol Yuan dynasty would conquer parts of East Turkestan and Tibet, and the later Manchu dynasty would reconquer those areas several centuries later. As part of the Sino-Soviet bloc, China would swallow Tibet. However, with the Sino-Soviet split, China would project power into Central Asia, most notably in the case of Afghanistan, to counter Russian dominance of the region.
- To the Southeast, the demographic and cultural influence of India was felt in Central Asia, notably in Tibet, the Hindu Kush, and slightly beyond. Several historical Indian dynasties, especially those seated along the indus river would expand into Central Asia. India's ability to project power into Central Asia has been limited due to the mountain ranges in Pakistan, and the cultural differences between Hindu India, and what would become a mostly Muslim Central Asia.
- To the Southwest, Middle Eastern powers have expanded into the Southern areas of Central Asia (usually, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan). Several Persian empires would conquer and reconquer parts of Central Asia; Alexander the Great's hellenic empire would extend into Central Asia; two Arab Islamic empires would exert substantial influence throughout the region; and the modern state of Iran has projected influence throughout the region as well. In the post-Cold War era, Central Asia is an ethnic cauldron, prone to instability and conflicts, without a sense of national identity, but rather a mess of historical cultural influences, tribal and clan loyalties, and religious fervor. Projecting influence into the area is no longer just Russia, but also Turkey, Iran, China, Pakistan, India and the United States:
- Russia continues to dominate political decision-making throughout the Caucasus, and former SSRs, although as these countries shed their post-Soviet authoritarian systems, Russia's influence is slowly waning.
- Turkey has some influence because of the ethnic and linguistic ties with the Turkic peoples of Central Asia, as well as serving as an oil pipeline route to the Mediterranean.
- Iran, the seat of historical empires which controlled parts of Central Asia, has historical and cultural links to the region, as is vying to construct an oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf.
- China, already controlling Xinjiang and Tibet, projects significant power in the region, especially in energy/oil politics.
- Pakistan, a large but unstable nuclear-armed state, helped to sustain Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and is capable of exercising some influence. For some Central Asian nations, the shortest route to the ocean lies through Pakistan. Pakistan seeks Natural Gas from Central Asia, and supports the development of pipelines from its countries.
- India, as a nuclear-armed rising power, exercises some influence in the region, especially in Tibet with which it has cultural affinities. India is also perceived as a potential counterweight to China's regional power.
- And the United States with its military involvement in the region, and oil diplomacy, is also significantly involved in the region's politics.

Oil politics

See: Oil geostrategy, Pipelines, Caspian Sea, Petroleum politics

War on Terror

In the context of the United States' War on Terror, Central Asia has once again become the center of geostrategic calculations. Pakistan's status has been upgraded by the U.S.-government to a "major non-NATO ally" because of its central role in serving as a staging point for the invasion of Afghanistan, providing intelligence on Al-Qaeda operations in the region, and leading the hunt on Osama bin Laden, believed to still be in the region. Afghanistan, which had served as a haven and source of support for Al-Qaeda, under the protection of Mullah Omar and the Taliban, was the target of a U.S. invasion in 2001, and ongoing reconstruction and drug-eradication efforts. U.S. military bases have also been established in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, causing both Russia and the People's Republic of China to voice their concern over a permanent U.S. military presence in the region. It is argued that the PRC and Russia, as well as several of the former SSRs, have taken advantage of the War on Terror to increase oppression of separatist ethnic minorities. China has taken a harder line against the Uighur separatists of Xinjiang, while Russia has pursued the second war in Chechnya with greater intensity. Washington, which considers Russia and China as strategic partners in the War on Terror, has largely turned a blind eye to these actions. The ethnically diverse former SSRs, especially Uzbekistan have reclassified ethnic separatist attacks as terrorist attacks and pursued more oppressive policies.

Culture

Religions

Islam is the religion most common in the former Soviet Central Asian Republics, Afghanistan, Xinjiang and the peripheral western regions. Most Central Asian Muslims are Sunni, although Shia comprise the great majority in Azerbaijan, and in Afghanistan and Pakistan there are sizable Shia minorities. Tibetan Buddhism is most common in Tibet, Mongolia, and the southern Russian regions of Siberia, where Shamanism is also popular. Increasing Han Chinese migration westward since the establishment of the PRC has brought Confucianism and other beliefs into the region. Nestorianism was the form of Christianity most practiced in the region in previous centuries, but now the largest denomination is the Russian Orthodox Church, with many members in Kazakhstan. The Bukharan Jews were once a sizable community in Uzbekistan, but nearly all have emigrated in recent years.

Arts

Bukharan Jews, Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois.]] At the crossroads of Asia, shamanist practices live alongside Buddhism. Thus Yama, Lord of Death, was revered in Tibet as a spiritual guardian and judge. Mongolian Buddhism in particular influenced Tibetan Buddhism. The Qianlong Emperor of China in the 18th century was Tibetan Buddhist, and would sometimes travel from Beijing to other cities for personal religious worship. Note the human skulls and severed heads that festoon Yama's crown and necklace, which give some concept of the size that Yama was expected to be when one faced him at one's death. This particular Dharmapala is painted wood, four feet high in total. Central Asia also has an indigenous and ancient form of rap which is over 1000 years old. It is principally practiced in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan by akyns, lyrical improvisationists. They will engage in lyrical battles, the aitysh or the alym sabak. The tradition arose out of early bardic oral historians. They are usually accompanied by a stringed instrument—in Kyrgyzstan, a three-stringed komuz and in Kazakstan a similar two-stringed instrument. Some also learn to sing the Manas, Kyrgyzstan's epic poem (those who learn the Manas exclusively, without engaging in rap, are called manaschis). During Soviet rule, akyn rap was co-opted by the authorities and subsequently declined in popularity. With the fall of the Soviet Union it has enjoyed a resurgence, although aykns still do use their art to campaign for political candidates. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10646-2005Mar5.html]

Demographics

By the most inclusive definition, more than 80 million people live in Central Asia, about 2% of Asia's total population. Of the regions of Asia, only North Asia has fewer people. It has a population density of 9 people per km², vastly less than the 80.5 people per km² of the continent as a whole.

Languages

The languages of the majority of the inhabitants of the former Soviet Central Asian Republics come from the Turkic language group. Turkmen, closely related to Turkish (they are both members of the Oghuz group of Turkic), is mainly spoken in Turkmenistan and into Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Tatar are related languages of the Kypchak group of Turkic languages, and are spoken throughout Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and into Afghanistan, Xinjiang and Qinghai. Uzbek and Uighur are spoken in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Xinjiang. Russian, as well as being spoken by the ethnic Russians of Central Asia, is a lingua franca throughout the former Soviet Central Asian Republics. Chinese has an equally dominant presence in Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and Xinjiang. The Turkic languages belong to the much larger Altaic language family, which includes Mongolian. Mongolian is spoken throughout the region of Mongolia and into Qinghai and Xinjiang. Iranian languages were once spoken throughout Central Asia, but the once prominent Sogdian, Bactrian and Scythian languages are now extinct. However, the Persian language is still spoken in the region, locally known as Dari or Tajik. Pashto is spoken in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The Tibetan language is spoken by around six million people across the Tibetan Plateau and into Qinghai.

References

- Dani, A.H. and V.M. Masson eds. UNESCO History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Paris: UNESCO, 1992-
- Mandelbaum, Michael. ed. Central Asia and the World: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994.
- Olcott, Martha Brill. Central Asia's New States: Independence, Foreign policy, and Regional security. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1996.
- Soucek, Svatopluk. A History of Inner Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

External links

- [http://www.jamestown.org/edm/ Eurasia Daily Monitor] — political, strategic, and economic news from Central Asia.
- [http://eurasianet.org/ EurasiaNet] — information and analysis about political, economic, environmental and social developments in Central Asia.
- [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~casww/index.html/ Central Eurasian Studies World Wide]
- [http://www.getcited.org/mbrx/PT/2/MBR/10819625 Publications on the history of Central Asia Prior to 1917]
- [http://www.ucentralasia.org/ University of Central Asia]

Mongolia

:For the region of the same name, see Mongolia (region) Mongolia (Khalkh Mongol: Монгол Улс) is a landlocked nation in central Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south. It was the center of the Mongol Empire of the 13th century, but was ruled by the Manchu Qing dynasty from the end of the 18th century until an independent government was formed with Soviet assistance in 1921. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Mongolia adopted electoral politics. The 18th largest country in the world by area, Mongolia has very little arable land: much of its area is grassland, with mountains in the north and west and the Gobi Desert in the south. A little over 30 percent of the population are nomadic or semi-nomadic Tibetan Buddhists of the Mongol ethnicity. Over fifty per cent of the population reside in the capital city Ulaanbaatar.

History

Main article: History of Mongolia In the 13th century, Mongolia was the center of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire in world history. After more than a century of power, the Mongol Empire ended and Mongolia fell back into a state of internal struggle and feuds, which paved the way for the Manchu conquest of Inner Mongolia in 1636 and the submission of Outer Mongolia in 1691. Both Inner and Outer Mongolia declared independence in 1911, but only Outer Mongolia succeeded, with Russian help. After the October Revolution in Russia, Chinese troops re-occupied Outer Mongolia in 1919, but were caught in the middle when White and Red Russian armies extended the Russian Civil War into (Outer) Mongolian territory, and were driven out in 1921. In 1924, the Mongolian People's Republic was proclaimed. Mongolia was aligned closely with the Soviet Union. Politicians who demanded a more independent course, like Bodoo or Dandzan, were quickly toppled and executed. In 1928 Horloogiyn Choybalsan rose to power. Under his rule, forced collectivisation, purges, and the destruction of the Lamaist monasteries in 1937 left more than 10,000 people dead. During World War II, the USSR defended Mongolia against Japan during the Battle of Halhin Gol. Mongolian forces also took part in the Soviet offensive against Japanese forces in Inner Mongolia of August 1945 (see Operation August Storm). The threat of Mongolian forces seizing parts of Inner Mongolia induced the Republic of China to recognize Outer Mongolia's independence, provided that a referendum was held. The referendum took place on October 20, 1945, with, according to official numbers, 100% of the electorate voting for independence. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, both countries recognized each other on October 6, 1949. After Choybalsan died in Moscow on January 26 1952, Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal took power. In 1956 and again in 1962, Choybalsan's 'personality cult' was condemned. Mongolia continued to closely align itself with the Soviet Union, especially after the Sino-Soviet split of the late 1950s. While Tsedenbal visited Moscow in August 1984, being very ill, the parliament announced his retirement and replaced him with Jambyn Batmonh. In 1990, the Communist Party relinquished control over the government, paving the way for a new constitution in 1992 that abolished the People's Republic and created a hybrid parliamentary/presidential state.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Mongolia Until June 27, 2004 the predominant party in Mongolia was the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party or MPRP, which was formed by Mongolia's communist leaders after the end of the Cold War. The main opposition party was the Democratic Party or DP, which controlled a governing coalition from 1996 to 2000. From 2000 to 2004 MPRP was back in power, but results of the 2004 elections required the establishing of the first ever coalition government in Mongolia between the MPRP and MDC (Motherland Democratic Coalition). The state employs a dual executive system with an elected president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. The legislature, or State Great Khural, has one chamber with 76 seats and is chaired by the speaker of the house.

Provinces

Main article: Provinces of Mongolia
Mongolia is split in to 21 provinces (aimag), Ulaanbaatar (the capital) is a municipality with provincial status. Provinces of Mongolia
- Arhangay
- Bayan-Ölgiy
- Bayanhongor
- Bulgan
- Darhan-Uul
- Dornod
- Dornogovĭ
- Dundgovĭ
- Govĭ-Altay
- Govĭsümber
- Hentiy
- Hovd
- Hövsgöl
- Ömnögovĭ
- Orhon
- Övörhangay
- Selenge
- Sühbaatar
- Töv
- Ulaanbaatar (municipality)
- Uvs
- Zavhan

Geography

Zavhan Main article: Geography of Mongolia The Mongolian heartland consists of relatively flat steppes. The southern portion of the country is taken up by the Gobi Desert, while the northern and western portions are mountainous. Uvs Nuur Lake, shared with Tuva Republic of the Russian Federation, is a natural World Heritage Site. Most of the country is hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter, with January averages dropping as low as -30°C (-22°F). The country is also subject to occasional harsh climactic conditions known as zud or dzud. Ulaanbaatar has the coldest average temperature of any national capital in the world.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Mongolia Mongolia's economy is centered on agriculture and mining. Mongolia's main mining products are petroleum, coal and copper, with smaller industries in molybdenum, tungsten, and phosphate mining. Following decades of state-run enterprise, the economy has undergone an often-painful transition to capitalism; many industrial facilities were closed down with the end of the Soviet Union, which supported the largely loss-making factories. There are currently over 30,000 independent businesses in Mongolia, chiefly centered around the capital city. The majority of the population outside the cities subsists on sustenance herding; livestock typically consists of cows, sheep, goats, horses and Bactrian camels. GDP per capita is about $602 in nominal terms, but adjusted for purchasing power this comes to around $2,046. Although GDP has risen steadily since 2002, the state is still working to overcome a sizable trade deficit. A massive ($11 billion) foreign debt to Russia was settled by the Mongolian government in 2004 with a $300 million payment; this reduced value was accepted due to Mongolian hardship and losses of human lives during the Soviet Era. Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization in 1997 and now exports cashmere, minerals, and food products to Russia, the United States, China, Japan, Italy, and other countries.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Mongolia Most Mongolians are Mongol in descent: there are also smaller populations of Kazakh and Tungus people. The predominant religion is Tibetan Buddhism. As in many developing countries, Mongolia's young and rapidly growing population has put great strains on its economy.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Mongolia See also: Music of Mongolia

Miscellaneous topics

- Communications in Mongolia
- Foreign relations of Mongolia
- Military of Mongolia
- Mongoliyn Skautiyn Holboo
- Public holidays in Mongolia
- Transportation in Mongolia see also: Inner Mongolia

External links

General

- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mg.html CIA World Factbook - Mongolia]
- [http://www.photoglobe.info/ebooks/mongolia/ Country Studies - Mongolia] offers background information on Mongolia
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Asia/Mongolia/ Dmoz - Mongolia Links]
- [http://www.tanemahuta.com/mongolia2004/ Plants of Mongolia]
- [http://www.gateway.mn/index.php?newlang=english Mongolia Gateway portal]
- [http://www.mongoliatoday.com/ Mongolia Today Magazine]
- [http://www.open-government.mn Mongolian Open Government] (in Mongolian and English)
- [http://www.mongoliatourism.gov.mn/ Mongolian Tourist Board]
- [http://mongoluls.net/ Mongoluls.net - Information on Mongolia]
- [http://www.mnlibrary.org Mongolia and Social Development]
- [http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/ The UB Post] Mongolia's Independent English Weekly News
- [http://www.21DaysInMongolia.co.uk/ 21 Days In Mongolia] Backpacking in Mongolia
- [http://www.slackertravel.com/pictures/Mongolia/mongolia.html Collection of pictures from Mongolia sorted by province]
- [http://www.mongoliaphoto.com/ Photo session In Mongolia] Mongolia photo
- [http://www.altaimongolia.com/ Tourism In Mongolia] Tourism In Mongolia
- [http://www.willgoto.com/328/1/categories.aspx Travel guide to Mongolia]
- [http://www.geocities.com/ulsuud Flags and arms of the aymags of Mongolia] Category:Central Asian countries Category:Landlocked countries
- category:Disputed territories zh-min-nan:Bông-kó· ko:몽골 ms:Mongolia ja:モンゴル国 th:ประเทศมองโกเลีย

3rd century BC

(2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) ----

Events

- The first two Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome over dominance in western Mediterranean
- Rome conquers Spain
- Gaulish migration to Macedonia, Thrace and Galatia
- 281 BC Antiochus I Soter, on the assassination of his father Seleucus becomes emperor of the Seleucid empire.
- 273 BC to 252 BC Ashoka the Great ruled the Mauryan Empire
- 261 BC Antiochus II Theos, 2nd son, at the death of his father becomes emperor of the Seleucid empire.
- 214 BC Qin Shi Huang Qin Dynasty ordered contruction of the Great Wall of China.
- Indian traders regularly visited Arabia
- Scythians occupy Sogdiana, in modern-day Uzbekistan.
- Han dynasty was founded (202 BC - 8 AD).
- The Pharos of Alexandria is built.

Significant persons

- Mencius, Chinese philosopher and sage (371 - 289 BC).
- Euclid, geometer (c. 365 - 275 BC).
- Ashoka, Mauryan ruler of India 273 BC - 232 BC.
- Archimedes of Syracuse, mathematician, physicist, and engineer (c. 287 - 212 BC).
- The Ptolemaic dynasty rules Egypt
- Ptolemy I Soter (305 BC-282 BC) and his wives Eurydice and
- Ptolemy II Philadelphos (284 BC-246 BC) and his wives Arsinoe I and Arsinoe II Philadelphos.
- Ptolemy III Euergetes I (246 BC-222 BC) and his wife Berenice II.
- Ptolemy IV Philopater (222 BC-204 BC) and his wife Arsinoe III.
- Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204 BC-180 BC) and his wife Cleopatra I.
- Eratosthenes (c. 276 - 194 BC), Greek mathematician, geographer and astronomer.
- Apollonius of Perga, mathematician (c. 262 - 190 BC).
- Qin Shi Huang, Chinese Emperor (259 - 210 BC, reigned 246 - 210 BC).
- Hannibal, military leader of Carthage (247 - 182 BC).
- the "second" Brennus, Gaulish chieftain, invades Macedonia in 279 BC

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

- Eratosthenes accurately calculates diameter of the Earth
- Weiqi well-established in China, and may date back to the 2nd millennium BC
- Stone of Canopus (for Ptolemy III), No. 1, in Rosetta Stone Series of 3 stones. Implements Leap year in Egypt. Leap year not formally recognized until Caesar in 55 B.C.

Decades and years

Category:3rd century BC ko:기원전 3세기 ja:紀元前3世紀

Caucasus

The Caucasus, a region bordering Asia Minor, is located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus Mountains and surrounding lowlands. The highest peak is Mount Elbrus (5642m). The nations that comprise today's Caucasus include Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and parts of Russia. The northern slopes of the Caucasus are in the Russian Federation: Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai and the autonomous republics Adygea, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan. The northern section of the Caucasus is known as the Ciscaucasus, and the southern as the Transcaucasus. Three nationalistic political entities, comprising part of the area, claim independence, but are not acknowledged by international institutions: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia. The Caucasus is one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse places on Earth. The Caucasus region (Caucasia) is geographically a part of Asia (thus the Persian name Qafqâz), but historically and culturally it is often seen as a part of Europe. The Biblical Mount Ararat where Noah's Ark is said to have landed is regarded as the landmark of the ancient Armenian realm. The peak of Ararat is seasonally capped with snow. In Greek mythology, the Caucasus, or Kaukasos was one of the pillars supporting the world. Prometheus was chained there by Zeus. The Roman poet Ovid placed Caucasus in Scythia and depicted it as a cold and stony mountain which was the abode of personified hunger.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3632274.stm BBC News: North Caucasus at a glance], September 8 2005
- [http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/map/images/caucasus_envsec2_landcoverb.gif United Nations Environment Programme map: Landcover of the Caucasus]
- [http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/map/images/caucasus_envsec2_popdensityb.gif United Nations Environment Programme map: Population density of the Caucasus]
- [http://www.bukhara-carpets.com/making/caucasian_carpets.html Some Basic Facts about Caucasian Rugs] Category:Eastern Europe Category:Middle East
- ko:카프카스 ja:カフカス

Manchuria

Manchuria (Manchu: Manju, ) is a name given to a vast territorial region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is divided between China and Russia. After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, Manchuria has been referred to in China as Northeast China (). This term mainly refers to the part of Manchuria located within China. 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: # The provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning in the People's Republic of China, when their borders were drawn in 1956; # The above, plus the eastern part of Inner Mongolia (specifically, the areas administered today by Hulunbuir, Xing'an League, Chifeng and Tongliao); # The above, plus the now defunct province of Jehol. Jehol overlaps partially with some areas that are already included above, but it also adds the northernmost part of Hebei province, around Chengde. This is equal to the extent of Manchukuo; # 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. (To contrast with Outer Manchuria, the rest of Manchuria may also be called "Inner Manchuria".) Outer Manchuria 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); # The above, plus Sakhalin Oblast, which is generally included on Chinese maps as part of Outer Manchuria because it is directly offshore from the rest of Outer Manchuria and can thus be argued as a natural part thereof, even though it is not explicitly mentioned in the Treaty of Nerchinsk. Greater Manchuria can also be seen used as an ethnic term. In addition to the area described above, Greater Manchuria also includes the whole of the Korean peninsula, Sakhalin and the Kuriles, and sometimes embraces the Japanese archipelago. The term is sometimes used when discussing the ethnic history of the area, and is not used in conjunction with the situation of the political entities of the area, past or present. Manchuria borders Mongolia in the west, Siberia in the north, China proper to the south and North Korea in the east.

Naming

Manchuria is a transliteration of the Chinese word Manzhou (滿洲). After the 1911 revolution in China, which resulted in the collapse of the Manchu "Qing" empire, the name of the region where the Manchus originated, Manzhou or "Manchuria", was replaced by "The Northeast" (Dongbei) in official documents, which is rendered as Northeast China in English. In 1932, Japan established a puppet state in Manchuria, known as Manchukuo. As a result, the Chinese name of "Manchuria" (满洲) might provoke a negative reaction from some, especially the Chinese outside the region, due to connotations of separatism and collaboration with invaders. The stigma applies only to the geographical term. "Manchu" (满族) is considered a legitimate and neutral name for the ethnic group that originated in Manchuria. However, in recent years, an increase has been seen for the use of Manchuria (滿洲) in the region. An inhabitant of Northeast China is a "Northeasterner" (Dongbeiren). "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.

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 Talkamakan 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, arguably, the most extreme seasonal contrasts of any place in the world, 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 home of several nomadic tribes, including the Manchu, Ulchi, Goldi and Nanai. Various ethnic groups or kingdoms, including the Fuyu, the (ethnically Korean) Goguryeo, Xianbei, Khitan, Bohai (Mohe) and Jurchen, have risen to power in Manchuria. Han Chinese dynasties in China 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), which went on to conquer Northern China. In 1234, the Jin Dynasty fell to the Mongols, who were later thrown out 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. In 1860, at the Treaty of Peking, the Russians managed to extort a further large 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). 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 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 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 Two

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 Soviet Russia, 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 South Korean and American Forces. 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 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, as well as 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, while news and information regarding the border treaty were censored in Mainland China by the PRC government. Some Chinese communities among ROC, oversea Chinese and those few who could manage to bypass the information blockade set by PRC authorities 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 resourses. 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. Today, irredentism is popular in China, with many calling for the territory to be returned to China, whether by negotiation, subversion, military conquest, or demographic swamping. Russia also faces mounting problems with increasing numbers of Chinese immigrants pouring into relatively empty Outer Manchuria from crowded Inner Manchuria.

Demographics and Economy

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, 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 and the Koreans. 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 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 is 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 "Northeast China" is important in the way Northeastern Chinese view themselves. 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 Northeast China is culturally homogeneous — Northeasterners have a sense that they are similar to each other, and different from the rest of 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 relatively empty 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, 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 Northeast China 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 Northeast China 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 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 flavour, one that is frequently exploited by television shows and so forth to bring across a "northeasterner stereotype", for comedic purposes. Ethnic Manchus speak Chinese, and the Manchu language is almost extinct. 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 distinguished characters of the cuisine is the use of uncooked fresh vegetables. In almost every other region of China, vegetables are cooked thoroughly before being eaten. 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. The title of this article does not imply any official position by Wikipedia on the correct name of this region. Category:China Category:Manchuria ja:満州 ko:만주

Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Mongolian: ᠥᠪᠦᠷ ᠮᠣᠨᠺᠤᠯᠤᠨ ᠥᠪᠡᠷᠲᠡᠺᠡᠨ ᠵᠠᠰᠠᠬᠤ ᠣᠷᠤᠨ Öbür Mongghul-un Öbertegen Jasaqu Orun; ) is a Mongol autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Inner Mongolia borders, from east to west, the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Gansu, while to the north it borders Mongolia and Russia. It has an area of 1.18 million km² and a population of 23.76 million. The capital is Hohhot.

Name

Inner Mongolia is distinct from Outer Mongolia, which was a term used by the Republic of China and previous governments to refer to what is covered today by the independent state of Mongolia plus Russia's Republic of Tuva. In Mongol, the region is known as Southern Mongolia (öbür monggol), rather than Inner Mongolia (dotood monggol), where "South" refers to the region's location south of the Gobi Desert. In Chinese, The region is known as "Inner Mongolia", where the terms of "Inner/Outer" are derived from Manchu dorgi/tulergi, viewed as Sinocentric by some Mongols. The split in naming conventions is reflected in the official name of the autonomous region, which is "Southern Mongolia" in Mongol, and "Inner Mongolia" in Chinese. Some Mongolians use the name "Southern Mongolia" in English as well.

History

Throughout most of history, various parts of what is now Inner Mongolia alternated in control between Chinese agriculturalists in the south and Xiongnu, Xianbei, Khitan, Nurchen, and Mongol nomads of the north. Under the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1912), Mongolia was administered in a different way for each region:
- "Outer Mongolia": The four leagues (aimag) of the Khalkha Mongols in northern and central Mongolia, as well as the Tannu Uriankhai and Hovd regions in northwestern Mongolia, were overseen by the General of Uliastay at the city of Uliastay. This is equivalent to the modern independent state of Mongolia, the Russian-administered region of Tannu Uriankhai, and a part of northern Xinjiang.
- "Inner Mongolia": The banners and tribes of southern Mongolia came under six leagues (chuulghan): Jirim, Juu Uda, Josutu, Xilingol, Ulaan Chab, and Yeke Juu. This is equivalent to most of modern Inner Mongolia and some neighbouring areas in Liaoning and Jilin provinces.
- "Taoxi Mongolia": The Alashan Oolud and