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Jilin

 

Major Cities:

Changchun, Jilin City, Baishan, Baicheng, Siping, Yanji, Songyuan, Tonghua, Liaoyuan

 

Baekdu Mountain, also known as Changbai Mountain in China, is a volcanic mountain on the border between North Korea and China. At 2,744 m (9,003 ft), it is the highest mountain of the Changbai mountain range to the north and Baekdudaegan mountain range to the south. It is also the highest mountain on the Korean peninsula and Manchuria.

The Korean name, Baekdu-san (백두산, 白頭山), means "white-headed mountain". The Chinese name, Changbai Shan (長白山), means "ever-white mountain".

A large crater lake, called Heaven Lake (Korean:천지, Chinese:天池), is located within the caldera atop the mountain.

 

 

Tourism

The Goguryeo sites and tombs found in Ji'an, Jilin, including Wandu, Gungnae Fortress, and the pyramidal General's Tomb, have been listed as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ancient Tombs at Longtou Mountain, including the Mausoleum of Princess Zhenxiao, are royal tombs of the Balhae kingdom found in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture.

 

Tomb of the General

 

JILIN

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

Jilin (吉林), is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west. The name was transliterated to Kirin before standardization to pinyin.

The name "Jilin" probably originates from Girin ula, a Manchu term meaning "along the river"; this was transcribed into Jilin wula (吉林烏拉) in Chinese, then shortened to Jilin. The literal meaning of the Chinese characters for "Jilin" is "auspicious forest".

 

Geography

Jilin lies in the central part of northeastern China. Its capital is Changchun, which lies 113 kilometers west of Jilin city. Jilin province is rich in natural mineral deposits with 136 different types of minerals, of which 70 have already been extracted. Jilin has abundance of Traditional Chinese medicine resources, with approximately 27,000 kinds of wild plants and 9,000 kinds of medicinal herbs. Also the province is rich in large reserves of oil, gas, coal, iron mine, nickel, molybdenum, talc, graphite, gypsum, cement rock, gold and silver; its reserves of oil shale are the largest in the country.

Jilin is highest in altitude in the southeast, and drops gently towards the northwest. The Changbai Mountains run through its southeastern regions, and contains the highest peak of the province, Baiyun Peak at 2691 m. Other mountain ranges include the Jilinhada Mountains, Zhang Guangcai Mountains, and Longgang Mountains.

Jilin is drained by the Yalu and Tumen Rivers in the extreme southwest (which together form the border between the People's Republic of China and North Korea), by tributaries of the Liao River along the southern border, and by the Songhua and Nen rivers, both eventually flowing into the Amur.

Jilin has a northerly continental monsoon climate, with long, cold winters and short, warm summers.

 

Economy

Jilin's agricultural production is centered upon rice, maize, and sorghum. Rice is mostly cultivated in the eastern parts, such as Yanbian prefecture. The Changbai Mountains are an important source of lumber. Herding of sheep is an important activity in the western parts, such as Baicheng prefecture-level city.

Compared to other provinces of China, Jilin has extensive deposits of Kieselguhr, wollastonite, floatstone, and molybdenum.

Industry in Jilin is concentrated on automobiles, train carriages, and iron alloy.

Jilin is one of the most important commodity grain bases in China Ranked 6th in timber production The yields of ginseng and deer antlers are among the largest in China, being used extensively in Traditional Chinese medicine

 

Culture

Jilin is part of Northeast China, so shares many similaries in culture with neighbouring regions. But Jiju, or Jilin Opera, is a form of traditional entertainment that Jilin has innovated over its short migrant history.

The ethnic Koreans of Jilin have their own distinct culture. See also: Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Culture of Korea.

 

Demographics

Jilin is inhabited by Han Chinese, Manchus, Hui, Mongols and Xibe. Most ethnic Koreans live in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture.

 

Ethnic Groups in Jilin (2000 census)

Nationality	Population	Percentage
Han Chinese	24,348,815	90.85%
Koreans	1,145,688	4.27%
Manchu	993,112	3.71%
Mongol	172,026	0.64%
Hui	125,620	0.47%

 

 

 

Northeast China

Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning

Northeast China (中國東北) is a geographical region of China. It is separated from Russia largely by the Amur, Argun, and Ussuri rivers, from North Korea by the Yalu and Tumen rivers, and from the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region by the Greater Khingan Range. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain.

Northeast China is defined by the government of the People's Republic of China to include the three northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning and, thus, the region is sometimes called the Three Northeast Provinces (東北三省). Some people in parts of Inner Mongolia (like Chifeng) still call themselves Northeasterners. It is generally coterminous with some definitions of the historical region of Manchuria (滿洲) and is commonly referred to in English as such. It is also sometimes referred to as Inner Manchuria in contrast with Outer Manchuria, provinces lost to the Russian Empire, during the Qing Dynasty.

History of Northeast China: Northeast China was the homeland of several nomadic tribes, including the Manchus (or Jurchens), Ulchs, Hezhen (also known as the Goldi and Nanai). Various ethnic groups and their respective kingdoms, including the Gojoseon, Sushen, Xianbei, Buyeo, Mohe, Goguryeo, Balhae have risen to power in the Northeast. Yan State once occupied the Liaodong Peninsula, Han Chinese dynasties in China loosely controlled the southern parts of the region. During the Song dynasty, the Khitan set up the Liao Dynasty in Northeast China. Later, the Jurchen overthrew the Liao and formed the Jin Dynasty, which went on to conquer northern China. In AD 1234, the Jin Dynasty fell to the Mongols, whose Yuan Dynasty was later replaced by the Ming Dynasty in 1368. In 1644, the Manchu conquered the entirety of China and established the Qing dynasty (1644–1912).

Northeast China came under influence of the Russian Empire with the building of the Chinese eastern railway through Harbin to Vladivostok. The Empire of Japan replaced Russian influence in the region as a result of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905, and Japan laid the South Manchurian Railway in 1906 to Port Arthur. During the Warlord Era in China, Zhang Zuolin established himself in Northeast China, but was murdered by the Japanese for being too independent. The last Qing dynasty emperor, Puyi, was then placed on the throne to lead a Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. After the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945, the Soviet Union invaded the region as part of its declaration of war against Japan. From 1945 to 1948, Northeast China was a base area for the Communist People's Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. With the encouragement of the Soviet Union, the area was used as a staging ground during the Civil War for the Chinese Communists, who were victorious in 1949 and have been controlling this region since.

Culture of Northeast China: Northeastern Mandarin retains elements from native Tungusic languages, Japanese, and Russian and there are enough differences to give the dialect its own distinctive characteristics. Ethnic Manchus speak Mandarin, and the Manchu language is almost extinct due to widespread assimilation to Han culture over the last four centuries. Ethnic Koreans and Mongols tend to be bilingual in both their own languages (Korean and Mongolian) as well as Mandarin. (See Northeastern Mandarin)

Northeast 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 distinguishing characteristics of the cuisine is the use of uncooked fresh vegetables. During the long winter season, pickled Chinese cabbage, Suan cai, is preserved and used for cooking. In almost every other region of China, vegetables are cooked thoroughly before being eaten.

In general, the culture of Northeast China takes its elements from the cultures of North China and Shandong, where most of the Han Chinese migration into Northeast China, known as Chuang Guandong, originated, the native Tungusic peoples, and its own innovations.

Errenzhuan, Yangge, Jilin opera and Stilts are popular forms of traditional entertainment in Northeast China. "Northeastern Cradle Song" (东北摇篮曲) is an example of the folk songs of this region.

Because of its climatic conditions, Northeast China is the base for China's winter sports. Ice hockey and ice skating athletes often come from or were educated in Northeast China.

Demographics: Northeast China has a total population of about 107,400,000 people, accounting for 8% of China’s total population. The majority of the population in the Northeast is now Han Chinese, whose ancestors came only recently in the 19th and 20th centuries in a population movement called "Chuang Guandong" (Rush to Northeast China). 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, the Koreans, and the Huis.

 

 

Chuang Guandong

Chuang Guandong (闖關東, literally "Crashing into the east (of the fortress)" The "fortress" in this case being Shanhaiguan), means the rush to Northeast China of the Han Chinese, especially from Shandong Peninsula, during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.

Northeast China, also called Guandong (east of the Fortress) or Guanwai (outside of the Fortress), the Fortress in this case being at Shanhaiguan, used to be a land of sparse population, inhabited mainly by the Tungusic peoples and other minority peoples. In 1668 during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the Qing government further decreed a prohibition of other people getting into this area of their origin.

In the second half of 19th century, as Czarist Russia advance through Siberia and reached the Sea of Okhotsk, the Qing officials like General Tepuxin made a proposal to open Guandong for farming, and the Qing government changed their policy, thus encouraging the poor farmers in near-by Zhilei (the present-day Hebei) and Shandong to move to and live in Northeast China.

Until 1931 when the Manchurian Incident occurred, a few million people are said to have moved to this area from outside. This movement of people, called "Chuang Guandong" (Rush to Northeast China) is comparable to the Westward movement in U.S.A., the advance to Siberia in Russia or, on a smaller scale, the move to Hokkaido in Japan.

Those who moved to Northeast China are the poor farmers mainly from Shandong who came over land through Shanhaiguan or over the sea, using the Yantai-Lushun ferry that had opened because of the Beiyang Fleet were stationed in Weihaiwei in Shandong Peninsula and Lushun in Liaodong Peninsula. One of the results of this people movement, for example, is that the majority of the older people in Dalian City are from Shandong and that the Dalian Dialect is part of the Jiao Liao Mandarin, the Chinese dialect group spreading from Qingdao to Dalian and Dandong.

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Koreans in China

The population of Koreans in China include millions of descendants of Korean immigrants with citizenship of the People's Republic of China, as well as smaller groups of South and North Korean expatriates, with a total of roughly 2.3 million people as of 2009.

Chaoxianzu/Joseonjok (朝鲜族), also referred to as Chinese people of Korean descent (朝鮮系中國人), form one of the 56 ethnicities officially recognized by the Chinese government. Their total population was estimated at 1,923,842 as of 2005. Most of them live in Northeast China, especially in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, which had 854,000 ethnic Koreans living there as of 2000.

History: Throughout history, due to the close interactions between China and Korea, some degree of population movements have always occurred between the two neighboring countries. There were written records of Korean migrations in the early Qing Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, and earlier. The majority of early Korean populations in China had assimilated with Chinese society (Sinicization). The current Korean population in China is mainly descended from migrants who came between 1860 and 1945. In the 1860s, a series of natural disasters struck Korea, leading to disastrous famines. Along with the Qing dynasty's loosening of border controls and acceptance of external migration into Northeast China, this pushed many Koreans to migrate. By 1894, an estimated 34,000 Koreans lived in China, with numbers increasing to 109,500 in 1910. After the Japanese annexation of Korea, larger numbers of Koreans moved to China. Some merely fled from Japanese rule or economic hardship, while others intended to use China as a base for their anti-Japanese resistance movements. By 1936, there were 854,411 Koreans in China. As Japanese rule extended to China, the Japanese government forced Korean farmers to migrate north to China to develop the land. During World War II, many Koreans in China joined the Chinese peoples in fighting against the Japanese invaders. Many also joined on the Communist side and fought against the Chinese Nationalist armies during the Chinese Civil War. After 1949, estimated at about 600 thousand individuals, or 40% of the Korean population at the time, chose to return to the Korean peninsula. But most Koreans chose to stay in China and took up Chinese citizenship between 1949 (the end of the Chinese Civil War) and 1952.

Since 1949: After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yanbian, where most ethnic Koreans live, was designated as an autonomous county in 1952, and was upgraded to an autonomous prefecture in 1955. However, from around 1990, the ethnic Korean population of Yanbian began shrinking. Some Korean schools are being closed for the lack of students, and even where schools exist, parents are increasingly unwilling to send their children there, as they regard Korean language as unimportant in Chinese society). The share of the ethnic Korean population in Yanbian dropped from 60.2% in 1953 to 36.3% in 2000. This process is a result of social changes in the ethnic Korean community. The success of the economic reforms in China brought fast growth. In the past, most ethnic Koreans aspired at becoming good farmers. Now, success is increasingly associated with a college degree and/or migration to a large city, perhaps even to Seoul. However, college education is in Mandarin. The Korean parents know that Chinese language schools give their children better chances to go to college. The result is a dramatic decline in enrollment in the Koreans schools. In a middle school in Longjing where in the 1970s there were 400 students, now there are merely 39 students.

A 2004 survey found that ethnic Koreans had the second highest quality of ethnic life in China, after the Manchu, as measured by an overall score which took into account infant mortality, life expectancy, and literacy rates.

A significant proportion of China's ethnic Korean citizens now reside in South Korea; As of 2009, there were 443,566 ethnic Koreans with PRC citizenship residing in South Korea, making up 71% of all PRC citizens in the country. However, they receive less favourable immigration treatment than ethnic Koreans from other countries, such as Korean Americans. Huang Youfu, a professor at the Minzu University of China and himself an ethnic Korean, as well as Scott Snyder of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, note that joseonjok who have worked in South Korea often develop poor feelings towards South Korea, due to the mistreatment they experience there; Huang believes their writing about their negative experiences on the internet has been a major factor in the spread of anti-Korean sentiment in China.

Culture: Most ethnic Koreans in China speak Mandarin Chinese and Korean.

Most ethnic Koreans in China are Buddhists. But there is a large minority who follow Christianity. South Korean churches have been known to send missionary groups to evangelize among the ethnic Koreans in China and refugees from North Korea, especially in the Northeast.

Assimilation and New Identity: Recently, the assimilation of Chaoxianzu (Chinese people of Korean descent) into Chinese identity is apparent. They don't think that they are the same ethnicity as the south and north Koreans. Rather, they think they are one of Zhonghua minzu (中华民族, Chinese ethnic Groups) in China. The younger generation generally cannot speak fluent Korean language, but, only Mandarin Chinese. It is because their parents didn't have them learn Korean for fear that they might be discriminated by the majority of Han Chinese, or that they don't want to burden their kids by learning too many languages which can lower language proficiency. Although Chaoxianzu's intermarriage with other ethnic groups was rare in the past, it has increased drastically nowadays.

Different from other ethnic minorities in China such as Uyghurs and Tibetans, Chaoxianzu's loyalty to the PRC regime is regarded as comparatively strong. Some Chinese of Korean decent (Chaoxianzu) like Li Dexiu (李德洙), rose to high ranks in the government and implemented policies that suppresses independent movements of minorities by immigrating Han Chinese people to minority area.

Despite such situation, Chaoxianzu people often claim a common cultural heritage between them and the Koreans in the Korean Peninsula but view themselves separately as one of Chinese minorities. Common cultures such as Korean food, Korean dance, and Hanbok are often explained as part of Chinese cultures by Chaoxianzu. Furthermore, some Chaoxianzu scholars were widely involved with the Northeast Project. The purpose of this project was to convert the history of Goguryeo into a regional minority history of China. Aside from that, some Chaoxianzu students who studied in Korea were accused of the violence to the Korean demonstrators who protested the human rights abuse of PRC government in front of the torch rally of Beijing Olympic. As a result of Chaoxianzu's different attitude towards South and North Korea from other oversea Koreans such as Korean American or Japanese Zainichi, it sometimes caused serious frictions with the Koreans in the Korean peninsula. South Korean government gives some legal prestiges to oversea Koreans despite their nationality. However, some South Koreans think that Chaoxianzu exploit this policy and maintain that they should be treated as just foreigners.

North Koreans: China has a large number of North Korean refugees, estimated at anywhere between 20,000 and 400,000. Some North Korean refugees who are unable to obtain transport to South Korea instead marry chaoxianzu and settle down in China, blending into the community; however, they are still subject to deportation if discovered by the authorities.

Major North Korean universities, such as the Kim Il-sung University and the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies also send a few dozen exchange students to Peking University and other top-ranked Chinese universities each year.

South Koreans: After the 1992 normalisation of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, many citizens of South Korea started to settle in China. Large new communities of South Koreans have formed in Beijing, Shanghai, and Qingdao. The South Korean government officially recognises seven Korean international schools in China, located in Yanbian, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, and Dalian, all founded between 1997 and 2003. Most of the population of Koreans in Hong Kong also consists of South Korea expatriates. Typically, they come to China as employees of South Korean corporations on short-term international assignments; when their assignments are completed, many prefer to stay on in China, using the contacts they have made to start their own consulting businesses or import/export firms. Other South Koreans also moved to China on their own after becoming unemployed during the 1997 financial crisis; they used funds they had saved up for retirement to open small restaurants or shops. The low cost of living compared to Seoul, especially the cheap tuition at international schools teaching both English and Chinese, is another pull factor for South Korean migration to China.

The number of South Koreans in China was estimated to be 300,000 to 400,000 as of 2006; at the 2006 rate of growth, their population had been expected to reach one million by 2008. By 2007, the South Korean Embassy in Beijing stated their population had reached 700,000. However, due to the global economic downturn in 2008 and the depreciation of the Korean won, large numbers of those returned to South Korea. A Bloomberg News article initially stated the proportion as 20% (roughly 140,000 people). Between 2008 and 2009, South Korean government figures show that the number of Koreans in China dropped by 433,000.

 

 

Manchu

The Manchu people (滿族) are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria (today's Northeastern China). During their rise in the seventeenth century, along with the help of Ming rebels (such as general Wu Sangui), they conquered the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until its abolition in 1912 after the Xinhai Revolution, which established a republican government in its place.

The Manchu ethnicity has largely been assimilated with the Han Chinese. The Manchu language is almost extinct, now spoken only among a small number of elderly people in remote rural areas of northeastern China and a few scholars; there are around ten thousand speakers of Sibe (Xibo), a Manchu dialect spoken in the Ili region of Xinjiang. In recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in Manchu culture among both ethnic Manchus and Han. The number of Chinese today with some Manchu ancestry is quite large, and the adoption of favorable policies towards ethnic minorities (such as preferential university admission, government employment opportunities and exemption from the one child policy) has encouraged some people with mixed Han and Manchu ancestry to re-identify themselves as Manchu.

 

 

Ethnic Mongols in China

Map of Mongolia and Ethnic Mongols in China

Ethnic Mongols in China (蒙古族) are citizens of the People's Republic of China who are ethnic Mongols. They form one of the 55 ethnic minorities officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. There are approximately 5.8 million ethnic Mongols living in China. Most of them live in Inner Mongolia, Northeast China, Xinjiang, etc. The Mongol population in China is over twice that of the independent nation of Mongolia.

Regional Distribution

The Mongols in China are divided between autonomous regions and provinces as follows:

• 68.72%: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
• 11.52%: Liaoning Province
• 2.96%: Jilin Province
• 2.92%: Hebei Province
• 2.58%: Xinjiang Autonomous Region
• 2.43%: Heilongjiang Province
• 1.48%: Qinghai Province
• 1.41%: Henan Province
• 5.98%: Rest of China

Besides the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, there are other Mongol autonomous administrative subdivisions in China.

On prefecture level:

• Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
• Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture
• Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture

On county level:

• Weichang Manchu and Mongol Autonomous County (Hebei)
• Harqin Left Mongol Autonomous County (Liaoning)
• Fuxin Mongol Autonomous County (Liaoning)
• Qian Gorlos Mongol Autonomous County (Jilin)
• Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County (Heilongjiang)
• Subei Mongol Autonomous County (Gansu)
• Henan Mongol Autonomous County (Qinghai)
• Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County (Xinjiang)

Famous Ethnic Mongols in China

• Ulanhu (乌兰夫), politician
• Li Siguang (李四光), founder of China's geomechanics
• Siqin Gaowa (斯琴高娃), a famous actress of China
• Mengke Bateer (巴特尔), basketball player
• Bao Xishun (鲍喜顺), one of the tallest men alive
• Tengger, a pop/rock musician
• Sengge Rinchen (僧格林沁), Qing dynasty nobleman and general
• Buren Bayaer (布仁巴雅尔), singer, composer and a disc jockey
• Uyunqimg (乌云其木格), Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
• Fu Ying (傅瑩), Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom
• Zhang Xiaoping, boxer
• Sa Dingding (萨顶顶), singer

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* Polymorphism of 17 Y-STR Loci in Shanxi Han Population and Genetic Relationship with 13 Populations by MS Shi, et al.

14 个群体NJ 系统发生树

 

14 个群体聚类分析图

 

 

* Genetic Distances Between Chinese Populations Ccalculated on Gene Frequencies of 38 Loci by DU Ruofu, et al.

Phylogenic Tree of Han Subpopulations in 30 Provinces, Cities and Autonomous Regions

(Heilongiang, Jilin, Shandong)

 

Phylogenic Tree of 10 Han Subpopulations and 14 Ethnic Minorities

Han subpopulations: GS, Gansu; HLJ, Heilongjiang; JL, Jilin; NM, Inner Mongolia; ShX, Shaanxi; GD, Guangdong; GX, Guangxi; GZ Guizhou; H ~ N , Hunan; SC, Sichuan.

 

 

* Polymorphism Analysis of 11 Y-STR Loci in Manchu Population and Genetic Relationships with 16 Populations by MS Shi, et al.

Abstract: To investigate the genetic polymorphisms of 11 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats(STR) loci in Manchu population, and to evaluate their forensic application values and genetic relationships with 16 other populations of China, 11 Y-STR loci in 203 unrelated Manchu individuals in Liaoning were amplified with PowerPlex Y System, and the PCR products were analyzed by 310 Genetic Analyzer. Cluster analysis and phylogenic trees were applied to show the genetic distance among the populations. As a result, a total of 189 haplotypes were identified and the overall haplotypes diversity for the 11 Y-STR loci was 0.9991. The gene diversity values (GD) for each locus ranged from 0.4594 (DYS391) to 0.9258 (DYS385a/b). Comparing with 16 populations, genetic distance between Manchu and Northeast Han population was the smallest(0.0015), while genetic distance between Man and Uygur ethnic the largest(0.1485). The phylogenetic tree was similar to the results of clustering analysis. The genetic distribution of 11 Y-STR loci in Liaoning Manchu population showed favorable polymorphisms, and was thus suitable for forensic identification and paternity testing in local area. The study of genetic diversity among different populations is useful for the research of their origins, migrations and their relationships.

 

 

* Genetic Polymorphism of Mitochondrial DNA HVS-I and HVS-II of Chinese Tu Ethnic Minority Group by Feng Cheng, et al.

Abstract: We analyzed the two hypervariable segments HVS-I and HVS-II of 108 Chinese Tu ethnic minority group samples for forensic and population genetics purposes. Comparing with Anderson sequence, 79 polymorphic loci in HVS-I and 40 in HVS-II were found in Chinese Tu ethnic minority group mtDNA sequences, and 90 and 64 haplotypes were then defined. Haplotype diversity and the mean pairwise differences were 0.9903±0.0013 and 5.7785 in HVS-I, and 0.9777±0.0013 and 3.5819 in HVS-II, respectively. By analyzing the hypervariable domain from nucleotide 1,6180 to 1,6193 in HVS-I, we defined some new types of sequence variations. We also compared the relationship between Tu population and other populations using mtDNA HVS-I sequences. According to Rst genetic distances, the phylogenetic tree showed that the Tu population, the Xi'an Han population, the Chinese Korean, and the Mongol ethnic group were in a clade. This indicated a close genetic relationship between them. There were far relations between the Tu population and other Chinese southern Han populations, Siberian, European, African, and other foreign populations. The results suggest that Tu population has a multi-origin and has also merged with other local populations.

 

 

* The Peopling of Korea Revealed by Analyses of Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosomal Markers by Han-Jun Jin, et al.

Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) Plot Based on FST Distances of mtDNA Haplogroups

(Korean Chinese clusters with Han Qindao, Korean, Mongol)

 

Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) Plot Based on FST Distances of mtDNA HVS-I Sequences

(Han Yanbian clusters with Han Qingdao, Korean, Ewenki, Japanese)

 

Distribution of mtDNA Haplogroup Frequencies in 7 East Asian Populations

 

 

* Tracing the Origins of Hakka and Chaoshanese by Mitochondrial DNA Analysis by Wen-Zhi Wang, et al.

Population Analyzed

 

Two-dimensional PC Plot of mtDNA of Han Populations

 

PC Map of Y Chromosome of Han Chinese

 

 

* Taiwan Aboriginals and Peoples of the Pacific-Asia Region: Multivariate craniometric comparisons by M. Pietrusewsky, et al.

Plot of 55 Male Groups Means on the First Two Canonical Variates Using 29 Cranial Measurements

(Manchuria)

 

Diagram of Relationship Based on a Cluster Analysis (UPGMA) of Mahalanobis' Generalized Distances Using 29 Cranial Measurements Recorded in 55 Male Groups

 

 

* The ADH1B Arg47His Polymorphism in East Asian Populations and Expansion of Rice Domestication in History by Yi Peng, et al.

The Distribution of the ADH1B*47His Allele and the Sites of Early Rice Relics

 

The Distribution of the ADH1B*47His Allele in the 38 East Asian Populations

 

 

* ADH1B Arg47His Polymorphism Is Associated with Esophageal Cancer Risk in High-Incidence Asian Population: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis by Guohong Zhang, et al.

Excerpt: Some alleles that increase the risk of complex diseases like cancers, are ancestral. Both historical records of migration and genetic fingerprints of East Asians and ancient population in Central China suggested there were some common ancestries in populations along the ‘‘Asian esophageal cancer belt’’. The ADH1B*47His allele is highly prevalent in Asian populations, particularly in northeast Asians (i.e., Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans). It was proposed the ADH1B*47His allele may serve better as an ancestral marker for understanding expansions and migrations of ancient Central China populations, and is related to disease susceptibility and natural selection as well. Except for in East Asia, a high frequency of the ADH1B*47His allele is also found in West Asian countries such as Iran and Turkey, where high-incidence regions of ESCC exist, too. Such a worldwide double-peak pattern of frequency distribution of the ADH1B* 47His allele was argued to be the result of independent increase of the derived allele in both western and eastern Asia after humans had spread across Eurasia. Based on these facts and findings, we propose that ADH1B*47Arg is a risk factor for ESCC in Asian populations that stems from recent common ancestralness of them.

 

 

* Y-chromosome Evidence for Common Ancestry of Three Chinese Populations with a High Risk of Esophageal Cancer by H Huang, et al.

Abstract: High rates of esophageal cancer (EC) are found in people of the Henan Taihang Mountain, Fujian Minnan, and Chaoshan regions of China. Historical records describe great waves of populations migrating from north-central China (the Henan and Shanxi Hans) through coastal Fujian Province to the Chaoshan plain. Although these regions are geographically distant, we hypothesized that EC high-risk populations in these three areas could share a common ancestry. Accordingly, we used 16 East Asian-specific Y-chromosome biallelic markers (single nucleotide polymorphisms; Y-SNPs) and six Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci to infer the origin of the EC high-risk Chaoshan population (CSP) and the genetic relationship between the CSP and the EC high-risk Henan Taihang Mountain population (HTMP) and Fujian population (FJP). The predominant haplogroups in these three populations are O3*, O3e*, and O3e1, with no significant difference between the populations in the frequency of these genotypes. Frequency distribution and principal component analysis revealed that the CSP is closely related to the HTMP and FJP, even though the former is geographically nearer to other populations (Guangfu and Hakka clans). The FJP is between the CSP and HTMP in the principal component plot. The CSP, FJP and HTMP are more closely related to Chinese Hans than to minorities, except Manchu Chinese, and are descendants of Sino-Tibetans, not Baiyues. Correlation analysis, hierarchical clustering analysis, and phylogenetic analysis (neighbor-joining tree) all support close genetic relatedness among the CSP, FJP and HTMP. The network for haplogroup O3 (including O3*, O3e* and O3e1) showed that the HTMP have highest STR haplotype diversity, suggesting that the HTMP may be a progenitor population for the CSP and FJP. These findings support the potentially important role of shared ancestry in understanding more about the genetic susceptibility in EC etiology in high-risk populations and have implications for determining the molecular basis of this disease.

The Two-dimensional Graphs of Y-STR Frequencies

The three EC high-risk populations and Manchu form 2 clusters; the three Northern Han (labeled 10–12) and five Southern Han populations (labeled 5–9) form another group. The remaining populations are scattered. 1, Chaoshan EC high-risk population; 2, Fujian EC high-risk population; 3, Henan Taihang Mountain EC high-risk population; 4, Fujian Han; 5, Anhui Han; 6, Yunnan Han; 7, Henan Han; 8, Zhejiang Han; 9, Guangzhou Han; 10, Dongbei Han; 11, Beijing Han; 12, Tianjing Han; 13, Tibetan; 14, Uygur; 15, Krigiz; 16, Manchu; 17, Shui; 18, Naxi; 19, Zhuang. 4–9 refer to Southern Hans, 10–12 to Northern Hans, 13–17 to Northern minority nationalities, 18–19 to Southern minority nationalities.

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History of Jilin

In ancient times Jilin was inhabited by various peoples, notably the Mohe and the Wùjí (勿吉). It also formed a part of the Goguryeo kingdom. The kingdom of Balhae was established in the area from 698 to 926 AD. The region then fell successively under the domination of the Khitan Liao Dynasty, the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, and the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, much of the area was under the control of the General of Jilin, whose area of control extended to the Sea of Japan to encompass much of what is Russia's Primorsky Krai today. Immigration of Han Chinese was strictly controlled.

However, after the Primorsky Krai area was ceded to Russia in 1860, the Qing government began to open the area up to Han Chinese migrants, most of whom came from Shandong. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Han Chinese had become the dominant ethnic group of the region. In 1932, the area was incorporated into Manchukuo, a puppet state set up by Japan, and Changchun (then called Hsinking), capital of Jilin today, was made the capital of Manchukuo. After the defeat of Japan in 1945, the region, together with the rest of northeastern China, was handed to the communists by the Soviet Union. Manchuria was then the staging ground from which the communists eventually conquered the rest of China (see Chinese Civil War#Post-war power struggle (1945–1947)).

In 1949, Jilin province was smaller, encompassing only the environs of Changchun and Jilin City, and the capital was at Jilin City, while Changchun was a municipality independent from the province. In the 1950s Jilin was expanded to its present borders. During the Cultural Revolution, Jilin was expanded again to include a part of Inner Mongolia, giving it a border with the independent state of Mongolia, though this was later reversed. In recent times Jilin has, together with the rest of heavy industry-based Northeast China, been facing economic difficulties with privatization. This has prompted the central government to undertake a campaign called “Revitalize the Northeast”.

 

 

Mohe

The Mohe (or Malgal, Mogher) were a Tungusic people in ancient Manchuria. They are sometimes considered the ancestors of medieval Jurchen and modern-day Manchus. According to some records, they originally dwelt near the Liao River and later migrated southward. According to Chinese records, they were governed by the Buyeo kingdom, but broke free during the Chinese Three Kingdoms period. They subsequently became an autonomous state. They were involved in the early history of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The records of Baekje and Silla during the 1st century and 2nd century AD include numerous battles against the Mohe.

The Mohe were divided into various tribes, the most powerful of which were the Sumo Mohe. The Sumo Mohe were eventually conquered by Goguryeo, and the other Mohe tribes by Sui Dynasty China. Many Mohe moved back toward their northern homeland in this period. The "Mohe" section of the "Beidi Zhuan" (北狄傳, Communications of the Northern "Di" Barbarians) of the "Jiu Tang Shu" (舊唐書, Old Book of Tang) states: "Their country is all (or "roughly") composed of some tens of 'bu' (roughly "tribes," but also just generally meaning "divisions"), each having a chief, some of whom are attached to the Goryeo, and some of whom serve as common people (i.e., vassals) to the Tujue."

The Mohe also participated in the later kingdom of Balhae, 698-926. The founder of Balhae, Dae Joyeong was recorded to be a former Goguryeo general of Sumo Mohe stock (New Book of Tang), although the Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk Yusa) written by Koreans several hundred years later states that he was of Goguryeo stock. After the fall of Balhae, few historical traces of the Mohe can be found, though they are considered to be the main ethnic group that became the Jurchen.

The name of the Mohe also appears as "Maka" in "Shin-Maka" (Japanese 新靺鞨, しんまか) or "New Mohe," the name of a dance and the musical piece that accompanies it, which was introduced to the Japanese court during the Nara Period or around the beginning of the Heian Period from the Balhae Kingdom. In modern Japanese historical texts, the name of the Mohe is annotated with the "kana" reading Makkatsu (まっかつ), which is probably a reading pronunciation based on the standard Sino-Japanese readings of the Chinese characters used to transcribe the ethnonym of the Mohe.

The ethnonym of the Mohe bears a notable resemblance to that of the later historically attested *Motgit (Chinese characters: 勿吉, Middle Chinese: Moji, Korean: 물길 [Mulgil], Japanese: もっきつ [Mokkitsu]), as well as to that of the medieval Merkits, who opposed the rise of the Mongols lead by Genghis Khan.

One of the tribes of the Mohe, the Heishui Mohe, eventually became the ancestors of the Jurchens, from whom the Manchu originated.

 

 

Goguryeo

Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province.

Along with Baekje and Silla, Goguryeo was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Goguryeo was an active participant in the power struggle for control of the Korean peninsula as well as associated with the foreign affairs of peer polities in China and Japan.

The Samguk Sagi, a 12th century AD Goryeo text, indicates that Goguryeo was founded in 37 BC by Jumong, a prince from Buyeo, although there is archaeological and textual evidence that suggests Goguryeo culture was in existence since the 2nd century BC around the fall of Gojoseon, an earlier kingdom that also occupied southern Manchuria and northern Korea.

Goguryeo was a major regional power in Northeast Asia until it was defeated by a Silla-Tang alliance in 668 AD. After its defeat, its territory was divided among the Tang Dynasty, Unified Silla and Balhae.

The English word "Korea" derives from "Goryeo", which comes from "Goguryeo".

Legacy: Remains of walled towns, fortresses, palaces, tombs, and artifacts have been found in North Korea and Manchuria, including ancient paintings in a Goguryeo tomb complex in Pyongyang. Some ruins are also still visible in present-day China, for example at Wǔ Nǚ Shān, suspected to be the site of Jolbon fortress, near Huanren in Liaoning province on the present border with North Korea. Ji'an is also home to a large collection of Goguryeo era tombs, including what Chinese scholars consider to be the tombs of kings Gwanggaeto and his son Jangsu, as well as perhaps the best-known Goguryeo artifact, the Gwanggaeto Stele, which is one of the primary sources for pre-fifth century Goguryeo history.

World Heritage Site: UNESCO added Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom in present-day China and Complex of Goguryeo Tombs in present-day North Korea to the World Heritage Sites in 2004.

Modern Politics: Goguryeo has been conventionally viewed as one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and given its role as an external and outside influence on China (having acted only as a competitor state to Chinese dynasties, never actually ruled the whole of China, or established a Chinese dynasty such as the Ming, Qing, or Tang), this is an appropriate perspective. The Chinese government's attempted characterization of Goguryeo as a possible regional Chinese power in recent times has spawned heated disputes with both North Korea and South Korea, as well as most scholars of history, including Chinese scholars, who regard Goguryeo as an independent Korean state. At heart of the Goguryeo controversy is whether Goguryeo was a part of the greater Chinese nation, or an independent Korean kingdom.

The Chinese historians' attempted revision of Goguryeo history, in an attempt to recharacterize it as a Chinese provincial state rather than an independent Korean kingdom, has received international criticism for making a flawed and politically motivated rewriting of history, including from prominent Goguryeo experts such as Mark Byington. Some Chinese historians, particularly revisionists working for the Chinese government, have been accused of conceiving of ancient China in terms of the territorial bounds of the modern Chinese state, which, he claimed, is a view unsupported by historical evidence.

* Goguryeo Controversies

 

 

Balhae

Balhae (698 - 926) was an ancient multiethnic empire established after the fall of Goguryeo. After Goguryeo's capital and southern territories fell to Unified Silla, Dae Jo-young, a former Goguryeo general, whose father was Dae Jung-sang, established Jin (振), later called Balhae. It was a successor state to Goguryeo.

Balhae occupied southern parts of Manchuria (Northeast China) and Primorsky Krai, and the northern part of the Korean peninsula. It was defeated by the Khitans in 926, and most of its northern territories were absorbed into the Liao Dynasty while the southern parts were absorbed into Goryeo.

Founding: The earliest extant recorded mention of Balhae come from the Book of Tang, which was compiled between 941 to 945. Southern Manchuria and northern Korea were previously the territory of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Goguryeo fell to the allied forces of Silla and the Tang Dynasty in 668. The Tang annexed much of western Manchuria, while Silla unified the Korean peninsula south of the Taedong River and became Unified Silla. In the "New Book of Tang", it was recorded that the founder of Balhae, Dae Joyeong (大祚榮) was a former Goguryeo general.

Expansion and Foreign Relations: The second empire Mu (r. 719-737), who felt encircled by Tang, Silla and Black Water Malgal along the Amur River, attacked Tang with his navy in 732 and successfully attacked and killed a Tang prefect based on the Shandong Peninsula. Later, a compromise was forged between Tang and Balhae, which resumed tributary missions to Tang. He also sent a mission to Japan in 728 to threaten Silla from the southeast. Balhae kept diplomatic and commercial contacts with Japan until the end of the empire. Balhae dispatched envoys to Japan 34 times, while Japan sent envoys to Balhae only 13 times. Because of its proximity to many powerful states, Balhae became a buffer zone for the region.

The third emperor Mun (r. 737-793) expanded its territory into the Amur valley in the north and the Liaodong Peninsula in the west. During his reign, a trade route with Silla, called Sillado, was established. emperor Mun moved the capital of Balhae several times. He also established Sanggyeong, the permanent capital near Lake Jingpo in the south of today's Heilongjiang province around 755. stabilizing and strengthening central rule over various ethnic tribes in his realm, which was expanded temporarily. He also authorized the creation of the Jujagam (胄子監), the national academy, based on the national academy of Tang. Although China recognized him as a emperor, Balhae itself referred to him as the son of heaven and an emperor.

The tenth emperor Seon reign (r. 818-830), Balhae controlled northern Korea, Northeastern Manchuria and now Primorsky Krai of Russia. emperor Seon led campaigns that resulted in the absorbing of many northern Malgal tribes and southwest Lesser Goguryeo empire, which was located in the Liaodong Peninsula, was absorbed into Balhae. Its strength was such that Silla was forced to build a northern wall in 721 as well as maintain active defences along the common border.

Fall and Legacy: Traditionally, historians believed that the ethnic conflicts between the ruling Koreans and underclass Malgal weakened the state. Recent study suggests that the downfall of Balhae is largely due to the catastrophic eruption in the 10th century of Baekdu Mountain located at the center of Balhae territory. Baekdu mountain still has one of the biggest volcanic caldera in the world Heaven Lake. Ashes of this eruption can still be found in a large area, even in a sedimentary layer in northern Japan. This massive explosion century created tremendous volcanic ash, damaging the agriculture and even societal integrity. The Khitans took advantage of this natural disaster.

Eventually, Balhae would succumb to the Khitans, an emerging power in the Liaoxi area (east of current Beijing area). After destroying Balhae in 926, the Khitan established the puppet Dongdan Kingdom, which was soon followed by the annexation by Liao in 936. Some Balhae aristocrats were moved to Liaoyang but Balhae's eastern territory remained politically independent. Some Balhae people including aristocrats (est. 1 million), led by the last Crown Prince Dae Gwang-hyeon, fled southward to Goryeo, the new self-proclaimed successor of Goguryeo (934). Many descendants of the Balhae royal family in Goryeo, changed their family name to Tae (태, 太) while Crown Prince Dae Gwang-hyeon was conferred family name Wang (왕, 王), the royal family name of Goryeo dynasty. Balhae was the last state in Korean history to hold any significant territory in Manchuria, although later Korean dynasties would continue to regard themselves as successors of Goguryeo and Balhae. Moreover that was the beginning of series of northern expansion of later Korean dynasties.

The Khitans themselves eventually succumbed to the Jurchen people, who founded the Jin Dynasty. The Jin dynasty favored the Balhae people as well as the Khitans. Jurchen proclamations emphasized the common descent of the Balhae and Jurchen people from the seven Wuji (勿吉) tribes, and proclaimed "Jurchen and Balhae are from the same family". The fourth, fifth and seventh emperors of Jin were mothered by Balhae consorts. The 13th century census of Northern China by the Mongols distinguished Balhae from other ethnic groups such as Goryeo, Khitan and Jurchen. This suggests that the Balhae people still preserved their identity even after the conquest of the empire.

Aftermath: After the fall of Balhae and its last emperor in 926, it was renamed Dongdan by its new Khitan masters, who had control over most of Balhae's old territories. However, starting from 927, many rebellions were triggered throughout the domains. These rebellions were eventually turned into several Balhae revivals. Out of these, only three succeeded and established kingdoms: Later Balhae, Jeong-an kingdom, Heung-yo kingdom and Daewon kingdom. These three kingdoms were able to temporarily chase the Khitan and their Dongdan Kingdom out into the Liaodong peninsula, but they were all eventually decimated by the Liao Empire.

In 934, Dae Gwang-hyeon, the last Crown Prince of Balhae, revolted against their Khitan masters. After being defeated, he fled to Goryeo, where he was granted protection and the imperial surname. This resulted in the Liao breaking off diplomatic relations with Goryeo, but there was no threat to invade.

Government and Culture: Balhae was made up of former Goguryeo remnants and of several Tungusic peoples present in Manchuria, of which the native Malgal made up the largest. The Malgal constituted as subject people, some forced into slave status into serving the Goguryeo ruling class. As such, they made the bulk of the labor class. Nevertheless, there were instances of Malgal moving upward into the Balhae elite, however few. Such as the followers of Geolsa Biu, who supported the estalblishment of Balhae. They were limited to the title of "suryong", or "chief", and played a part in the ruling elite. Although rare, some members of Balhae embassies held Malgal surnames.

It is noted that Balhae was a culturally advanced society, as an official from China described it as the "flourishing land of the East." The government operated three chancelleries and six ministries. It is obvious that Balhae's structure was modeled after the Chinese system, however it did not entirely conform to that of the Tang. The "taenaesang" or the "great minister of the court" was superior to the other two chancelleries (the left and the right) and its system of five capitals originates from Goguryeo's administrative structure. Balhae, like Silla, sent many students to Tang to study, and many went on to take and pass the Chinese civil service examinations. As consequence, the Balhae capital of Sanggyong was organized in the way of Tang's capital of Chang-an. Residential sectors were laid out on either side of the palace surrounded by a rectangular wall.

The principal roots of Balhae culture was that of Goguryeo origins. An Ondol installation was uncovered in the inner citidel of the Balhae palace and many others adjacent to it. Furthermore, Buddhist statuaries and motifs were found in Balhae temples that reflect that of distinctive Goguryeo art. An important source of cultural information on Balhae was discovered at the end of the 20th century at the Ancient Tombs at Longtou Mountain, especially the Mausoleum of Princess Jeong-Hyo.

Characterization and Political Interpretation: Controversy rests over the ethnic makeup of the people of Balhae. That Balhae was founded by a former general from Goguryeo is undisputed, but there is some dispute over his ethnicity, due to ambiguous wording in historical sources. No written records from Balhae itself survive.

Koreans have regarded Balhae as a Korean state, particularly from the Joseon Dynasty onwards. The 18th century, during the Joseon Dynasty, was a period in which Korean scholars began a renewed interest in Balhae. The Qing and Joseon dynasties had negotiated and demarcated the Sino-Korean border along the Yalu and Tumen rivers in 1712, and Jang Ji-yeon (1762–1836), journalist, writer of nationalist tracts, and organizer of nationalist societies, published numerous articles arguing that had the Joseon officials considered Balhae part of their territory, they would not be as eager to "give up" lands north of the rivers. Yu Deuk-gong in his eighteenth-century work Balhaego (An investigation of Balhae) argued that Balhae should be included as part of Korean history, and that doing so would justify territorial claims on Manchuria. Korean historian Sin Chae-ho, writing about Jiandao in the early twentieth century, bemoaned that for centuries, Korean people in their “hearts and eyes considered only the land south of the Yalu River as their home” and that “half of our ancestor Dangun ancient lands have been lost for over nine hundred years.” Sin also criticized Kim Busik, author of the Samguk Sagi, for excluding Balhae from his historical work and claiming that Silla had achieved unification of Korea.

In modern North and South Korea, Balhae is regarded as a Korean state and is positioned in the "North South States Period" (with Silla) today, although such a view has had proponents in the past. They emphasize its connection with Goguryeo and minimize that with the Mohe. While South Korean historians think the ethnicity ruling class was of Goguryeo and the commoners were mixed, including Mohe, North Korean historians think Balhae ethnography was mostly Goguryeo. Koreans believe the founder Dae Joyeong was of Goguryeo stock. The Book of Tang says that Dae Joyeong was a "Goguryeo variant" (고려별종, 高麗別種), and the New Book of Tang states that he is "from the Sumo Mohe region of the former realm of Goguryeo."

In the West, Balhae is generally characterized as a successor to Goguryeo that traded with China and Japan, and its name is romanized from Korean. It is seen as composed of peoples of northern Manchuria and northern Korea, with its founder and the ruling class consisting largely of the former aristocrats of Goguryo. Korean scholars believe Balhae founder Dae Joyeong was of Goguryeo ethnicity, while others believe he was an ethnic Mohe from Goguryeo

South Korean archeologist Song Ki-ho, who is a noted professor of Seoul National University and has published several papers criticizing the Chinese government, made several visits to China in the 1990s, 2000, 2003, and 2004, examined several historical sites and museums. However, he found himself restricted by limitations on note-taking and photography and even ejected from several sites by museum employees.

North Korea has restricted independent archaeologists from its historical sites, many of which may be Balhae-related, since at least the early 1960s. Foreign scholars have criticized political bias in North Korean historiography, and have accused North Korean scholars of reconstructing or even fabricating historical sites.

Scholars from South and North Korea, Russia and Japan assert that Balhae was independent in its relations with the Tang Dynasty. Most Russian archaeologists and scholars describe Balhae as a kingdom of displaced Goguryo people. They do admit that Balhae had a strong Chinese and Central Asian influence.

In relations with Japan, Balhae referred to itself as Goguryeo, and Japan welcomed this as a kind of restoration of its former friendly relationship with Goguryeo.

 

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Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture

Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture (Chinese: 延邊朝鮮族自治州; Korean: 연변 조선족 자치주) is an autonomous prefecture in Jilin province, in the northeastern part of China. Yanbian is south of Heilongjiang, east of Jilin's Baishan City, north of North Korea's North Hamgyong Province, and west of Russia. Yanbian is designated as an autonomous prefecture due to the large number of ethnic Koreans living in the region. The prefectural capital is Yanji, and the area is 42,700 km².

The Prefecture has an important Balhae archaeological site: the Ancient Tombs at Longtou Mountain, which includes the Mausoleum of Princess Zhenxiao.

History: Yanbian was inhabited 26,000 years ago by the Antu (安圖人) (named after the county of the archaeological site). In 108 BC, Han China established Lelang(乐浪), Lintun(临屯), Xuantu(玄菟), and Zhenfan(真番) commanderies as its colonies. Yanbian was the territory of Han China. Between the 1st century and 7th century, Yanbian was the territory of the Goguryeo. Since approximately the 8th century A.D., Yanbian was a part of Balhae. In the Ming Dynasty, Yanbian was governed by the Jianzhou Guard-district (建州衛), and in the late Qing Dynasty the area was divided into the Yanji (延吉廳) and Hunchun (琿春廳) subprefectures.

In the 19th century, Korean immigrants migrated en masse from the Korean peninsula to China. After the foundation of the Republic of China, a second wave arrived. The population increase was caused by the Japanese invasion of that region. The Japanese were trying to use Korean immigration to diffuse the staying power of Chinese in that region. After the end of World War II, many Koreans did not go back to Korea, even though their country was liberated. Instead, they joined the Chinese Civil War and were mobilized by both Chinese communists and the Chinese Nationalists. When the civil war was over, the new Chinese government gave Koreans their own autonomous region (区) in 1952. Yanbian was upgraded to an ethnic autonomous prefecture in 1955.

In 1952, the Korean migrants composed some 60% of the local population, but by 2000 their share shrank to 32%. The Chinese authorities subsidize Korean language schools and publications, but also take measures to prevent an emergence of the Korean irredentism in the area. From the late 1990s the Koreans began to be assimilated into Chinese culture with increasing speed, often switching to daily use of Chinese and choosing to attend the Chinese language schools.

The name "Yanbian" was created in the 1920s, because it stretches (yan) on the boundary (bian) of three nations. It was also in the Yanji Border-affairs Public Bureau, where Yanji means Luck of the Stretch. During the Manchukuo period, it was called Kan-do (間島) Province by the Japanese. The same characters when used as hanja in Korean are pronounced and romanized as Gando (hangul: 간도), the name is still currently used by Koreans to refer to the entire larger region of Manchuria long inhabited by those of Korean ethnicity.

Culture: Both Chinese and Korean are used as official languages in Yanbian Ethnic Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Most ethnic Koreans in this area are bilingual. Like Koreans living in the Korean peninsula, ethnic Koreans in Yanbian use Western punctuation in writing.

The Museum of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture was planned in 1960, and constructed in 1982. It contains over 10,000 exhibits, including 11 first-level artifacts. The exhibits' labels and explanations are bilingual in Korean and Chinese, and tour guides are also available in both languages.

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Manchuria

Manchuria (滿洲) is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within China, or is divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast China (東北), and historically referred as Guandong (關東, which literally means "the east of Shanhai Pass.")

This region is the traditional homeland of the Xianbei, Khitan, and Jurchen people, who built several dynasties in northern China. The region is also the home of the Manchus, after whom Manchuria is named. Beginning in the 17th century, the Manchus ruled China until the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911.

The Manchu ethnicity have largely been assimilated with the Han Chinese. The Manchu language is almost extinct. In recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in Manchu culture among both ethnic Manchus and Han. The number of Chinese today with some Manchu ancestry is quite large, and the adoption of favorable policies towards ethnic minorities (such as preferential university admission and government employment opportunities) has encouraged some people with mixed-Han and Manchu ancestry to re-identify themselves as Manchu.

 

 

Manchukuo

Puyi, the emperor of Manchukuo

Manchukuo (満州国, lit. "State of Manchuria") was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia created by former Qing Dynasty officials with help from Imperial Japan in 1932. The state was founded and administered by Imperial Japan, with Puyi, the last Qing emperor, as the nominal regent and emperor

 

 

Tartary

"A new Map of Great Tartary and China..." by Edward Wells (1704)

Tartary or Great Tartary (Latin: Tataria or Tataria Magna) was a name used by Europeans from the Middle Ages until the twentieth century to designate a great tract of northern and central Asia stretching from the Caspian Sea and the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean inhabited by Turkic and Mongol peoples of the Mongol Empire who were generically referred to as "Tartars", i.e. Tatars. It incorporated the current areas of Siberia, Turkestan (including East Turkestan - Xinjiang), Greater Mongolia, Manchuria, and sometimes Tibet.

Geography and History: Tartary was often divided into sections with prefixes denoting the name of the ruling power or the geographical location. Thus, western Siberia was Muscovite or Russian Tartary, eastern Turkestan (later Chinese Xinjiang) and Mongolia were Chinese or Cathay Tartary, western Turkestan (later Russian Turkestan) was known as Independent Tartary, and Manchuria was East Tartary.

As the Russian Empire expanded eastward and more of Tartary became known to Europeans and East Asians, the term fell into disuse.

European areas north of the Black Sea inhabited by Turkic peoples were known as Little Tartary.

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Northeastern Chinese Cuisine

Northeastern Chinese cuisine (東北菜) is a style of Chinese cuisine in Northeastern China. Many dishes originated from Manchu cuisine. It relies heavily on preserved foods and hearty fare due to the harsh winters and relatively short growing seasons. Pickling, such as is a very common form of food preservation and pickled cabbage (suan cai; 酸菜) is traditionally made by most households in giant clay pickling vats. Unlike southern China, the staple corp in northern China is wheat and it supplies the majority of the starch found in a northern Chinese diet where it is found in the form of noodles and steamed bun. Popular dishes include pork and chive dumplings, suan cai hot pot, cumin & caraway lamb, congee, tealeaf stewed hardboiled eggs, nian doubao (sticky rice buns with sweet bean filling), congee with several types of pickles (mustard root is highly popular), and cornmeal congee. Perhaps the most important characteristic of Northeastern Chinese cuisine is its utilization of suan cai. Another distinct feature that separates Northeastern cuisine from other Chinese cuisines is to serve more raw vegetables and raw seafood in the coastal areas.

Due to its riverine environment, the Heilongjiang style of the Northeastern cuisine is famed for its fish banquet, specializing in anadromous fish such as the trout banquet and the sturgeon banquet, and similarly, due to its mountainous environment, the Jilin style of the Northeastern cuisine is famed for its dishes that utilize game animals. Although by law, only farm raised animals are allowed for culinary use and such use of wild animals is strictly forbidden, this practice is still being criticized because critics argue that such use of farmed animals, despite the fact that they are farm raised, would encourage the consumption of wild animals.

Liaoning cuisine is a new rising star among Chinese cuisines and has become increasing popular recently. Furthermore, Liaoning cuisine chefs have continuously won awards in recent culinary arts competitions in China.

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Ginseng

Ginseng (人蔘), also known as Ginnsuu in some regions of Asia, mainly China, is any one of eleven distinct species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the Panax genus in the family Araliaceae. It grows in the Northern Hemisphere in eastern Asia (mostly northern China, Korea, and eastern Siberia), typically in cooler climates; Panax vietnamensis, discovered in Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng found.

Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) is not a true ginseng, but a different plant that was renamed as "Siberian ginseng" as a marketing ploy; instead of a fleshy root, it has a woody root; instead of ginsenosides, eleutherosides are the active compound. Eleutherosides are classified as another adaptogen.

Traditional Uses: Both American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) roots are taken orally as adaptogens, aphrodisiacs, nourishing stimulants, and in the treatment of type II diabetes, as well as Sexual dysfunction in men. The root is most often available in dried form, either whole or sliced. Ginseng leaf, although not as highly prized, is sometimes also used; as with the root it is most often available in dried form.

This ingredient may also be found in some popular energy drinks: usually the "tea" varieties or functional foods. Usually ginseng is present in subclinical doses and it does not have measurable medicinal effects. It can be found in cosmetic preparations as well, with similar lack of effect.

Panax ginseng Asian Ginseng (root): According to Traditional Chinese Medicine Panax Ginseng promotes Yang energy, improves circulation, increases blood supply, revitalizes and aids recovery from weakness after illness, and stimulates the body. Panax Ginseng is available in four forms: fresh ginseng, white ginseng, red ginseng, and sun ginseng .

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Liu Xiaobo

Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波; born 28 December 1955) is a Chinese intellectual, anti-communist, and human rights activist who is widely regarded as a political prisoner in China.

He has served as President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center since 2003. On 8 December 2008, Liu was detained in response to his participation with Charter 08. He was formally arrested on 23 June 2009, on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power." He was tried on the same charges on 23 December 2009, and sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009.

During his 4th prison term from 2009 to 2020, he won the Nobel Peace Prize on 8 October 2010, for "his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China."

Early Life and Education: Liu was born in Changchun, Jilin, in 1955 to an intellectual family. From 1969 to 1973, he was taken by his father to the Horqin Right Front Banner of Inner Mongolia during the Down to the Countryside Movement. At the age of 19, it was once again arranged for him to work in a village in Jilin province and later at a construction company.

In 1976, he studied at Jilin University and obtained a B.A. degree in literature in 1982 and an M.A. degree in 1984 from Beijing Normal University.

After graduation, Liu joined the faculty at Beijing Normal University, where he also received a Ph.D. degree in 1988.

In the 1980s, his most important essays, Critique on Choices - Dialogue with Le Zehou and Aesthetics and Human Freedom' earned him fame in the academic field. The essay criticised a prominent Chinese thinker Li Zehou's philosophy.

Between 1988–1989, he was a visiting scholar at several universities outside of China, including Columbia University, the University of Oslo and the University of Hawaii.

During the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests he was in the United States but decided to go back to China to join the movement. He was later named as one of the "Four Junzis of Tiananman Square" by many Hong Kong- and Taiwan-based Chinese media.

Human Rights Activities: Liu Xiaobo is a human rights activist who has called on the Chinese government to be accountable for its actions. He has been detained, arrested and sentenced repeatedly for his peaceful political activities, beginning with his participation in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and on four other occasions since.

In January 1991, Liu Xiaobo was convicted on charges of "counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement," but he was exempt from criminal punishment. In October 1996, he was ordered to serve three years of re-education through labor on charges of "disturbing public order" for criticizing the Communist Party of China. In 2007, Liu was briefly detained and questioned about articles he wrote which were published online on websites hosted outside Mainland China.

Liu's human rights work has received international recognition. In 2004, Reporters Without Borders honored Liu's human rights work, awarding him the Fondation de France Prize as a defender of press freedom.

Charter 08, Arrest and Trial: Liu Xiaobo actively participated in the writing of Charter 08. Then, along with more than three hundred Chinese citizens, he signed Charter 08, a manifesto released on the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 2008), written in the style of the Czechoslovak Charter 77 calling for greater freedom of expression, human rights, and for free elections. As of May 2009, the Charter has collected over 8,600 signatures from Chinese of various walks of life.

Late in the evening of 8 December 2008, two days before the official release of the Charter, Liu Xiaobo was taken away from his home by police. Another scholar and Charter 08 signatory, Zhang Zuhua, was also taken away by police at that time. According to Zhang, the two were detained on suspicion of gathering signatures to the Charter. While Liu was detained, in solitary confinement, he was not allowed to meet with his lawyer or family, though he was allowed to eat lunch with his wife, Liu Xia, and two policemen on New Year's Day 2009. On 23 June 2009, the Beijing procuratorate approved Liu Xiaobo's arrest on charges of "suspicion of inciting subversion of state power," a crime under article 105 of China's Criminal Law. In a Xinhua news release announcing Liu's arrest, the Beijing Public Security Bureau alleged that Liu had incited the subversion of state power and the overturn of the socialist system through methods such as spreading rumors and slander, citing almost verbatim Article 105; the Beijing PSB also noted that Liu had "fully confessed."

On 1 December 2009, Beijing police transferred Liu's case to the procuratorate for investigation and processing; on 10 December, the procuratorate formally indicted Liu on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" and sent his lawyers, Shang Baojun and Ding Xikui, the indictment document. He was tried at Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court on 23 December 2009. His wife was not permitted to observe the hearing, although his brother-in-law was present. Diplomats from more than a dozen states – including the U.S., Britain, Canada, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand – were denied access to the court to watch the trial and stood outside the court for its duration. Amongst these included Gregory May, political officer at the U.S. Embassy, and Nicholas Weeks, first secretary of the Swedish Embassy. On 25 December, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court on charges of "inciting subversion of state power." According to Liu's family and counsel, he plans to appeal the judgment. In the verdict, Charter 08 was named as part of the evidence supporting his conviction.

In an article published in the South China Morning Post, Liu argued that his verdict violated China's constitution, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. He argued that charges against him of 'spreading rumours, slandering and in other ways inciting the subversion of the government and overturning the socialist system' were contrived, as he did not fabricate or create false information, nor did he besmirch the good name and character of others by merely expressing a point of view, a value judgment.

Nobel Peace Prize: On 7 October 2010, Norwegian TV networks reported that Liu Xiaobo was a candidate for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. On 8 October 2010 the Nobel Committee awarded him the Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China" making him the first Chinese citizen to win a Nobel Peace prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee president Thorbjørn Jagland said the choice of Liu as the recipient of the prize had become clear early on in the process. The Chinese foreign ministry had previously warned the Nobel committee not to give Liu the prize, as they said that it would be against Nobel principles.

Charter 08: Charter 08 Signatories, Liu Xiaobo, Dai Qing, Bao Tong, Woeser, Ding Zilin, Liu Junning by Books LLC

 

 

 

Liu Xiaobo by Frederic P. Miller (Editor), Agnes F. Vandome (Editor), John McBrewster (Editor)

 

 

 

 

Charter 08

 

Nobel Peace Prize

 

"China's political reform [...] should be gradual, peaceful, orderly and controllable and should be interactive, from above to below and from below to above. This way causes the least cost and leads to the most effective result. I know the basic principles of political change, that orderly and controllable social change is better than one which is chaotic and out of control. The order of a bad government is better than the chaos of anarchy. So I oppose systems of government that are dictatorships or monopolies. This is not 'inciting subversion of state power'. Opposition is not equivalent to subversion."

– Liu Xiaobo, Guilty of 'crime of speaking', 9 February 2010

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胡志強

胡志強（英文名：Jason Hu，1948年月15日－），中華民國政治人物，吉林省永吉縣人，生於北平市（北京市），英國牛津大學國際關係博士，現任台中市市長。

1991年任新聞局局長。1993年，獲頒十大傑出華人獎。1996年台海飛彈危機時擔任駐美代表。同年於台中市代表國民黨參選國大代表，當選。1997年蕭萬長組閣時，由於副總統連戰及蕭萬長不贊同總統府授意出任外交部長的人選駐英代表簡又新，胡被任命為外交部長至1999年，後經歷了「兩國論」風波。同年獲頒英國南安普頓大學榮譽博士。

2001年代表中國國民黨參選台中市市長，擊敗當時脫離民進黨參選的市長張溫鷹而當選。2002年8月下旬，為古根漢美術館台中建館案赴美國訪問期間中風，康復後其臉部在言語時及左半邊肢體（左癱）皆留下中風後的痕跡。2005年尋求連任臺中市長選舉時，遭民進黨籍的對手林佳龍陣營質疑胡的身體狀況不適任市長，並由高大成等醫師公佈其病歷，引發洩漏病歷爭議，最後依然競選連任成功。

2006年11月18日，胡志強偕同夫人邵曉鈴到高雄為高雄市長國民黨候選人黃俊英輔選，搭車回台中市途中，於國道三號台南縣烏山頭路段遭小客車違規行駛路肩不慎彈撞車禍，市長夫人邵曉鈴身受重傷，左臂截肢，引發全國關切。

2010年8月代表中國國民黨與民進黨籍候選人蘇嘉全角逐首任台中市直轄市市長，在五都選舉中以三萬餘票險勝，繼續連任臺中市長；同時也是中華民國地方自治史上首位連任三屆的民選地方首長。

 

 

兩國論

特殊兩國論，或稱兩國論，指台灣時間1999年7月9日下午，當時中華民國總統李登輝接受德國之聲錄影專訪時，對於台灣與中國大陸之關係的一個詮釋。即：1991年以後修憲之後，以將國家領土範圍限定於台、澎、金、馬，正副總統與國會議員也僅為台灣地區選出，並也承認中華人民共和國的合法性。台灣和中國大陸的關係早就已經是「國家與國家」，或「至少是特殊的國(state)與國(state)的關係」，而非「一合法政府、一叛亂政府」，或「一中央政府、一地方政府」的「一個中國」內部關係。

「兩國論」的產生: 從1949年開始，台灣與中國大陸處於敵對隔絕狀態。1987年，當時中華民國總統蔣經國因人道考慮，開放臺灣民眾赴中國大陸探親，兩岸重開接觸。1990年，李登輝當選中華民國總統後，連續成立國家統一委員會（國統會）、行政院大陸委員會（陸委會）與海峽交流基金會（海基會），兩岸互動益形密切，但關係的定位一直未有明確定位。1993年4月，海基會與海峽兩岸關係協會（海協會）舉行第一次辜汪會談。但1996年李登輝訪問美國後，中國大陸對「一個中國」的定義不斷緊縮，兩岸關係陷入低潮，且引發台灣海峽飛彈危機。

1997年7月1日，中國大陸收回香港，一國兩制對臺灣的壓力益增，美國又不斷有人主張兩岸應成立中程協議，故李登輝指示成立「強化中華民國主權國家地位專案小組」研究對策。1999年5月間，該小組研議以「特殊的國與國關係」為兩國關係定位。

台灣時間1999年7月9日下午，德國之聲總裁Dieter Weirich、德國之聲亞洲部主任Gunter Knabe與德國之聲記者Simone de Manso由行政院新聞局局長程建人陪同，到總統府錄影專訪李登輝。他們問道，在並非實際可行的「宣佈台灣獨立」與不被大多數台灣人民接受的「一國兩制」之間，是否有折衷的方案？李登輝答：「中華民國從1912年建立以來，一直都是主權獨立的國家，又在1991年的修憲後，兩岸關係定位在特殊的國與國關係，所以並沒有再宣佈台灣獨立的必要。」德國時間1999年7月25日21時整，德國之聲的英語衛星頻道向全世界播放專訪內容，而文字內容則刊登在德國的《周日世界報》。

台灣民間的一般反應: 在台灣方面，兩國論一出，民進黨與國民黨部分人士基於各自的立場對此政策作了肯定性的詮釋。民進黨強烈支持「兩國論」，部分獨派更讚揚李登輝不只為「民主之父」，更是「台灣國父」。中國國民黨內部意見則分歧嚴重，但多半支持「兩國論」，例如後來成為中國國民黨主席的連戰，即曾表示：「我們提出『特殊國與國關係論』的主張是基於維護國家尊嚴、保障人民權益的考量。也是表達台灣兩千三百萬人民的心聲。這是攸關國家發展大是大非的課題。…因此李總統提出『特殊國與國關係論』的明確主張，就是要突破兩岸間現存不合理的框架。」。而在新黨方面，雖然他們在7月23日舉行一場反對「兩國論」的大遊行，但其主題卻是「和平反戰」，也就是「向中共武力說不」。也就是說，如果北京因為兩國論而對台灣採取武力恫嚇或動武的話，台灣所有政黨都會齊聲反對(童振源 1999)。

2000年中華民國總統大選，國民黨失利，李登輝下台，連戰當選國民黨主席後，國民黨徹底拋棄了李登輝的兩國論，重新回到一個中國立場。

至於坊間的反應，在李登輝的該段訪問見報以後，新黨立法院黨團召集人鄭龍水委託民意調查基金會所作的民意調查顯示，55.2%的受訪者贊成李登輝提出兩岸關係是「特殊國與國關係」，反對的人則有23.4%(韓德強 2002，2)。此外，環球電視與《新新聞》也公布了一份有關「特殊國與國關係」的民意調查，結果顯示有43%的受訪民眾支持兩國論，只有10%的民眾不贊成(施鈺文 1999)。向來頗強調其菁英品味的《商業周刊》，也對台灣587位企業經理人做了一份問卷調查，結果同意兩國論者為78.4％，不同意為15.3％，無意見為6.3％(楊開煌 1999)。就此而論，台灣民意基本上覺得李登輝只是點出了兩岸關係長久以來存在的一個「事實」，並不認為這是一個政策上重大的轉折。

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