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Inner Mongolia

 

The Gobi (戈壁沙漠) is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia.

The Gobi is most notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire, and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road.

 

 

Tourism

In the capital city Hohhot:

Elsewhere in Inner Mongolia:

 

 

Wang Zhaojun

 

The Zhaojun Tomb (昭君墓), located by the Da Hi River nine kilometers south of Hohhot, is said to be the resting place of Wang Zhaojun (王昭君), a commoner woman from the Chinese Han Empire who married a Xiongnu Chanyu. The cemetery is 13,000 m², with a 33 metre mound containing Zhaojun's coffin, making it a landmark of the region.

 

INNER MONGOLIA

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

Inner Mongolia (内蒙古) is the Mongol autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the country's north.

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 is the third-largest subdivision of China spanning almost 300 million acres or 12% of China's land area. It has a population of about 24 million as of 2004. The capital is Hohhot.

The majority of the population in the region are Han Chinese, with a substantial Mongol minority. The official languages are Standard Mandarin and Mongolian, the latter written in the classical alphabet.

 

Name

In Chinese, the region is known as "Inner Mongolia", where the terms of "Inner/Outer" are derived from Manchu dorgi/tulergi. 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 now the independent state of Mongolia plus the Republic of Tuva in Russia. In Mongolian, the region is known as öbör mongγol where öbör can mean south, inner, front, bosom, breast. This is probably related to traditional Mongolian and Manchu world view where south is regarded as front, right as west, left as east and north as back. Some Mongolians use the name "Southern Mongolia" in English as well.

 

Economy

Farming of crops such as wheat takes precedence along the river valleys. In the more arid grasslands, herding of goats, sheep and so on is a traditional method of subsistence. Forestry and hunting are somewhat important in the Greater Khingan ranges in the east. Reindeer herding is carried out by Evenks in the Evenk Autonomous Banner. More recently, growing grapes and winemaking have become an economic factor in the Wuhai area.

Inner Mongolia has abundance of resources especially coal, cashmere, natural gas, rare earth elements, and has more deposits of naturally occurring niobium, zirconium and beryllium than any other province-level region in China. However in the past, the exploitation and utilisation of resources were rather inefficient, which resulted in poor returns from rich resources.

Industry in Inner Mongolia has grown up mainly around coal, power generation, forestry-related industries, and so forth. Inner Mongolia now laid emphasis on six competitive industries, namely energy, chemicals, metallurgy, equipment manufacturing, processing of farm (including dairy) produce as well as hi-tech products.

As with much of China, economic growth has led to a boom in construction, including new commercial development and large apartment complexes.

As the winds in the grasslands are very strong, some private companies have set up wind parks in parts of Inner Mongolia such as Bailingmiao, Hutengliang and zhouzi.

 

Culture

The Han Chinese of Inner Mongolia speak a variety of dialects, depending on the region. The eastern parts tend to speak Northeastern Mandarin, which belong to the Mandarin group of dialects; those in the central parts, such as the Huang He valley, speak varieties of Jin, another subdivision of Chinese, due to its proximity to other Jin-speaking areas in China such as the Shanxi province. Cities such as Hohhot and Baotou both have their unique brand of Jin Chinese which are sometimes incomprehensible with dialects spoken in northeastern regions such as Hailar.

Mongols in Inner Mongolia speak a variety of dialects of the Mongolian language, including Chahar, Bairin, Ordos, Ejin-Alxa, Barghu-Buryat, etc.; the standard pronunciation of Mongolian in China is based on the Chahar dialect of the Plain Blue Banner, located in central Inner Mongolia. This is different from independent Mongolia, where the standard pronunciation is based on the Khalkha dialect. The Daur, Evenks, and Oroqin speak their own respective languages.

Many ethnic Mongols, especially those from the newest generation, speak fluent Chinese, as Mongolian is beginning to recede in everyday use in urban areas. Ethnic Mongols in rural areas, however, have kept their traditions. In terms of written language, Inner Mongolia has retained the classic Mongol written script as opposed to Outer Mongolia's adoption of the Cyrillic alphabet.

The vast grasslands have always been symbolic of Inner Mongolia. Mongolian art often depicts the grassland in an uplifting fashion, emphasizing on the nomadic traditions of the Mongol people. The Mongols of Inner Mongolia practice many traditional forms of art. Inner Mongolian specialty cuisine, largely derived from the tradition of ethnic Mongols, consists of dairy-related products and hand-held lamb (手扒肉). In recent years franchises based on Hot pot had sprung up from Inner Mongolia, the most famous of which is Xiaofeiyang (小肥羊). Inner Mongolia is also known commercially for the brand names Mengniu and Yili, both of which began with the production of dairy products and ice cream.

A popular career in Inner Mongolia is circus acrobatics. The famous Inner Mongolia Acrobatic Troupe travels and performs with the renowned Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

 

Demography

Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group, constituting about 80% of the population. While the Hetao region (河套) along the Yellow River has always alternated between farmers from the south and nomads from the north, the most recent episode of Han Chinese migration began in the early 18th century with encouragement from the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and continued into the 20th century. Han Chinese live mostly in the Hetao region as well as various population centres in central and eastern Inner Mongolia.

Mongols are the second largest ethnic group, comprising about 17% of the population. They include many diverse Mongolian-speaking groups; groups such as the Buryats and the Oirats are also officially considered to be Mongols in China. Many of the traditionally nomadic Mongols have settled in permanent homes as their pastoral economy was collectivized during the Maoist Era.

Other ethnic groups include the Daur, the Evenks, the Oroqin, the Hui, the Manchus, and the Koreans.

 

Ethnic Groups in Inner Mongolia, 2000 Census

Ethnicity	Population	Percentage
Han Chinese	18,465,586	79.17%
Mongol	3,995,349	17.13%
Manchu	499,911	2.14%
Hui	209,850	0.900%
Daur	77,188	0.331%
Evenks	26,201	0.112%
Koreans	21,859	0.094%
Russians	5,020	0.022%

 

 

North China

Northern China or North China (華北; literally "China's north") is a geographical region of China. The heartland of North China is the North China Plain.

It is defined by the Chinese government to include the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei and Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

 

 

Mongol

Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa, a Mongolian politician.

The name Mongol specifies one or several ethnic groups, now mainly located in Mongolia, China, and Russia.

A narrow definition includes the Mongols proper, which can be roughly divided into eastern and western Mongols. In a wider sense, the Mongol people includes all people who speak a Mongolic language, such as the Kalmyks of eastern Europe.

The name "Mongol", appeared first in 8th century records of the Chinese Tang dynasty as a tribe of Shiwei, but then only resurfaced in the 11th century during the rule of the Khitan. After the fall of Liao Dynasty in 1125, the Mongols became a leading steppe tribe. However, their wars with the Jin Dynasty and Tatars weakened them severely. In the 13th century, it grew into an umbrella term for a large group of Mongolic and Turkic tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan under a same identity (mostly cultural).

Based on Chinese historical texts the ancestry of the Mongol peoples can be traced back to the Donghu, a nomadic confederation occupying eastern Mongolia and Manchuria, who were defeated by Modu Shanyu of the Xiongnu after he became Emperor in 209 B.C. The identity of the Xiongnu is still debated today. Although some scholars maintain that they were proto-Mongols, the fact that Chinese histories trace certain Turkic tribes from the Xiongnu complicates the issue. The Donghu, however, can be much more easily labeled proto-Mongol since the Chinese histories exclusively trace all the subsequent Mongolic tribes and kingdoms (mainly Xianbei peoples) from them, although some historical texts claim a mixed Xiongnu-Donghu ancestry for some tribes (e.g. in the case of the proto-Mongolic Khitan).

Three prominent proto-Mongol groups split from the Xianbei, as recorded by the Chinese histories: the Rouran (claimed by some to be the Avars), the Khitan and the Shiwei (a sub-tribe called the "Shiwei Menggu" is held to be the origin of the Genghisid Mongols). Their culture was basically nomadic, their religion Shamanism or Buddhism and their military strength formidable.

Geographically the Tuoba Xianbei ruled Inner Mongolia and northern China, the Rouran (Yujiulu Shelun was the first to use the title Khagan in 402) ruled Outer Mongolia, the Khitan were concentrated in Southern Manchuria north of Korea and the Shiwei were located to the north of the Khitan. These tribes and kingdoms were soon overshadowed by the rise of the Gok-Turks in 555, the Uyghurs in 745 and the Yenisei Kirghizs in 840. The Tuoba were eventually absorbed into China. The Rouran fled west from the Gok-Turks and either disappeared into obscurity or, as some say, invaded Europe as the Avars. The Khitan, who were practically independent after their separation from the proto-Mongol Kumo Xi in 388 A.D, continued as a minor power in Manchuria until one of them, Abaoji (872-926), established the Khitan Liao Dynasty (907-1125 A.D). The Khitan fled west after their defeat by the Tungusic Jurchens (later known as Manchus) and founded the Kara-Khitan or Western Liao dynasty (1125-1218 A.D) in eastern Kazakhstan. In 1218 Genghis Khan destroyed the Kara-Khitan Kingdom after which the Khitan passed into obscurity. The modern-day minority of Mongolic-speaking Daurs in China are their direct descendants based on DNA evidence.

The Shiwei included a tribe called the Shiwei Menggu. Bodonchir Munkhag (c. 970 A.D) the founder of the House of Borjigin and the ancestor of Genghis Khan is held to be descended from the Shiwei Menggu. The first historically recorded involvement of the Shiwei Mongols in foreign affairs is from the 1130s when there were reciprocally hostile relations between the successive khans of the Khamag Mongol confederation (Qaidu I, Khabul Khan and Ambaghai) and the emperors of the Jin dynasty, the details of which are mainly recorded in the Secret History of the Mongols.

With the expansion of the Mongol Empire, the Mongols settled almost all over Eurasia and carried on military campaigns from the Adriatic Sea to Java and from Japan to Palestine. Mongols simultaneously became Tsars of Russia, Padishahs of Persia, Emperors of China, Great Khans of Mongolia and one Mongol even became Sultan of Egypt (Al-Adil Kitbugha). With the breakup of the Empire, the dispersed Mongols quickly adopted the mostly Turkish cultures surrounding them and got assimilated, forming parts of Tatars (not confused with a tribe in ancient Mongolia), Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Yugurs and Moghuls; linguistic and cultural Persianization also began to be prominent in these territories. However, most of the Mongols returned to Mongolia, retaining their language and culture. After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty in 1368 the Mongols established their independent regime as Northern Yuan. However, the Oirads or Western Mongols began to challenge the Eastern Mongols under the Borjigin monarchs in the late 14th century.

Present-day Khalkha Mongols and Inner Mongolians are the most prominent of the remaining Eastern Mongols while the Kalmyks (formerly Oirats) in Europe are the main descendants of the Western Mongols. The Khalkha emerged during the reign of Dayan Khan (1464-1543) as one of the six tumens of the Eastern Mongols. They quickly became the dominant Mongol clan in Outer Mongolia.

Physical Characteristics: In terms of physical characteristics Mongolians exhibit a variety of features, with the typical Asian features being most noticeable. Contrary to preconceptions, flat noses are rather rare among Khalkha or Outer Mongolians. Instead, modestly long noses are far more common because of the colder weather, with the occasional aquiline nose appearing frequently as well. Height and leg length vary from very short to very tall. Hair is typically Asian: straight and coarse, with body hair minimal. Skin color is very light brown, but long exposure to the sun can make it a very dark brown. A certain number of Mongolians mostly on the western parts of the country can exhibit lighter features such as light to dark blond/brown hair, fairer skin, blue or green eyes, hairiness to varying degrees. Some have reddish-light brown hair and pink face particularly due to the cold weather. Epicanthic folds of the eyes exist on almost all Mongolians along with medium height, broader face, dark hair, high and pronounced cheekbones.

 

 

Map of Mongolia and Ethnic Mongols in China

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

 

 

Evenk

The Evenks or Evenki (obsolete: Tungus or Tunguz, autonym: Эвэнки, Evenki) are a nomadic Tungusic people of Northern Asia. In Russia, the Evenks (Russian: Эвенки, Evenki; pop. 35,527, 2002 Census), are recognized as one of the Indigenous peoples of the Russian North. In China, the Evenki (鄂温克族; pop. 30,505, as per 2000 Census) form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. There is also a small Evenki group of Manchu-Tungus origin in Mongolia, referred to as Khamnigan. Evenki people is related to Altaic people of Eurasia.

The Evenki or Ewenki traced back to the Shiwei people who inhabited the Greater Khingan Range in the 5-9th centuries, but such connection is merely conjectural. Ewenki language forms the northern branch of the Manchu-Tungusic language group and is closely related to Even and Negidal in Siberia. By 1600 the Ewenkis or Evenkis of the Lena and Yenisey valleys were successful reindeer herders. By contrast the Solons and the Khamnigans (Ewenkis of Transbaikalia) had picked up horse breeding and the Mongolian deel from the Mongols. The Solons (ancestors of the Evenkis in China) nomadized along the Amur River. They were closely related to the Daur people. To the west the Khamnigan were another horse breeding Evenkis in the Transbaikalia area. Also in the Amur valley a body of Siberian Evenki-speaking people called Orochen by the Manchus.

The Evenks have most likely been in the Baikal region of Southern Siberia (near the modern-day Mongolian border) since the Neolithic era; "The origin of the Evenks is the result of complex processes, different in time, involving the mixing of different ancient aboriginal tribes from the north of Siberia with tribes…related in language to the Turks and Mongols. The language of these tribes took precedence over the languages of the aboriginal population" (Vasilevich, 623). Elements of more modern Evenk culture, including conical tent dwellings, bone fish-lures, and birch-bark boats, were all present in sites that are believed to be Neolithic. From Lake Baikal, “they spread to the Amur and Okhotsk Sea…the Lena Basin…and the Yenisey Basin” (623).

中國的鄂溫克人主要分佈在內蒙古的呼倫貝爾市的鄂溫克族自治旗、陳巴爾虎旗、布特哈旗、阿榮旗、額爾古納市、莫力達瓦達斡爾族自治旗、鄂倫春自治旗及黑龍江省訥河市等地。人口約為3萬人（2000年)。

 

 

Daur

郭布羅·婉容：溥儀的皇后。

The Daur people (達斡爾族; the former name "Dahur" is considered derogatory) are an Mongolian sub-ethnic group. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized in the People's Republic of China. They numbered 132,394 according to the latest census (2000), and most of them live in the Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner (莫力達瓦達斡爾族自治旗) in Hulun Buir, Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China. There are also some near Tacheng in Xinjiang, where their ancestors were moved during the Qing Dynasty.

Language: Daur is a Mongolic language. There is no written standard, although a Pinyin-based orthography has been devised by the native Daur scholar Merden Enhebatu. The Daur language retains some Khitan substratal features, including a number of lexemes not found in other Mongolic languages. It is made up of three dialects: Bataxan, Hailar, Qiqihar.

History: Genetically, the Daurs are descendants of the Khitan, as recent DNA analyses have proven. In Qianlong Emperor's "钦定《辽金元三史语解》" he retranslate "大贺", a Khitan clan described in 《辽史》, as "达呼尔". That's the earliest theory claim Daurs are descendants of Khitans.

In the 1600s, some or all of the Daurs lived along the Shilka, upper Amur, and on the Zeya River. They thus gave their name to the region of Dauria, also called Transbaikal, now the area of Russia east of Lake Baikal.

When the Russian explorers and raiders arrived to the region in the early 1650 (notably, during Yerofei Khabarov's 1651 raid), they would often see the Daur farmers burn their smaller villages and taking refuge in larger towns. When told by the Russians to submit to the rule of the Czar and to pay yasak (tribute), the Daurs would often refuse, saying that they already pay tribute to the Shunzhi Emperor (whose name the Russians recorded from the Daurs as Shamshakan). The Cossacks would then attack, usually being able to take Daur towns with only small losses. For example, Khabarov reported that in 1651 he had only 4 of his Cossacks killed while storming the town of the Daur prince Guigudar (Гуйгударов городок) (other 45 Cossacks were wounded, but all were able to recover). Meanwhile the Cossacks reported killing 661 "Daurs big and small" at that town (of which, 427 during the storm itself), and taking 243 women and 118 children prisoners, as well as capturing 237 horse and 113 cattle. The captured Daur town of Yaxa became the Russian town Albazin.

Facing the Russian expansion in the Amur region, between 1654 and 1656, during the reign of Shunzhi Emperor, the Daurs were forced to move southward and settle on the banks of the Nonni River, from where they were constantly conscripted to serve in the banner system of the Qing emperors.

When the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931, the Daurs carried out an intense resistance against them.

 

 

Oroqen

Photo from Joshua Project

The Oroqen people (鄂倫春族; also spelt Orochen or Orochon) are an ethnic group in northern China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. According to the 2000 Census, 44.54% live in Inner Mongolia and 51.52% along the Heilongjiang River (Amur) in the province of Heilongjiang. The Oroqin Autonomous Banner is also located in Inner Mongolia.

The Oroqens are mainly hunters and it is customary of them to use animal fur and skins for clothing. Many of them have given up hunting and adhered to laws that aimed to protect wildlife in the People's Republic of China. The government is said to have provided modern dwellings for those who have left behind the traditional way of life.

Language: The Oroqen language is a Northern Tungusic language. Their language is very similar to the Evenki language and it is believed that speakers of these two languages can understand 70% of the other language. Their language is still unwritten; however, the majority of the Oroqen are capable of reading and writing Chinese and some can also speak the Daur language

History: The Oroqen ethnic group is one of the oldest ethnic groups in northeast China. Their name Oroqen, means "people using reindeer" (in Mongolian, it means "Guruchin"), it is a name they gave themselves. The ancestor of the Oroqens originally lived in the vast area south of the Outer Xing'an Mountains and north of Heilongjiang. They once formed part of the ancient people known as the Shiwei. In the 17th century, following the invasions by Russia, some Oroqens moved to the area near the Greater and Lesser Xing'an Mountains.

Shiwei (室韋) is one Ethnic groups in Chinese history, who once reside at the eastern part of Mongolia and Manchuria. It maintains close ties with Donghu. The Mongol people are believed to be originated from it.

Culture: The Oroqen are exogamous and only marriages among members of different clans are permitted. The traditional dwelling is called a sierranju (Chinese: xierenzhu) is covered in the summer with birch bark and in the winter with deer furs. These dwellings have conical forms and are made out of 20 to 30 pine sticks. The dwellings are usually about six meters of diameter and five meters of height. In the center a fire is placed that serves so much as of a kitchen and as of source of lighting. Birch bark is an important raw material in the traditional culture next to the furs. It served for the preparation of containers of all types, from the manufacture of children cradles to boats. With respect to the reindeer herding Evenki, Oroqen and Nanai, which all shared the use of birch bark, it can be said that these cultures are part of a "birch bark" culture.

 

 

Buryat

The Buryats or Buriyads, numbering approximately 436,000, are the largest ethnic minority group in Siberia and are mainly concentrated in their homeland, the Buryat Republic, a federal subject of Russia. They are the northernmost major Mongol group.

Buryats share many customs with their Mongolian cousins, including nomadic herding and erecting yurts for shelter. Today, the majority of Buryats live in and around Ulan Ude, the capital of the republic, although many live more traditionally in the countryside. Their language is called Buryat.

 

 

Oirat

Painting of Amursana in Khovd Aimag Museum, Khovd City

Oirat (Oirads, Oyirads, Oirots) is the common name of several pastoral nomadic tribes of Mongolian origin whose ancestral home is in the Dzungaria and Amdo regions of western China and also western Mongolia. Although the Oirats originated in the eastern parts of Central Asia, the most prominent group today is located in the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal subject of the Russian Federation, where they are called Kalmyks. The Kalmyks migrated from Dzungaria to the southeastern European part of the Russian Federation nearly 400 years ago.

 

 

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.

Northeast China (東北) is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. 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 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.

 

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* Genetic Relationships of Ethnic Minorities in Southwest China Revealed by Microsatellite Markers by Hongbin Lin, et al.

Principal Component Analysis with Normalized Allele Frequencies for the Full-loci Dataset

 

 

* A Y-chromosomal Comparison of the Madjars (Kazakhstan) and the Magyars (Hungary) by Bíró AZ, et al.

Unrooted Phylogenetic Tree of 38 Populations

 

 

* HLA-DPB1, -DRB1, and -DQB1 Polymorphism Defined in Ewenki Ethnic Minority of China Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region by X. Su, et al.

Abstract: In the present study, DNA typing for human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-DPB1, -DRB1, and -DQB1 was performed using polymerase chain reaction–sequence-based-typing (PCR-SBT) method on 94 randomly selected, healthy, unrelated individuals from the Ewenki ethnic population in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. A total of 64 alleles: 25 in DRB1, 19 in DQB1 and 20 in DPB1, were found. Among the 25 detected DRB1 alleles, DRB1*090102, DRB1*030101, DRB1*040101, DRB1*070101, and DRB1*120101/1206 were commonly observed, with frequencies of 16.0%, 13.3%, 10.1%, 7.4%, and 7.4%, respectively. The most predominant DQB1 allele was DQB1*030101/0309 with the frequency of 27.7%, followed by DQB1*0201/0202 (19.7%), DQB1*030302 (12.8%), DQB1*060101/060103 (6.4%), and DQB1*050201 (5.9%). Of the 20 detected DPB1 alleles, DPB1*020102 was the most frequent allele with the frequency of 25.5%. DPB1*0402 (21.3%), DPB1*0401 (20.2%), DPB1*0501 (10.6%) and DPB1*4101 (3.7%) were also very frequent alleles. The most frequent two-locus haplotypes observed in the Ewenki were: DRB1*030101-DQB1*0201/0202(10.7%), DRB1*090102-DQB1*03032(9.8%), DRB1*070101-DQB1*0201/0202 (5.5%), DRB1*070101-DQB1*030302 (5.2%) and DRB1*120101/1206-DQB1*030101/0309 (4.6%). The distribution of the HLA class II alleles and haplotypes frequencies as well as the dendrogram showed that the Ewenki population belongs to the northern group of Chinese.

 

 

* 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 GM Genetic Polymorphism in Taiwan Aborigines: New data revealing remarkable differentiation patterns
by Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, et al.

Multidimensional Scaling Analysis among 15 Populations from Taiwan and
China Based on the Frequencies of GM ± 23 Sub-haplotypes

Solid lines link populations that are undifferentiated at the 5% level according to an exact test of population differentiation. Dotted lines link populations that are undifferentiated at the 5% level according to a permutation test on pairwise Fst’s, but not to the exact test. Final stress = 0.041 (excellent). White circles: Sino-Tibetans; triangles: Austronesians from Taiwan; black circle: Extra-Formosan Austronesians.

 

 

* Genetic Polymorphisms at HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 Loci in Han Population of Xi’an City in China by Chunmei Shen, et al.

Dendrogram Constructed by the Neighbor-joining Method Showing the Relationship Between Han Population with Other 15 Populations Based on the Allele Arequencies of HLA-DRB1 Locus

 

 

* The Origin of Minnan & Hakka, the So-Called "Taiwanese" Inferred by HLA Study by M. Lin

 

 

 

* 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

 

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

 

 

* Y-Chromosome Evidence of Southern Origin of the East Asian–Specific Haplogroup O3-M122 by Hong Shi, et al.

Abstract: The prehistoric peopling of East Asia by modern humans remains controversial with respect to early population migrations. Here, we present a systematic sampling and genetic screening of an East Asian–specific Y-chromosome haplogroup (O3-M122) in 2,332 individuals from diverse East Asian populations. Our results indicate that the O3-M122 lineage is dominant in East Asian populations, with an average frequency of 44.3%. The microsatellite data show that the O3-M122 haplotypes in southern East Asia are more diverse than those in northern East Asia, suggesting a southern origin of the O3-M122 mutation. It was estimated that the early northward migration of the O3-M122 lineages in East Asia occurred ~25,000–30,000 years ago, consistent with the fossil records of modern humans in East Asia.

 

The Frequency Distribution of the O3-M122 Haplotypes in East Asian and Other Continental Populations

 

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Ancient DNA

 

* Molecular Genetic Analysis of Three Ancient Populations in the Region of Northeast and Inner Mongolia by 周慧

Excerpt: Located in the east of the Eurasia Steppe, the Region of Northeast and Inner Mongolia is a most important connection between the populations from of old. This territory has been a complex assembly of peoples, cultures, and habitats. It is a case in point when one is trying to understand the genetic consequences of complex cultural phenomena such as acculturation, assimilation, and syncretism; overlapping of economies, languages, and ways of life; and migrations, expansions, and conquests. To determine the origin, migration and relations with the extant populations, we select three populations to molecular genetic analysis from Inner Mongolia and Liaoning, which belong to different archaeological sites and span different time periods and belong to the Great Wall belt in northern China in the cultural history. Yinniugou and Zhukaigou populations were analyzed in Inner Mongolia from Bronze Age to early Iron Age. They both locate in the south central region of Inner Mongolia, which is an important spot where nomadic culture and agricultural culture influenced and absorbed each other to form a national amalgamation in history. Studying the history of the populations of this region would be crucial in understanding relations between populations in Zhongyuan and north ethic populations. We studied ancient individuals buried in the Yinniugou cemetery of Inner Mongolia by molecular biological methods. We obtained five sequences of the hypervariable region I (HVR I) of the mtDNA control region and primarily assigned the sequences into haplogroups A, B, D, C and Z by restriction-fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), respectively. The results showed that the haplogroups of the ancient individuals are specific in Asia. The shared sequences and haplogroups analyses show the genetic structure of Yinniugou population has the character of both Siberian and eastern Asian populations. A phylogenetic tree and a two-dimensional MDS plot were constructed based on pairwise FST values between the Yinniugou population and 16 relative modern populations. The results show the genetic affinity of the ancient population with eastern Asian populations in matrilineal lineage. Our research provides some clues for exploring the genetic composition of populations in the south central region of Inner Mongolia during the Warring States period. It also has academic value in unraveling complex patterns of past human migrations in this area. To assess the genetic affinities of the population from the Zhukaigou archaeological site in the Inner Mongolia, seven mtDNA HVR I were successfully amplified and sequenced. The sequences primarily assigned into haplogroups A, C, D, G, M9 and M10, respectively. One sequence of the ancient individuals belongs to hapolgroup M9, which testifys the hypothesis that the Haplogroup M9 may be of central or northern Chinese provenance. Principal component analysis and AMOVA analysis were carried out based on DNA data from the ancient population,the Yinniugou ancient population and several extant East Asian, Siberian and Central Asian populations. The results of these analyses show the ancient population shares a closer genetic relationship with the Yinniugou ancient population and East Asian populations than with Siberian and Central Asian populations. The Zhukaigou culture is the first nomadic culture in Chinese history from archaeological evidence. This aDNA study shows the continuity of the matrilineal genetic structure in the populations of the south central Inner Mongolia. The Xianbei existed as a remarkable nomadic tribe in northeastern China for three dynasties: the Han, Jin and Northern-Southern dynasties (206BC-581AD) in Chinese history. A very important sub-tribe of the Xianbei is the Murong Xianbei. In order to investigate the genetic structure of the Murong Xianbei population and to address its genetic relationships with other nomadic tribes at a molecular level, we analyzed the control region sequences and coding-region single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers of mtDNA from the remains of the Lamadong cemetery of the Three-Yan Culture of the Murong Xianbei population, which is dated to 1600 to 1700 years ago. By combining polymorphisms of the control region with those from the code region, we assigned 17 individuals to haplogroups B, C, D, F, G2a, Z, M, and J1b1. Haplogroups frequencies analysis, phylogenetic analysis, multidimensional scaling analysis and AMOVA analysis were carried out based on DNA data from East Asian and Siberian populations to investigate relationships with other Asian populations. The results indicate that the genetic structure of the Lamadong population is very intricate; it has haplogroups prevalent in both the Eastern Asian and the Siberian populations, showing more genetic affinity with the Eastern Asian populations. The present study also shows that the ancient nomadic tribes of Huns, Tuoba Xianbei, and Murong Xianbei have different maternal genetic structures and that there could have been some genetic exchange among them. On the basis of mtDNA data from different ancient popuations from the region of Northeast and Inner Mongolia, our research reveals the genetic structure, the relationships and gene continuity between the ancient populations and extant populations. The genetic pool of ancient populations is enriched in the Great Wall belt in north China. This article provides some molecular genetic clues for unraveling complex patterns of past human origins, migrations, and genetic affinity with other populations in this area.

 

 

* Genetic Analyses on Mitochondrial DNA from Tuoba Xianbei by 周慧

Abstract: Xianbei originated from“Eastern Hu”, was another significant nomadic population succeeded by Xiongnu, which actually consisted of a federation of sizeable non-Han groups, occupied Han-Jin to Bei Chao dynasty. Tuoba Xianbei was a northern-most branch in Xianbei Alliance, and also was the first nomadic population that entered and held the Zhongyuan region. The regime, the Northern Wei dynasty (386 AD-534 AD) that was established by Tuoba Xianbei ruled the vast grassland in northern China and agricultural region in the Yellow River valley, and created a leading card of ethnic amalgamation. Further, they had made a contribution to the formation of pluralism and integration of the Chinese Nation. The early history of Tuoba Xianbei, however, was not yet clear because of the short historical materials, especially the history before the 4th century. Concerning the issues described in the following, the identity of views had not been achieved in Chinese history. There were many queries on the origin of Tuoba Xianbei. For example, eastern Xianbei and Tuoba Xianbei, which did originate earlier? Whether had Tuoba Xianbei joined in the Xianbei federation of Tanshihuai really? Could Xianbei be divided into eastern Xianbei and Tuoba Xianbei? Whether were the Tuoba Xianbeis the descendants of“Xianbei father and Hu mother”?“Xuji of Weishu”is a very important historical document on the Tuoba Xianbei history, but it recorded the history events in an oral statement. Together with the affects from political culture of Zhongyuan, there were many unintelligible issues in Weishu. Concerning the questions on the evolvement of Tuoba Xianbei, historians recognize the Tuoba Xianbei amalgamate with Han population. The genetic contribution to modern minorities from northern China, however, the identical viewpoint has not been obtained. Fortunately, during its 2 important southward migrations, Tuoba Xianbei left them behind many cemeteries of different period, which provide archaeologists and historians many ancient remains to clarify the early history of Tuoba Xianbei, and also provided lots of samples for aDNA study. Ancient DNA technique has made it possible to obtain the trace amount of DNA which still survived in archaeological remains. Scientists can research many great difficult problems from anthropology, such as human origin, evolution, migration and population developments without the limits from temporal and spatial obstacles. In order to analyze mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genetic diversity from Tuoba Xianbei ethnic group, the genetic affinities between Tuoba Xianbei and Xiongnu as well as modern Xibe, 22 thighbone samples of Tuoba Xianbei remains excavated from shangdu Dongdajing cemetery in Inner Mongolia (Dongdajing group) and 18 thighbone samples of Tuoba Xianbei remains excavated from Qahar Right Wing Middle banner Qilang Mountain cemetery in Inner Mongolia were used as researching objects of Tuoba Xianbei for DNA extracting, amplifying and sequencing, mainly the hypervariable segment I (HVS-I, 16039–16398) in mtDNA control region. At the same time, in order to analyze the genetic relationship between Tuoba Xianbei and Xibe, the mtDNAs from Xingjian Xibe population were analyzed using genetic methods. 33 Tuoba Xianbei HVS-I sequences (17 from Dongdajing group, 16 from Qilang Mountain group) and 48 Xibe HVS-I sequences were obtained in our study. The editing of sequences was performed by Clustal X1.83. Fst genetic distances, Genetic diversity, the mean number of pairwise difference were computed by Arlequin 2000. The net genetic distances and phylogenetic tree were carried out using MEGA 3.0. To visualize the Fst distances among populations, the multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis was performed by SPSS 12.0s. For comparison, the mtDNA data from 18 populations published were used. Ancient populations included 5 populations of Xiongng, Khitan, Jiangjungou population, Wanggu Tribe and Nianzi Mountain group etc; modern populations comprised 13 populations of Inner Mongolian, Outer Mongolian, Daur, Oroqen and Ewenki, Korean, Buryats, Evenks, Kazak, Uzbek, Turkey, Southern Han (Zhangjiang Han and Wuhan Han) and Northern Han (Qingdao Han and Fengcheng Han) etc. Genetic diversity analysis indicated that the haplotype diversity, the nucleotide diversity and the mean number of pairwise differences of Tuoba Xianbei were 0.974, 0.0186 and 6.16, respectively. According to Pakendorf et al. (2003), Kong et al. (2003) as well as Comas et al. (1998), the nucleotide diversity fell into those of the steppe populations (around 0.99) and the Siberian populations (0.93–0.95), and the nucleotide diversity of Tuoba Xianbei (0.0186) located between those of eastern Asian populations (from 0.0173 for Koreans to 0.0195 for Ainu). As for the haplogroup distribution and their status frequencies, Tuoba Xianbei presented haplogroup D, C, A, B and G mainly, and their frequencies were 39.13%D, 30.43%C, 19.39%A, 8.69%B and 6.25%G. Tuoba Xianbei presented evry high level haplogroup D and C (69.56%). Some haplogroups, such as D, G, C, and Z, were prevalent in these northern samples and the matrilineal genetic profile was consistent with the genetic pattern observed recently. Concerning the distribution of sharing sequences, Tuoba Xianbei sequences matched with the sequences distributed in Siberian (Northern Asia) and Northeast Asian populations, especially the populations of Oroqen, Ewenki and northern Mongolian, next in East Asian populations, including Northern Han, Korean and Japanese populations, which supported the conclusions obtained in skull study of Tuoba Xianbei. Population comparison indicated that Tuoba Xianbei presented a closer genetic affinity to Xiongnu among ancient populations, however the conclusion that Tuoba Xianbeis were the descendants of“Xianbei father and Hu mother”was not obtained. Tuoba Xianbei presented some similarities to Xiongnu in genetic diversity and genetic distance, but there were obvious differences in nucleotide diversity and haplogroup distribution frequencies between Tuoba Xianbei and Xiongnu. Relative to CRS, Xiongnu had high level G→A (13%), but Tuoba Xianbei didn’t have it. According to Wallace et al.(1999), in Asia, the haplogroups include A, B, C, D, E, F and G etc. Tuoba Xianbei and Xiongnu all presented typical Asian haplogroups characteristics, but 3 out of 46 Xiongnu individuals belonged to haplogroup U of European type, and Tuoba Xianbei didn’t have the U type. Among modern populations published, Tuoba Xianbei showed the closest affinity to Xibe and Oroqen, next to the populations of Outer Mongolian, Ewenki, Inner Mongolian, Northern Han, Korean and Evenks, again to the Central populations of Kazakh and Uzbek, and finally to Turkey people that live in juncture region of Eurasia. All the analyses of the genetic distance, phylogenetic analysis and the multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis supported the concluton. There wee three creative achievements in this study: first, the paper was the first report on Tuoba Xianbei genetic diversity was studied using aDNA techniques, the result indicated the Tuoba Xianbei genetic diversity fell into the range of central Asian and North Asian populations; secondly, the affinities between Tuoba Xianbei and Xiongnu were clarified for the first time by molecular biology method, as the resulting, Tuoba Xianbei presented a closer genetic relationship to Xiongniu, but they were not the descendants of“Xianbei father and Hu mother”; and thirdly, the genetic affinities between Tuoba Xianbei and Xibe were analyzed using molecular biology method for the first time, the results implied that Tuoba Xianbei may be Xibe ancestor. The data information from Tuoba Xianbei mtDNA held the key to study the origin, evolution, and trace their gene contributions to modern relevant populations, and further understand the formation of pluralism and integration of the Chinese Nation.

 

* Ancient DNA Analysis of Human Remains from the Upper Capital City of Kublai Khan by Yuqin Fu, et al.

Abstract: Analysis of DNA from human archaeological remains is a powerful tool for reconstructing ancient events in human history. To help understand the origin of the inhabitants of Kublai Khan's Upper Capital in Inner Mongolia, we analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms in 21 ancient individuals buried in the Zhenzishan cemetery of the Upper Capital. MtDNA coding and noncoding region polymorphisms identified in the ancient individuals were characteristic of the Asian mtDNA haplogroups A, B, N9a, C, D, Z, M7b, and M. Phylogenetic analysis of the ancient mtDNA sequences, and comparison with extant reference populations, revealed that the maternal lineages of the population buried in the Zhenzishan cemetery are of Asian origin and typical of present-day Han Chinese, despite the presence of typical European morphological features in several of the skeletons.

 

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History of Inner Mongolia

Throughout most of history and time, central and western Inner Mongolia, especially the Hetao region, alternated in control between Chinese agriculturalists in the south and Xiongnu, Xianbei, Khitan, Nurchen, and Mongol nomads of the north. Eastern Inner Mongolia is properly speaking a part of Manchuria, and its historical narrative consists more of alternations between different groups there rather than the struggle between nomads and Chinese agriculturalists.

During the Zhou Dynasty, central and western Inner Mongolia (the Hetao region and surrounding areas) were inhabited by nomadic peoples such as the Loufan, Linhu, and Dí, while eastern Inner Mongolia was inhabited by the Donghu. During the Warring States Period, King Wuling (340–295 BC) of the state of Zhao based in what is now Hebei and Shanxi provinces pursued an expansionist policy towards the region. After destroying the Dí state of Zhongshan in what is now Hebei province, he defeated the Linhu and Loufan and created the commandery of Yunzhong near modern Hohhot. King Wuling of Zhao also built a long wall stretching through the Hetao region. After Qin Shihuang created the first unified Chinese empire in 221 BC, he sent the general Meng Tian to drive the Xiongnu from the region, and incorporated the old Zhao wall into the Qin Dynasty Great Wall of China. He also maintained two commanderies in the region: Jiuyuan and Yunzhong, and moved 30,000 households there to solidify the region. After the Qin Dynasty collapsed in 206 BC, these efforts were abandoned.

During the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu sent the general Wei Qing to reconquer the Hetao region from the Xiongnu in 127 BC. After the conquest, Emperor Wu continued the policy of building settlements in Hetao to defend against the Xiong-Nu. In that same year he established the commanderies of Shuofang and Wuyuan in Hetao. At the same time, what is now eastern Inner Mongolia was controlled by the Xianbei, who would later on eclipse the Xiongnu in power and influence.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD), Xiongnu who surrendered to the Han Dynasty began to be settled in Hetao, and intermingled with the Han immigrants in the area. Later on during the Western Jin Dynasty, it was a Xiongnu noble from Hetao, Liu Yuan, who established the Han Zhao kingdom in the region, thereby beginning the Sixteen Kingdoms period that saw the disintegration of northern China under a variety of Han and non-Han (including Xiongnu and Xianbei) regimes.

The Sui Dynasty (581–618) and Tang Dynasty (618–907) re-established a unified Chinese empire, and like their predecessors they conquered and settled people into Hetao, though once again these efforts were aborted when the Tang empire began to collapse. Hetao (along with the rest of what now consists Inner Mongolia) was then taken over by the Khitan Empire (Liao Dynasty), founded by the Khitans, a nomadic people originally from what is now the southern part of Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. They were followed by the Western Xia of the Tanguts, who took control of what is now the western part of Inner Mongolia (including western Hetao). The Khitans were later replaced by the Jurchens, precursors to the modern Manchus, who established the Jinn Dynasty over Manchuria and northern China.

Genghis Khan unified the Mongol tribes in 1206, conquered the Tanguts in 1227, the Jurchens in 1234, and his descendants completed the reunification of China in 1279, establishing the Yuan Dynasty. After the Yuan Dynasty was evicted by the Han-led Ming Dynasty in 1368, the Ming rebuilt the Great Wall of China at its present location, which roughly follows the southern border of the modern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (though it deviates significantly at the Hebei-Inner Mongolia border).

The Manchus gained control of the Inner Mongolian tribes in the early 17th century, then invaded Ming Dynasty in 1644, bringing it under the control of their Qing Dynasty. Under the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644–1912), Mongolia was administered in a different way for each region:

Ordinary Mongols were not allowed to travel outside their own leagues. While there had been Han Chinese farmers in what is now Inner Mongolia since the time of Altan Khan, mass settlement began in the late nineteenth century. The Manchus were becoming increasingly sinicized, and faced with the Russian threat, they began to encourage Han Chinese farmers to settle in both Mongolia and Manchuria. This policy has been followed by subsequent governments. The railroads that were being built in these regions were especially useful to the Han Chinese settlers. Land was either sold by Mongol Princes, or leased to Han Chinese farmers, or simply taken away from the nomads and given to Han Chinese farmers.

During the Republic of China era, Outer Mongolia regained independence. At the same time, Inner Mongolia was reorganized into provinces:

Some Republic of China maps still show this structure.

Manchuria came under the control of the Japanese puppet state Manchukuo in 1931, taking the Mongol areas in the Manchurian provinces (i.e. Hulunbuir and Jirim leagues) along. Rehe was also incorporated into Manchukuo in 1933, taking Juu Uda and Josutu leagues along with it. These areas were administered by Manchukuo until the end of World War II in 1945.

In 1937, open war broke out between the Republic of China and Japan. On December 8, 1937, Mongolian Prince De Wang declared the independence of the remaining parts of Inner Mongolia (i.e. the Suiyuan and Chahar provinces) as Mengkiang or Mengkukuo, and signed close agreements with Manchukuo and Japan, thereby turning Inner Mongolia into a puppet state of the Japanese Empire. The capital was established at Zhangbei (now in Hebei province), with the puppet government's control extending as far west as the Hohhot region. In August 1945, Mengkiang was taken by Soviet and Outer Mongolian troops during Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation.

Following the end of World War II, the Chinese Communists gained control of Manchuria with some Soviet support, and established the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 1947, following the Soviet model of nationalities policy. Initially the autonomous region included just the Hulunbuir region. Over the next decade, as the communists established the People's Republic of China and consolidated control over mainland China, Inner Mongolia was expanded westwards to include five of the six original leagues (except Josutu League, which remains in Liaoning province), the northern part of the Chahar region, by then a league as well (southern Chahar remains in Hebei province), the Hetao region, and the Alashan and Ejine banners. Eventually, near all areas with sizeable Mongol populations were incorporated into the region, giving present-day Inner Mongolia its elongated shape. The leader of Inner Mongolia during that time, as both regional CPC secretary and head of regional government, was Ulanhu.

During the Cultural Revolution, the administration of Ulanhu was purged, and a wave of repressions against the Mongol population of the autonomous region was initiated. In 1969 much of Inner Mongolia was distributed among surrounding provinces, with Hulunbuir divided between Heilongjiang and Jilin, Jirim going to Jilin, Juu Uda to Liaoning, and the Alashan and Ejine region divided among Gansu and Ningxia. This was reversed in 1979.

There are groups calling for the independence of Inner Mongolia from what they view as Chinese imperialism; these groups, however, have less influence and support within and outside Inner Mongolia than similar movements in Tibet and East Turkestan.

 

 

Ordos Culture

The Ordos people were located at the doorstep of Qin China (秦朝), and were just east of the Yuezhi in the 3rd century BC

The Ordos culture comprises the period from Upper Paleolithic to the late Bronze age at the Ordos Desert, in the south of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, about 300 kilometers from modern Beijing. The Ordos were predominantly Mongoloid, as known from their skeletal remains and artifacts, but numerous interactions between Europoid and Mongoloid might have also taken place in that region over the course of several centuries, until its occupation by Qin and Han dynasties.

Prehistoric People: The Ordos culture is documented from the Upper Palaeolithic. They used the chopping and rock tools of the Zhoukoudian (朱開溝文化) . The points and sides of their tools indicate a "Moustero-Levalloisian" element. They seemed to have a masterful knowledge of Upper Palaeolithic technology, producing blades as much as fifteen centimeters long.

The human fossil remains of the Ordos Man from Salawusu site dated between 50,000 and 35,000 BC show strong Mongoloid features, specifically on the fore-tooth and occipital bone.

The Zhukaigou culture, is one of the neolithic culture at Ordos, dated between 2200 and 1500 BC. It contained about 327 burials, recent genetic evidence shown that they were close related to the remains from Yinniugou, as well as modern populations like Daurs and Evenks. The archaeological finds at the site is very similar to those of the lower Xiajiadian culture (夏家店下層文化). Those finds are important as it was responsible for the development of snake pattern design on the decoration of weapon and depicting animal artifact, known in later as the Ordos style.

The people in Ordos are recorded in the area of the Ordos desert from the 6th to the 2nd century BC. What kind of populations occupied the area before them is unclear, but may have been Mongoloid.

The skeletal remains at Taohongbala tomb dated to between 7th and 6th century BC are generally identified as belonging to the Xiongnu bronze culture, and show strong Mongoloid features.

A similar type of burial at Hulusitai around Bayannur uncovered in 1979, which is dated to between 5th to 4th century BC, is considered as the only Xiongnu's culture situated at the northern slope of Yinshan. The site consisted of mainly bronze artifacts and pottery and 27 horse skeletal remains. Further excavation in 1983 at Guoxianyaozi amounting to a total of 31 burials dated to about 6th to 5th century BC, showed strong north Mongoloid. Those features generally decreased towards the south, and skeletal remains of east and north Mongoloid can be seen from the finds in Maoqinggou and Yinniugou dated to around 7th century BC, which amount to a total of 117 burials. Many bronze weapons of those cultures are similar to those of Chinese style.

Many depictions of the Ordos people tend to have straight hair. Those are especially strong in the archaeological finds at Baotou (M63:22, M63:23, M84:5) Etuoke (M1, M6), Xihaokou (M3), lower Woertuhao (M3:1), and Mengjialiang.

Sakas and Scythians: Later, horse nomads occupied the area from the 6th to the 2nd century BC before being driven away by the Xiongnu. According to Lebedynsky, they are thought to be the easternmost people of Scythian affinity to have settled here, just to the east of the better-known Yuezhi. They are mainly known from their skeletal remains and artifacts.

Ordos Desert

They were in contact and often at war with the pre-Han and Han populations of the period. Their former territory is now located just north of the Great Wall of China, and on the south bank of the northernmost hook of the Yellow river.

According to Lebedynsky, the people represented in archaeological finds tend to display Europoïd features, and are thought to be of Scythian affinity. The weapons, found in tombs throughout the steppes of the Ordos, are very close to those of the Scythians, especially the Sakas.

The Ordos people manufactured belt plaques, horse gear and weapons depicting animals, often in combat. The "animal-style" is similar to nomadic traditions found in Central Asia, such as that of the Scythians.

Relationships: The eastern neighbours of Ordos may have been identical with the Yuezhi who, after being vanquished by the Xiongnu, migrated to southern Asia to form the Kushan empire. They were also culturally related to another nomadic tribe to the east, the Eastern Hu (東胡, "Donghu"), who shared a similar "art of the steppes" but appear to have been Mongoloids. They may also have been related to the Di people (氐 "Western Barbarians") of Chinese annals.

By one account, the area of Ordos was the legendary land of origin of the Turks.

Xiongnu Occupation: In Chinese accounts, the Xiongnu first appear at Ordos in the Yizhoushu and Shanhaijing during the Warring States Period before it was occupied by Qin and Zhao. It is generally thought to be their homeland, however when exactly they came to occupy the region is unclear, and it might have been much earlier than traditionally thought, as suggested by archaeological finds.

As the Xiongnu expanded southward into Yuezhi territory around 160 BC under their leader Modun, the Yuezhi in turn defeated the Sakas and pushed them away at the Issyk Kul. It is thought the Xiongnu also occupied the Ordos area during the same period, when they came in direct contact with the Chinese. From there, the Xiongnu conducted numerous devastating raids into Chinese territory (167, 158, 142, 129 BC).

The Han Dynasty started to fight the Xiongnu in the 2nd century BC under emperor Han Wudi, and colonized the area of the Ordos under Shuofang commandery in 127 BC. Prior to the campaign, there were already commanderies established earlier by Qin and Zhao until they were overrun by the Xiongnu in 209 BC.

 

 

Xiongnu

Asia in 200 BC, showing the early Xiongnu state and its neighbors

The Xiongnu (匈奴) were a confederation of nomadic tribes from Central Asia with a ruling class of unknown origin and other subjugated tribes. The bulk of information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources. What little is known of their titles and names comes from transliterations of Chinese character phoneticizations of their language. The language of Xiongnu has been a subject of varied hypotheses since only a few words, mainly titles and personal names, have been preserved in the Chinese sources. Among the languages that have been proposed are Turkic, Mongolic and Yeniseian. At present, the hypothesis of Pulleyblank (1962) in favor of Ket seems to be the most well-founded (Vovin, 2000), although it is by no means certain that all of the tribal groups of the confederation belonged to the same linguistic group. Some scholars have stated that their language was unknown. Hsiung-nu may also be a rendering of the same name known to the Greco-Roman world as Huns, but the ethno-linguistic identification of the two groups are not certain. Currently, we can not go beyond the conclusion that the Hsiung-nu confederation was a mixture of different ethno-linguistic groups, but one whose ruling language (to the extent represented by Chinese sources) is not currently agreed upon.

Geographic Location & Xiongnu Genetics: The original geographic location of Xiongnu is generally placed at the Ordos. Recent genetics research dated 2003 confirms the studies indicating that the Turkic peoples, originated from the same area and therefore are possibly related.

A majority (89%) of the Xiongnu mtDNA sequences can be classified as belonging to Asian haplogroups, and nearly 11% belong to European haplogroups. This finding indicates that the contacts between European and Asian populations were anterior to the Xiongnu culture, and it confirms results reported for two samples from an early 3rd century B.C. Scytho-Siberian population (Clisson et al. 2002).

Another study from 2004 screened ancient samples from the Egyin Gol necropolis for the Y-DNA Tat marker. The Egyin Gol necropolis, located in northern Mongolia in the region of Lake Baikal, is ~2300 years old and belongs to the Xiongnu culture. This Tat-polymorphism is a biallelic marker what has so far been observed only in populations from Asia and northern Europe. It reaches its highest frequency in Yakuts, Buryats, northeastern Siberian populations, and northern Finno-Ugrics. Opinions differ about whether the geographic origin of the T-C mutation lies in Asia or northern Eurasia. Zerjal et al. suggested that this mutation first arose in the populations of Central Asia; they proposed Mongolia as a candidate location for the origin of the T-C polymorphism. In contrast, for Lahermo et al. the wide distribution of the mutation in north Eurasian populations suggests that it arose in northern Eurasia. According to them, the estimated time of the C mutation is ~2400–4440 years ago. (According to some more recent researches of the Y-DNA Hg N the presence of N1c and N1b in modern Siberian and Asian populations is considered to reflect an ancient substratum, possibly speaking Uralic/Finno-Ugric languages. Haplogroup N). Concerning the Xiongnu people, two of them from the oldest section harboured the mutation suggesting that the Tat polymorphism already existed in Mongolia 2300 years ago. (The next archaeogenetical occurrence of this N-Tat ancient DNA was found in Hungary among the so-called Homeconqueror Hungarians, 2 of 7 remains from the early 10th century revealed it. (Csányi-Raskó 2008)) Also three Yakuts' aDNA from the 15th century, and of two from the late 18th century were this haplogroup. Additionally two mtDNA sequence matches revealed in this work suggest that the Xiongnu tribe under study may have been composed of some of the ancestors of the present-day Yakut population.

Another study of 2006 aimed at the contacts between Siberian and steppe peoples with the analysis of a Siberian grave of Pokrovsk (Sakha Republic, Russia) recently discovered near the Lena River and dated from 2,400 to 2,200 years B.P., and proved the existence of previous contacts between autochthonous hunters of Siberia and the nomadic horse breeders from the Altai-Baikal area (Mongolia and Buryatia). Indeed, the stone arrowhead and the harpoons relate this Pokrovsk man to the traditional hunters of the Taiga. Some artifacts made of horse bone and the pieces of armor, however, are related to the tribes of Mongolia and Buryatia of the Xiongnu period (3rd century B.C.). This affinity has been confirmed by the match of the mitochondrial haplotype of this subject with a woman of the Egyin Gol necropolis (2nd/3rd century A.D.). This haplotype was attributed to the mtDNA D haplogroup. The paternal lineage of the Pokrovsk subject seems to differ from the lineages found in the modern population. The mtDNA sequence was compared with databases and the haplotype matched two Buryats from the Baikal area, two West Siberians, two Mansis, one Evenk, one older and two modern Yakuts, and one female from the Egyin Gol necropolis. This mitochondrial haplotype is not found in Koryaks, Chukchi, Itelmen, or Yukaghirs, sometimes considered "Paleo-Asiatic" ethnic groups, or in Central Asian populations. The match of our sequence with two Mansis from the Ural Mountains and two western Siberians could be related to an extensive gene flow along the Ienissei River (Starikovskaya et al. 2005). Considering the important frequency of Asian haplogroups present in the Mansi (Derbeneva et al. 2002), this similarity may stem from the wide expansion of the nomadic tribes from the southern steppe to the Ural Mountains. Thus the gene flow seems to have affected autochthonous populations from Oriental and Occidental Siberia during the Xiong Nu period since the 3rd century B.C. The analysis of the Pokrovsk grave corroborate the great influence of the Xiongnu Empire over the Siberian populations and early admixture between populations from the southern steppe and Central Siberia aboriginals.

Another 2006 study observed genetic similarity among Mongolian samples from different periods and geographic areas including 2,300-year-old Xiongnu population of the Egiyn Gol Valley. This results supports the hypothesis that the succession over time of different Turkic and Mongolian tribes in the current territory of Mongolia resulted in cultural rather than genetic exchanges. Furthermore, it appears that the Yakuts probably did not find their origin among the Xiongnu tribes as previously hypothesised.

A research study of 2006 focused on Y-DNAs of the Egyin Gol site, and besides the confirmation of the above mentioned two N3-Tats, it also identified a Q haplogroup from the middle period and a C haplogroup from the later (2nd century AD). The Q is one of the haplogroups of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (though this is not this subclade), and a minor in Siberia and Central Asia. Only two groups in the Old World are high majority Q groups. These are the Uralic Selkups and the Yeniseian Kets. They live in western and middle Siberia, together with the Ugric Khantys. The Kets originally lived in southern Siberia. The Uralic-Samoyedics were an old people of the Sayan-Baikal region, migrated northwest around the 1st/2nd century AD. According to the Uralistic literature the swift migration and disjunction of the Samoyedic peoples may be connected to a heavy warring in the region, probably due to the dissolution of the Xiongnu Empire in the period of the Battle of Ikh Bayan.

The mutation defining this haplogroup C, is restrained in North and Eastern-Asia and in America (Bergen et al. 1998. 1999.) (Lell et al. 2002.). The highest frequencies of Haplogroup C3 are found among the populations of Mongolia and the Russian Far East, where it is generally the modal haplogroup. Haplogroup C3 is the only variety of Haplogroup C to be found among Native Americans, among whom it reaches its highest frequency in Na-Dené populations.

Archaeology: In the 1920s, Pyotr Kozlov's excavations of the royal tombs dated to about 1st century AD at Noin-Ula in northern Mongolia provided a glimpse into the lost world of the Xiongnu. Other archaeological sites have been unearthed in Inner Mongolia and elsewhere; they represent the Neolithic and historical periods of the Xiongnu's history. Those included the Ordos culture, many of them had been identified as the Xiongnu cultures. The region was occupied predominantly by peoples showing Mongoloid features, known from their skeletal remains and artifacts. Portraits found in the Noin-Ula excavations demonstrate other cultural evidences and influences, showing that Chinese and Xiongnu art have influenced each other mutually. Some of these embroidered portraits in the Noin-Ula kurgans also depict the Xiongnu with long braided hair with wide ribbons, which are seen to be identical with the Turkic Ashina (阿史那) clan hair-style.

 

 

Great Wall of China

Map by Maximilian Dörrbecker (Chumwa)

The Great Wall of China (長城 or 萬里長城) is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire. Since the 5th century BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall were built during the Ming Dynasty.

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has recently concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi). This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) of sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

 

 

Mongol Empire

 

The Mongol Empire (1206–1368) was the largest contiguous empire and the second largest empire overall in world history, after the British Empire. At its greatest extent it stretched from Vienna to Manchuria and from Novgorod to Camboja. It emerged from the unification of Mongol and Turkic tribes in modern day Mongolia, and grew through invasions, after Genghis Khan had been proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206.

By 1279, the Mongol Empire covered over 33,000,000 km2 (12,741,000 sq mi), 22% of the Earth's total land area. It held sway over a population of over 100 million people. However, by that time the empire had already partly fragmented, with the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate being de facto independent and refusing to accept Kublai Khan as Khagan. By the time of Kublai Khan's death, with no accepted Khagan in existence, the Mongol Empire became divided into four separate khanates.

 

 

Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty (元朝, Mongolian: Dai Ön Ulus/Дай Юан Улс), or Great Yuan Empire (大元帝國) was both the continuation of the Mongol Empire and the Mongol founded historical state in Mongolia and China, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. Although the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, he had his grandfather Genghis Khan placed on the official record as the founder of the dynasty or Taizu (太祖). Kublai Khan had claimed the title of Great Khan, i.e. supremacy over the other Mongol khanates (Chagatai Khanate, Golden Horde, Ilkhanate); however this claim was only truly recognized by the Il-Khanids, who were nevertheless essentially self-governing. Although later emperors of the Yuan Dynasty were recognized by the three virtually independent western khanates as their nominal suzerains, they each continued their own separate developments. But the Mongol Empire as a whole remained strong and united. The Yuan is sometimes referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan. The Mongol Emperors of the Yuan held the title of Great Khan of all Mongol Khanates.

 

 

Northern Yuan Dynasty

Post-Imperial Mongolia or the Northern Yuan Dynasty refers to Mongolia after the expulsion of the Yuan Dynasty from China in 1368, until the emergence of the Qing in the 17th century. The period was marked by factional struggles and the often only nominal role of the Great Khan. The period before 1388, when Toghus Temur was murdered near the Tuul River, is sometimes referred to as Northern Yuan Dynasty. It's sometimes referred to as Mongolian Khaanate or Mongolian khanate in modern sources. In Mongolian chronicles this period is refereed as The Forty and the Four, meaning forty tumen eastern Mongols and four tumen western Mongols.

Batumöngke Dayan Khan and Mandukhai Khatun reunited the entire Mongols in the 16th century. However, the former's distribution of his empire among his sons and relatives as fiefs caused the decentralization of the imperial rule. Despite this decentralization there was a remarkable concord within the Dayan Khanid aristocracy and intra-Chinggisid civil war remained unknown until the reign of Ligden Khan (1604–34).

The last sixty years of the reign of the Borjigin dynasty are marked by intensive penetration of Tibetan Buddhism into the Mongolian society.

 

 

Hohhot

Hohhot (呼和浩特, abbreviated 呼市; also romanized as Huhehot or Huhhot), is the capital of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, serving as the region's administrative, economic, and cultural centre.

The city was founded by Mongol ruler Altan Khan in the late 16th century. It was chosen as the region's administrative centre in 1952, replacing Ulanhot. A city with a rich cultural background, Hohhot is known for its historical sites and temples and is one of the major tourist destinations of Inner Mongolia.

The name of the city in Mongolian means "Blue City." The color blue in Mongolian culture is associated with the sky, eternity and purity; in Chinese, the name can be translated as Qīng Chéng (青城), literally, "Blue/Green City."

The Tumed Mongols had long been semiagricultural there. Hui merchants gathered north of the gate of the city's fortress, building a mosque in 1693. Their descendants forms the nucleus of the modern Hui people's district.

 

 

Mausoleum of Genghis Khan

Portrait of Genghis Khan

The Mausoleum of Genghis Khan (成吉思汗陵) is located along a river in Kandehuo Enclosure, Xinjie Town, Ejen Khoruu Banner, Ordos Prefecture-Level City. The Mausoleum is not the real burial place of the Khan, which has never been discovered; it is a cenotaph, where the coffin contains no body, but only headdresses and accessories. It was built between 1954 to 1956 by the government of the PRC in the traditional Mongol style.

After Genghis Khan died around Gansu, his coffin was carried to central Mongolia. According to his will, he was buried without any markings. The burial place still remains a mystery. Instead of the real tomb, portable mausoleums called naiman tsagaan ger enshrined him.

* Mystery of the Tomb of Genghis Khan

 

 

MONGOLOID

The term "Mongoloid" is a variation of the word "Mongol", meaning "Mongol-like". It has been coined as a racial category to describe the distinctive appearance of East Asian peoples. Today it is most used in discussions of human prehistory, historical definitions of race and in the forensic analysis of human remains. The concept's existence is based on a now disputed typological method of racial classification.

The term comes from the Mongolian people of East Asia, who had a reputation in Europe for ruthless expansionism and massacre of enemy populations. The first usage of the term "Mongolian race" was by Christoph Meiners in a "binary racial scheme" of "two races" with the Caucasian whose racial purity was exemplified by the "venerated... ancient Germans" with some Europeans being impure "dirty whites" and "Mongolians" who consisted of everyone else. The term "Mongolian" was borrowed from Meiners by Johann Blumenbach to describe "second [race], [which] includes that part of Asia beyond the Ganges and below the river Amoor [Amur], which looks toward the south, together with the islands and the greater part of these countries which is now called Australian." In 1861, Isid Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire added the "Australian" as a "secondary race" (subrace) of the "principal race" of "Mongolian" In the nineteenth century Georges Cuvier used the term "Mongolian" again as a racial classification, but additionally included American Indians under the term. Later, Thomas Huxley used the term "Mongoloid" and included American Indians as well as Arctic Native Americans. Other nomenclatures were proposed, such as "Mesochroi" (middle color), but "Mongoloid" was widely adopted. In 1915, "anthropologist Arthur de Gobineau" defined the extent of the "Mongolian" race, "by the yellow the Altaic, Mongol, Finnish and Tartar branches." In the 20th century, Carleton S. Coon used the term and included Pacific Islanders. In 1983, Futuyma claimed that the inclusion of Native Americans and Pacific Islanders under the Mongoloid race was not recognized by "many anthropologists" who consider them "distinct races". For example, in 1984, Roger J. Lederer Professor of Biological Sciences separately listed the "Mongoloid" race from Pacific islanders and American Indians when he enumerated the "geographical variants of the same species known as races... we recognize several races Eskimos, American Indians, Mongoloid... Polynesian".

In 1972, Carleton Coon claimed, "[f]rom a hyborean [sic] group there evolved, in northern Asia, the ancestral strain of the entire specialized mongoloid family." In 1962, Coon believed that the Mongoloid "subspecies" existed "during most of the Pleistocene, from 500,000 to 10,000 years ago". According to Coon, the Mongoloid race had not completed its "invasions and expansions" into Southeast Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific Islands until "[t]oward the end of the Pleistocene" By this time Coon hypothesis that the Mongoloid race had become "sapien". Milford Wolpoff and Rachel Caspari characterize "his [Carleton Coon's] contention [as being] that the Mongoloid race crossed the "sapiens threshold" first and thereby evolved the furthest".

M.K Bhasin's review article (referencing Mourant 1983) suggests that "The Caucasoids and the Mongoloids almost certainly became differentiated from one another somewhere in Asia" and that "Another differentiation, which probably took place in Asia, is that of the Australoids, perhaps from a common type before the separation of the Mongoloids."

Dr. T. Tirado claims that "many experts" consider American Indians and East Asians to be descended from a "Proto-Mongoloid" population which existed as late as 12,000 years ago. See also: Models of migration to the New World

Futuyma believes the Mongoloid race "diverged 41,000 years ago" from a Mongoloid and Caucasoid group which diverged from Negroids "110,000 years ago".

Peter Brown (1999) evaluates three sites with early East Asian modern human skeletal remains (Liujiang, Liuzhou, Guangxi, China; Zhoukoudian's Upper Cave; and Minatogawa in Okinawa) dated to between 10,175 to 33,200 years ago, and finds lack of support for the conventional designation of skeletons from this period as "Proto-Mongoloid"; this would make Neolithic sites 5500 to 7000 years ago (e.g. Banpo) the oldest known Mongoloid remains in East Asia, younger than some in the Americas. He concludes that the origin of the Mongoloid phenotype remains unknown, and could even lie in the New World.

A 2006 study of linkage disequilibrium finds that northern populations in East Asia started to expand in number between 34 and 22 thousand years ago (KYA), before the last glacial maximum at 21–18 KYA, while southern populations started to expand between 18 and 12 KYA, but then grew faster, and suggests that the northern populations expanded earlier because they could exploit the abundant megafauna of the ‘‘Mammoth Steppe,’’ while the southern populations could increase in number only when a warmer and more stable climate led to more plentiful plant resources such as tubers.

Bhavan identifies Northeast India Mongoloids to be a subrace called the "Paleo-Mongoloid", being the "dominant element in the tribes living in Assam and the Indo-Burmese frontiers... Sikkim and Bhutan... [and] Tibetan mongoloids".

In 1900, Joseph Deniker said, the "Mongol race admits two varieties or subraces: Tunguse or Northern Mongolian... and Southern Mongolian". The people of East Asia are called "Northern Mongoloids". Archaeologist Peter Bellwood claims that the "vast majority" of people in Southeast Asia, the region he calls the "clinal Mongoloid-Australoid zone", are "Southern Mongoloids" but have a "high degree" of Australoid admixture. Ainus are considered Southern Mongoloids even though they live in East Asia. Sinodonty and Sundadonty are dentition patterns that correspond to the Northern Mongoloid vs. Southern Mongoloid distinction.

Forensic anthropologist Caroline Wilkenson says Mongoloids feature "absent browridges". Skulls belonging to Asians and American Indians exhibit very forward-projecting malar bones and comparatively flat faces, more circular orbits than other groups, and a moderate nasal aperture with a slightly pointed lower margin. Moreover, Mongoloid skulls are the most gracile in the human family. It is believed that the Mongoloid skull type is a very recent evolutionary development. "The Mongoloid skull has proceeded further than in any other people." "The Mongoloid skull, whether Chinese or Japanese, has been rather more neotenized than the Caucasoid or European." "The female skull, it will be noted, is more pedomorphic in all human populations than the male skull." "Mongoloid races are explained in terms of being the most extreme paedomorphic humans." "The intuition that advanced human development was paedomorphic rather than recapitulationary and accelerated was disturbing to many Eurocentric nineteenth century anthropologists." "If juvenilization was the characteristic for advanced status, then it was clear that the Mongoloid races were more deeply fetalized in most respects and thus capable of the greatest development." "[R]elatively large-headed [is the] mongoloid". "An interesting hypothesis put forward by paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould many years ago was that the package of the Mongoloid anatomical changes could be explained by the phenomenon of neoteny, whereby an infantile or childlike body form is preserved in adult life. Neoteny in hominids is still one of the simplest explanations of how we developed a disproportionately large brain so rapidly over the past few million years. The relatively large brain and the forward rotation of the skull on the spinal column, and body hair loss, both characteristic of humans, are found in foetal chimps. Gould suggested a mild intensification of neoteny in Mongoloids, in whom it has been given the name paedomorphy. Such a mechanism is likely to involve only a few controller genes and could therefore happen over a relatively short evolutionary period. It would also explain how the counterintuitive retrousse [turned up at the end] nose and relative loss of facial hair got into the package." "[D]ecrease unnecessary muscle bulk, less tooth mass, thinner bones and smaller physical size;" this follows the selective adaptive model of Mongoloid evolution." "In Ashley Montagu's list of "[n]eotenous structural traits in which Mongoloids... differ from Caucasoids", Montagu lists "Larger brain, larger braincase, broader skull, broader face, flat roof of the nose, inner eye fold, more protuberant eyes, lack of brow ridges, greater delicacy of bones, shallow mandibular fossa, small mastoid processes, stocky build, persistence of thymus gland into adult life, persistence of juvenile form of zygomatic muscle, persistence of juvenile form of superior lip muscle, later eruption of full dentition (except second and third molars), less hairy, fewer sweat glands, fewer hairs per square centimeter [and] long torso" "Mongoloid subjects were found to have approximately 20% higher bone density at the angle of mandible than Caucasoid subjects."

The physical features of the "Proto-Mongoloid" were characterized as, "a straight-haired type, medium in complexion, jaw protrusion, nose-breadth, and inclining probably to round-headedness". Kanzō Umehara considers the Ainu and Ryukyuans to have "preserved their proto-Mongoloid traits".

 

Sinodonty and Sundadonty

Sinodonty and Sundadonty: Anthropologist Christy Turner identified two patterns, Sinodonty and Sundadonty, for East Asia, within the "Mongoloid dental complex". The latter is regarded as having a more generalised, Australoid morphology and having a longer ancestry than its offspring, Sinodonty.

Sino and Sunda refer to China and Sundaland, while 'dont' refers to teeth.

He found the Sundadont pattern in the Jōmon of Japan, Taiwanese aborigines, Filipinos, Indonesians, Thais, Borneans, Laotians, and Malaysians, and the Sinodont pattern in the inhabitants of China, Mongolia, eastern Siberia, Native Americans, and the Yayoi.

Sinodonty is a particular pattern of teeth common among Native Americans and some peoples in Asia, in particular the northern Han Chinese and some Japanese populations. The upper first two incisors are not aligned with the other teeth, but rotated a few degrees inward, and, moreover, they are shovel-shaped; the upper first premolar has one root (whereas the upper first premolar in Caucasians has normally two roots). The lower first molar in Sinodonts has three roots (whereas it has two roots in Caucasians).

In the 1990s, Turner's dental measurements were frequently mentioned as one of three new tools for studying origins and migrations of human populations. The other two were linguistic methods like Joseph Greenberg's mass comparison of vocabulary or Johanna Nichols's statistical study of language typology and its evolution, and genetic studies pioneered by Cavalli-Sforza.

Today, the largest number of references on the web to Turner's work are from discussions of the origin of Paleo-Indians and modern Native Americans, including the Kennewick Man controversy. Turner found that the dental remains of both ancient and modern Indians are more similar to each other than they are to dental complexes from other continents, but that the Sinodont patterns of the Paleoindians identify their ancestral homeland as north-east Asia. Some later studies have questioned this and found Sundadont features in some American peoples.

The Australoid race is a broad racial classification. The concept's existence is based on the typological method of racial classification.　They were described as having dark skin with wavy hair, in the case of Aboriginal Australians, or hair ranging from straight to kinky in the case of Melanesian and Negrito groups. According to this model of classification, Australoid peoples ranged throughout Australia, New Guinea, and Melanesia, as well as parts of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Southern India. In the mid-twentieth century an argument emerged that Australoids were linked to proto-Caucasoids.

 

 

Yellow River

The Yellow River or Huang He / Hwang Ho (黃河; Mongolian: Hatan Gol, Queen river) is the second-longest river in China (after the Yangtze River) and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of 5,464 kilometers (3,395 mi). Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through through Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, and empties into the Bohai Sea. The mouth of the Yellow River is located at Dongying, Shandong.

The provinces of Hebei and Henan derive their names from the Huang He. Their names mean respectively "north of the (Yellow) River" and "south of the (Yellow) River".

Major cities located along the Yellow River include, starting from the source, Lanzhou, Wuhai, Baotou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Jinan.

The Yellow River is called "the cradle of Chinese civilization", as its basin is the birthplace of the northern Chinese civilizations and was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history. But frequent devastating flooding largely due to the elevated river bed in its lower course, has also earned it the unenviable name "China's Sorrow".

Early Chinese literature refers to the Yellow River simply as He (河), the word that has come to mean simply "river" in modern language. The first appearance of the name "Yellow River" (黃河) is in the Book of Han (漢書) written in the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 9). The name "Yellow River" describes the perennial ochre-yellow colour of the muddy water in the lower course of the river. The yellow color comes from loess suspended in the water.

Sometimes the Yellow River is poetically called the "Muddy Flow" (濁流). The Chinese idiom "when the Yellow River flows clear" is used to refer to an event that will never happen and is similar to the English expression "when pigs fly".

In Qinghai, its Tibetan name is "river of the peacock"

 

 

Autonomous Areas of China

In a similar fashion to the former Soviet Union's titular nations, a number of areas associated with one or more ethnic minorities are designated as autonomous within the People's Republic of China (PRC). These areas are recognized in the PRC's constitution and are nominally given a number of rights not accorded to other administrative divisions. The actual degree of autonomy of such regions is questioned. This is because their authority rests with the Constitution and the Law on Regional Autonomy, requiring leaders to seek prior approval from the National People's Congress (NPC) to pass legislation. This is not true for other provinces, which can pass legislation without such prior approval. For this reason, it has been contended that Autonomous regions are in fact "less autonomous."

Autonomous regions, prefectures, counties, and banners were established after communist takeover, following Soviet practice. At first, the nomenclature of these autonomous areas were somewhat confused, with autonomous regions appearing at the province, prefecture, county, and township levels. Eventually the nomenclature was standardized to the conventions used today.

The first autonomous region to be established was Inner Mongolia, created within communist-held territory in 1947, two years before the establishment of the People's Republic. Xinjiang was converted from a province to an autonomous region in 1955. Guangxi and Ningxia followed in 1957, and Tibet Autonomous Region was formally established in 1965.

Of the five autonomous regions, only Tibet has an absolute majority (>50%) of the designated ethnic group, namely, the Tibetans. Xinjiang has a plurality (<50%) of the designated ethnic group, the Uyghurs, though this is disputed by Uyghur independence advocates, who claim that the Han Chinese population in Xinjiang has been severely understated. The remaining 3 autonomous regions have absolute majorities of Han Chinese, the majority ethnicity of China.

 

 

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.