To restore our national independence, we must first restore the Chinese nation. To restore the Chinese nation, we must drive the barbarian Manchus back to the Changbai Mountains. To get rid of the barbarians, we must first overthrow the present tyrannical, dictatorial, ugly, and corrupt Qing government. Fellow countrymen, a revolution is the only means to overthrow the Qing government!
- Sun Yat Sen
The total area of Manchuria is approximately that of France and Germany combined. To the West are the Khingan mountains, a Jurassic range. To the far north is the Amur river.To the east is situated the Changbai mountains, which are surrounded by forested lands.The range represents the mythical birthplace of Bukūri Yongšon, ancestor of Nurhaci and the Aisin Gioro Imperial family, who were the founders of the Manchu state and the Chinese Qing Dynasty. The highest peak is the famed, mythical Baekdu Mountain.
The eponymous ethnic group in Manchuria is the Manchu people, who are a Tungusic people with Altaic origins. The Manchus are so important because they were the people who founded the last imperial dynasty of China, the Qing Dynasty. At first called Jurchens, they were a nomadic Altaic people with shamanistic traditions, and strong links to Mongolia, Korea, and Siberia. Not to the Han Chinese. However, paradoxically, in the ensuing centuries, the Manchus have been culturally and ethnically assimilated into the Han Chinese.
The Qing dynasty was founded by Nurhaci, a Jurchen chieftain. When Nurhaci died, his son, Hong Taiji, reorganized the Jurchens by incorporating some other ethnicities who had joined them, and renamed his people 'Manchus'. It is not clear how the name Manchu originated, but legends say that Nurhaci believed himself to be a reincarnation of the bodhisattva Manjusri. Hong Taiji also significantly elevated his title from Khan to Emperor.
To help understand how the Manchus, a northern 'barbarian' tribe with almost no continuities with the Chinese cultural tradition, managed to become the rulers of the great Chinese empire and establish their own dynasty, the Qing dynasty, the following sequence of events are presented:
- Hong Taiji was succeeded by his five-year-old son Fulin, in 1643.
- The Manchus were at this time poised to attack Beijing, but were held back by Chinese forces led by Wu Sangui at the Great Wall.
- The ruling dynasty in Beijing at this time was the Ming dynasty, and the ruling emperor was the Chongzhen Emperor.
- What led to the historical turn of events was that a peasant rebellion broke out at this time, led by Li Zicheng.
- In 1644, this rebel force sacked Beijing, and the Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide.
- Li Zicheng then marched against Wu Sangui, who had remained loyal to the Emperor.
- Upon hearing that he was under attack, Wu Sangui threw in his lot with the Manchus.
- A combined army of Manchus and Wu Sangui's soldiers then routed Li Zicheng's army, and then marched upon Beijing.
- The Manchus took Beijing on June 6, 1644.
- On the 30th of October, 1644, Hong Taiji's son Fulin was installed as the Shunzhi Emperor and the "Son of Heaven".
- Thus began the Manchu Qing dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of China.
The Manchus rule China
It is thus important to note that the Manchus were essentially a non-Chinese people who made themselves the rulers of China.
Their language, script, cuture, customs, dress, everything was initially radically different from the ethnic Chinese whom they ruled. The Qing dynasty always made vigorous efforts to preserve Manchu language and culture, but were not successful as the Manchus started to be gradually assimilated into the majority Han Chinese. However, written Manchu was still used for keeping records in the imperial court until the fall of the Qing.
The Qing rulers also maintained their links with the land of their ancestors, Manchuria, in other ways. While the type of government in China was civil, Manchuria was administered directly by military commanders. Central to the military might of the Qing rulers was the Eight Banner Army, which consisted of Manchurian warriors born and trained in Manchuria. Manchuria was also designated as 'forbidden land', and ethnic Chinese were not allowed to settle there. Due to this ban on settlement by Han Chinese, and further because many ethnic Manchus followed the Qing to Beijing, Manchuria's population gradually dwindled. Many bandits and robbers sneaked into the Manchurian wasteland, attracted by its vast natural resources, especially of gold and ginseng. Thus the desertification of Manchuria continued, a process that extended into the early 20th century. The Han Chinese regarded the region north of the Great Wall as a wasteland populated only by ogres and serpents.
However, as this transformation of Manchuria into a wasteland continued, the Qing emperors started encouraging Manchu bannermen stationed in Beijing to settle in Manchuria. Unfortunately, this was not practical at this time, as the Manchus had become accustomed to urban life and could no longer endure the harsh life in their own ancestral homeland. Finally, in 1908, the traditional policies aimed to isolate Manchuria were abandoned, and people of all ethnicities were allowed to settle in Manchuria. By this time, Manchurians had become a minority in Manchuria, and their land had come under the sway of warlords and bandits.
Manchuria in the 20th century
In 1924 Lieutenant Colonel Takahashi Sutejiro wrote a research report titled “Mounted Bandits in Manchuria,” in which he lists the following factors responsible for the emergence of mounted bandits:
1) Chinese attributes: rugged individualism, duplicity, cunning, practicality, absence of morality except where personal gain or loss is involved; lack of national allegiance, lack of empathy, follower mentality
2) Inadequate education
3) Overpopulation and natural disasters
4) Lack of transportation
5) Private armies
6) Corrupt civil servants and military officials
7) Illegal mining of gold and cultivation of ginseng and poppies
8) Illicit logging
9) Easy accessibility of weapons
For ordinary people in Manchuria, simply surviving each day was an ordeal. Looting, arson, rape, and abduction were unexceptional events. During these times of lawlessness, there was even no clear distinction between soldiers and bandits. Every once in a while bandits were invited by the government to serve in the army. Once they were defeated in a battle and had to surrender, they reverted back to banditry.
In the 15th century, Russia had acquired new momentum in its eastward expansion. Thus began a prolonged simmering conflict with the Chinese, which was partly resolved with the Treaty of Nerchinsk between the Kangxi Emperor and Peter the Great.
After the Boxer Rebellion of 1899-1901, there was a rapid influx of Han Chinese and Russians into Manchuria. But there was a difference in the nature of the Chinese and Russian incursions. While the Chinese immigrants were mostly refugees who sneaked in with the main intention to exploit the land's natural resources, the Russians had a definite national strategy in mind, building cities and railroads. They spent millions of roubles in building the city of Harbin and the Chinese Eastern Railway. Chinese accounts of the history of this period are replete with references to 'heroes defending their nation', 'merciless exploitation', 'plunder of resources' and other stock phrases. The situation was much more complex in reality, and the significant part was that the so-called 'patriots defending the motherland' were in most cases none but armed bandits engaged in loot and arson.
In the evening of September 18, 1931, an explosion occurred on the tracks of the South Manchuria Railway near the city of Mukden. Following this, Japanese soldiers moved swiftly and in a few months the whole of Manchuria was under Japanese control.An important factor which indicates that the people of Manchuria welcomed the Japanese army as liberators is that there was hardly any resistance to them. On 18 February 1932 the new nation-state of Manchukuo was proclaimed. The city of Changchun became the capital. The last Qing(Manchu) Emperor of China, Pu-Yi, was invited to come to Manchukuo and become its first head of state, which he did. Two years later, Pu-Yi was declared Emperor of Manchukuo, with the era name of Kangde. Manchukuo thus became the Great Manchurian Empire.
In 1933, the League of Nations declared that Manchuria remained rightfully part of China, prompting Japan to leave the League. The events surrounding the formation and sustenance of Manchukuo, and the role the last Qing Emperor played, are the subject of Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 film The Last Emperor. During this period, public order was maintained perfectly; not a single soldier-bandit could carry out his depredations.
The vast wastelands of Manchuria bloomed with agriculture and industry. Living standards improved and people from all over East Asia came to settle in Manchuria. In 1945, after 'years of Japanese occupation', Manchuria was the richest single region of eastern Asia in terms of natural resources, power, industry, transport, and agriculture.The Japanese, called oppressors and occupiers, had wrought this miracle with the active cooperation of the people of Manchuria.
- Sun Yat Sen
Manchuria: a wasteland of extremes
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| A Russian depiction of three peoples of Siberia. The Manchu man is in the middle. |
How the Manchus became the rulers of China
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The Great Wall of China could not keep the Manchus out for long. |
To help understand how the Manchus, a northern 'barbarian' tribe with almost no continuities with the Chinese cultural tradition, managed to become the rulers of the great Chinese empire and establish their own dynasty, the Qing dynasty, the following sequence of events are presented:
- Hong Taiji was succeeded by his five-year-old son Fulin, in 1643.
- The Manchus were at this time poised to attack Beijing, but were held back by Chinese forces led by Wu Sangui at the Great Wall.
- The ruling dynasty in Beijing at this time was the Ming dynasty, and the ruling emperor was the Chongzhen Emperor.
- What led to the historical turn of events was that a peasant rebellion broke out at this time, led by Li Zicheng.
- In 1644, this rebel force sacked Beijing, and the Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide.
- Li Zicheng then marched against Wu Sangui, who had remained loyal to the Emperor.
- Upon hearing that he was under attack, Wu Sangui threw in his lot with the Manchus.
- A combined army of Manchus and Wu Sangui's soldiers then routed Li Zicheng's army, and then marched upon Beijing.
- The Manchus took Beijing on June 6, 1644.
- On the 30th of October, 1644, Hong Taiji's son Fulin was installed as the Shunzhi Emperor and the "Son of Heaven".
- Thus began the Manchu Qing dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of China.
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| Kangxi Emperor |
It is thus important to note that the Manchus were essentially a non-Chinese people who made themselves the rulers of China.
Their language, script, cuture, customs, dress, everything was initially radically different from the ethnic Chinese whom they ruled. The Qing dynasty always made vigorous efforts to preserve Manchu language and culture, but were not successful as the Manchus started to be gradually assimilated into the majority Han Chinese. However, written Manchu was still used for keeping records in the imperial court until the fall of the Qing.
The Qing rulers also maintained their links with the land of their ancestors, Manchuria, in other ways. While the type of government in China was civil, Manchuria was administered directly by military commanders. Central to the military might of the Qing rulers was the Eight Banner Army, which consisted of Manchurian warriors born and trained in Manchuria. Manchuria was also designated as 'forbidden land', and ethnic Chinese were not allowed to settle there. Due to this ban on settlement by Han Chinese, and further because many ethnic Manchus followed the Qing to Beijing, Manchuria's population gradually dwindled. Many bandits and robbers sneaked into the Manchurian wasteland, attracted by its vast natural resources, especially of gold and ginseng. Thus the desertification of Manchuria continued, a process that extended into the early 20th century. The Han Chinese regarded the region north of the Great Wall as a wasteland populated only by ogres and serpents.
 |
| The South Manchuria Railway |
Manchuria in the 20th century
In 1924 Lieutenant Colonel Takahashi Sutejiro wrote a research report titled “Mounted Bandits in Manchuria,” in which he lists the following factors responsible for the emergence of mounted bandits:
1) Chinese attributes: rugged individualism, duplicity, cunning, practicality, absence of morality except where personal gain or loss is involved; lack of national allegiance, lack of empathy, follower mentality
2) Inadequate education
3) Overpopulation and natural disasters
4) Lack of transportation
5) Private armies
6) Corrupt civil servants and military officials
7) Illegal mining of gold and cultivation of ginseng and poppies
8) Illicit logging
9) Easy accessibility of weapons
For ordinary people in Manchuria, simply surviving each day was an ordeal. Looting, arson, rape, and abduction were unexceptional events. During these times of lawlessness, there was even no clear distinction between soldiers and bandits. Every once in a while bandits were invited by the government to serve in the army. Once they were defeated in a battle and had to surrender, they reverted back to banditry.
In the 15th century, Russia had acquired new momentum in its eastward expansion. Thus began a prolonged simmering conflict with the Chinese, which was partly resolved with the Treaty of Nerchinsk between the Kangxi Emperor and Peter the Great.
After the Boxer Rebellion of 1899-1901, there was a rapid influx of Han Chinese and Russians into Manchuria. But there was a difference in the nature of the Chinese and Russian incursions. While the Chinese immigrants were mostly refugees who sneaked in with the main intention to exploit the land's natural resources, the Russians had a definite national strategy in mind, building cities and railroads. They spent millions of roubles in building the city of Harbin and the Chinese Eastern Railway. Chinese accounts of the history of this period are replete with references to 'heroes defending their nation', 'merciless exploitation', 'plunder of resources' and other stock phrases. The situation was much more complex in reality, and the significant part was that the so-called 'patriots defending the motherland' were in most cases none but armed bandits engaged in loot and arson.
Establishment of the state of Manchukuo
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| Postcard of the state of Manchukuo |
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| Poster promoting racial harmony. The caption says: With the cooperation of Japan, China, and Manchukuo, the world can be at peace. |
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| Emperor Hirohito of Japan and Emperor Kangde of Manchukuo The latter was also the last Qing Emperor. |
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| Flag of Manchukuo |
Why Manchukuo had every right to exist as a sovereign nation
What has largely been ignored is the question of self-determination of the Manchu people. That was the primary reason why Manchukuo was formed. Many Manchu visionaries, nevertheless, thought of this as the first step in the restoration of the 'Great Qing Empire'. Manchukuo was not just a puppet state but was recognized as a legitimate nation by 23 countries of the world including the Empire of Japan, Nazi Germany, Italy, Vichy France, Spain, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Finland, Romania, Thailand, Croatia and the Vatican. Interestingly, the Japanese brought in many displaced Jews from Europe and settled them in Manchuria. However, instead of discussing the question of self-determination of the Manchu people, the Western powers were mainly occupied with debating the extent of Japanese influence over Manchukuo, which really should not have concerned them. Ever since the Xinhai Revolution of 1911-1912, the Manchus had repeatedly been vilified as foreign usurpers. In that case, Manchuria should have been considered a foreign land by nationalist Chinese, and thus it is mighty peculiar why they should have been so concerned about Manchuria's fate, either in Japanese hands or otherwise.The Greater Asia Co-prosperity Sphere
This was a concept propagated by Japan during the first half of the 20th century, which represented the desire to create a community of Asian nations led by Japan and free of European colonialism. The Greater East Asia Conference was held in Tokyo in November 1943, and was intended to emphasize the Emperor of Japan's commitment to liberate Asia from European colonialism. The conference was attended by Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan, Zhang Jinghui of Manchukuo, Wang Jingwei of China, Ba Maw of Burma, Subhash Chandra Bose of India, José Paciano Laurel y García of the Philippines, and Wan Waithayakon of Thailand. The conference issued a joint declaration urging economic and political cooperation in order to fight the Allies.The end of Manchukuo
Manchukuo was a great experiment carried out successfully to build a modern multi-ethnic state.With the fall of Japan and consequently Manchukuo at the end of World War II, the great Manchu people and their ancient land were lost, dissolved in the huge morass called China. The Manchus had been swallowed up by the very land they had conquered and ruled for centuries.
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