Manchuria under Ming rule

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Manchuria under Ming rule
Territory of the Ming dynasty
1388–1616

Ming China during the reign of the Yongle Emperor
 • TypeMing hierarchy
History 
1387
• Established
1388
• Establishment of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission
1409
• Abolishment of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission
1435
• Beginning of actual control of most of Manchuria by Nurhaci
1580s
• Disestablished
1616
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Northern Yuan
Later Jin
Part of a series on the
History of Manchuria
Prehistoric period
Ancient to Classical period
Medieval to Early Modern period
Modern period

Manchuria under Ming rule refers to the domination of the Ming dynasty of China over the greater region of Manchuria, including today's Northeast China and Outer Manchuria. The Ming rule of Manchuria began with its conquest of Manchuria in the late 1380s after the fall of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, and reached its peak in the early 15th century with the establishment of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission. With the dissolution of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission the Ming power waned considerably in Manchuria. Starting in the 1580s, Nurhaci, the Jianzhou Jurchen chieftain who had been a Ming vassal, began to take control of most of Manchuria over the next several decades, and in 1616 he established the Later Jin and openly renounced Ming overlordship with the Seven Grievances.[1] The Qing dynasty established by his son Hong Taiji would eventually conquer the Ming and take control of China proper.

From the late 14th century to the early 17th century, the Ming dynasty ruled over Manchuria. Rebellions by Jurchen tribes were suppressed by the Ming government. During the 15th century the Nurgan Regional Military Commission was set up in Manchuria by the

Liaodong Jurchens were governed directly by the Ming, while the Jianzhou Jurchens and Haixi Jurchens
accepted vassal status to the Ming. The remaining Jurchens who did not establish constant connection with China were known as the Wild Jurchens.

History

The

Liaoyang province of the former Yuan dynasty). As he grew strong in the northeast, the Ming decided to defeat him instead of waiting for the Mongols to attack. In 1387 the Ming sent a military campaign to attack Naghachu,[2]
This ended in Ming victory and also concluded with the surrender of Naghachu and Ming taking over of Manchuria.

The early Ming court did not impose as much control on the

Liaodong and northern Manchuria (as the Yuan dynasty had), which would have promoted further control. Despite this, the Ming court set up guards (衛, wei) in Liaodong under the Hongwu Emperor and in northern Manchuria later under the Yongle Emperor. However, the Jurchen leaders continued to collect the taxes and raise armies for themselves. Jurchen society did not become sinicized; the guards served to reaffirm traditional Chinese foreign relations in which Jurchens show some form of submission to Ming.[3]

By the end of the Hongwu reign, the essentials of a policy toward the Jurchens had taken shape. Most of the Jurchen inhabitants of Manchuria, except for the wild Jurchens, were at peace with China. Yet a suitable relationship between Ming China and their neighbors to the northeast had not been established. The guard system occupies southern Manchuria but had scarcely reached into northern Manchuria, and the regulations for tribute and commerce were still relatively unformed. The Yongle Emperor once again was responsible for devising the framework for Ming-Jurchen relations. He sought peace with the Jurchens and tried to prevent them from allying with the Mongols or the Koreans to pose threats to the Chinese borderlands. One way of winning over the Jurchens was to initiate a regular system of tribute and trade, a boon to these northeastern neighbors, as well as to the Ming, which needed and coveted certain Jurchen products. Finally, the emperor distinguished between Liaodong and the other Jurchen areas farther to the north. Liaodong was to be part of the normal administrative system of the Ming, with the creation of a Regional Military Commission and a commensurate set of military and fiscal obligations which were similar to those imposed upon and generally fulfilled by provinces in China proper. And in northern Manchuria, the Yongle Emperor had created a series of guards and had superseded Korean influence among the Jurchens. He had achieved peace in the Jurchen lands adjacent to the

Udeghes, Ulchis, and Nanais.[4]

However, the creation of a guard did not necessarily imply political control, it was sometimes used to improve foreign relations. In 1409, the Ming dynasty under Yongle Emperor established the

Yongning Temple (永寕寺), a Buddhist temple dedicated to Guanyin, that was founded by Yishiha (Išiqa) in 1413.[5] There is some evidence that he reached the Sakhalin island[6] during one of his expeditions to the lower Amur, and granted Ming titles to a local chieftain. His efforts were well-received because he was well-informed about Jurchen custom and attitudes. Tribute and trade from Nurgan began to flow into China; the Jurchen chiefs accepted the bestowal of titles by the Ming; Buddhism was promoted among the native peoples, and commerce and communication were facilitated through the postal stations established in Nurgan. Yet, the Ming court did not dominate the political fortunes of the Wild Jurchens. It simply maintained a presence in the far northeast of Manchuria. After Yongle Emperor's death, it became increasingly difficult to do so.[7] According to the Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming established 384 guards and 24 battalions in Manchuria, but these were probably only nominal offices.[8]

Some sources report a Chinese fort existed at Aigun for about 20 years during the Yongle era on the left (northwestern) shore of the Amur downstream from the mouth of the Zeya River. This Ming dynasty Aigun was located on the opposite bank to the later Aigun that was relocated during the Qing dynasty.[9] Yishiha's last fleet included 50 big ships with 2,000 soldiers, and they actually brought the newly inaugurated chief (who had been living in Beijing) to Tyr.[10]

Yongning Temple was set up along with the Nurkan (Nurgan) outposts by the Yongle emperor in 1409. The Ming also held the post at Wuliehe and received marten pelt fur tribute from the assistant commander Alige in 1431 from Sakhalin after the Ming assigned titles like weizhenfu (official charged with subjugation), zhihui qianshi (assistance commander), zhihui tongzhi (vice commander) and Zhihuishi (commander) from Sakhalin indigenous headmen. The Ming received tribute from the headmen Alingge, Tuolingha, Sanchiha and Zhaluha in 1437. The position of headman among Sakhalin indigenous peoples was inherited paternally from father to son and the sons came with their fathers to Wuliehe. Ming officials gave silk uniforms with the appropriate rank to the Sakhalin Ainu, Uilta and Nivkh after they gave tribute. The Maritime Province region had the Ming "system for subjugated peoples' implementers in it for the Sakhalin indigenous peoples. Sakhalin received iron tools from mainland Asia through this trade as Tungus groups joined in from 1456-1487. Local indigenous hierarchies had Ming Chinese given political offices integrated with them. The Ming system on Sakhalin was imitated by the Qing.[13]

Administrative divisions of Ming dynasty in 1409

The Nurgan Regional Military Commission was abolished in 1435, 11 years after the death of the

Nurhachi's father and grandfather in this battle with Atai. By the late Ming period, Ming political presence in Manchuria had waned considerably, although it continued to give titles to Jurchen chiefs. Ironically, however, it was in fact the peoples in this region that caused the downfall of the Ming dynasty.[14]
China Proper.[17]

View of the 1413 Yongning Temple Stele, from The Russians on the Amur (1861) by Ernst Georg Ravenstein (1834–1913).

The change of the name from Jurchen to Manchu was made to hide the fact that the ancestors of the Manchus, the Jianzhou Jurchens, were ruled by the Chinese.

Veritable Records of Ming as a source for content on Jurchens during the period when they were ruled by Ming.[24]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9780472131761
    .
  2. ^ Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics, by Yuan-kang Wang
  3. ^ The Cambridge History of China: Volume 8, The Ming Dynasty, Part 2, by Denis C. Twitchett, Frederick W. Mote, p260
  4. ISBN 0521477719
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-520-23424-6
    .
  6. ISBN 0-295-98124-5
    .
  7. ^ From Yuan to Modern China and Mongolia: The Writings of Morris Rossabi, by Morris Rossabi, p193
  8. ^ Perpetual happiness: the Ming emperor Yongle, by Shih-shan Henry Tsa, p159
  9. ^ Du Halde, Jean-Baptiste (1735). Description géographique, historique, chronologique, politique et physique de l'empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise. Vol. IV. Paris: P.G. Lemercier. pp. 15–16. Numerous later editions are available as well, including one on Google Books. Du Halde refers to the Yongle-era fort, the predecessor of Aigun, as Aykom. There seem to be few, if any, mentions of this project in other available literature.
  10. ISBN 0-7914-2687-4
    .
  11. ^ (Sei Wada, ‘The Natives of the Lower reaches of the Amur as Represented in Chinese Records’, Memoirs of the Research Department of Toyo Bunko, no. 10, 1938, pp. 40‒102) (Shina no kisai ni arawaretaru Kokuryuko karyuiki no dojin 支那の記載に現はれたる黒龍江下流域の土人( The natives on the lower reaches of the Amur river as represented in Chinese records), Tõagaku 5, vol . 1, Sept. 1939.) Wada, ‘Natives of the Lower Reaches of the Amur River’, p. 82. The references in the documents are to a people called the ‘Chi-li-mi’ (the term generally used in early Chinese texts to refer to the Nivkh) living next to the Ku-wu (Ainu).
  12. ^ Morris-Suzuki, Tessa (November 15, 2020). "Indigenous Diplomacy: Sakhalin Ainu (Enchiw) in the Shaping of Modern East Asia (Part 1: Traders and Travellers)". Japan Focus: The Asia-Pacific Journal. 18 (22).
  13. ISBN 0520227360
    .
  14. ^ The Cambridge History of China: Volume 8, The Ming Dynasty, Part 2, by Denis C. Twitchett, Frederick W. Mote, p260
  15. ^ The Cambridge History of China: Volume 8, The Ming Dynasty, Part 2, by Denis C. Twitchett, Frederick W. Mote, p258
  16. ^ The Cambridge History of China: Volume 9, The Ch'ing Empire to 1800, Part 1, by Denis C. Twitchett, John K. Fairbank, p. 29
  17. ^ The Cambridge History of China: Volume 8, The Ming Dynasty, Part 2, by Denis C. Twitchett, Frederick W. Mote, p. 260
  18. ^ Hummel, Arthur W. Sr., ed. (1943). "Abahai" . Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period. United States Government Printing Office. p. 2.
  19. ^ Grossnick, Roy A. (1972). Early Manchu Recruitment of Chinese Scholar-officials. University of Wisconsin—Madison. p. 10.
  20. ISBN 9780888852168
    .
  21. ^ Hummel, Arthur W. Sr., ed. (1943). "Nurhaci" . Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period. United States Government Printing Office. p. 598.
  22. ^ The Augustan, Volumes 17–20. Augustan Society. 1975. p. 34.
  23. ISBN 978-0295802176
    .
  24. ISBN 978-1442221949
    .
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