Modern times Manchu people

jin qicong, scholar of manchu , jurchen in 1930s



women of manchu nobility, 1900s

many manchu bannermen in beijing supported boxers in boxer rebellion , shared anti-foreign sentiment. manchu bannermen devastated fighting during first sino-japanese war , boxer rebellion, sustaining massive casualties sustained during wars , subsequently being driven extreme suffering , hardship. of fighting in boxer rebellion against foreigners in defense of beijing , manchuria done manchu banner armies, destroyed while resisting invasion. german minister clemens von ketteler assassinated manchu. thousands of manchus fled south aigun during fighting in boxer rebellion in 1900, cattle , horses stolen russian cossacks razed villages , homes. clan system of manchus in aigun obliterated despoliation of area @ hands of russian invaders.

by 19th century, manchus in city garrisons no longer spoke manchu, instead spoke beijing dialect of mandarin chinese or standard chinese- still marked them out distinctive compared han neighbors in southern china spoke non-mandarin dialects. fact spoke beijing dialect (but not manchu) made recognizing manchus relatively easy. northern standard chinese manchu bannermen spoke instead of local dialect han people around garrison spoke, manchus in garrisons @ jingzhou , guangzhou both spoke mandarin despite fact cantonese spoken @ guangzhou, , beijing dialect marked out manchu bannermen @ xi garrison apart other people. many manchu bannermen got jobs mandarin teachers, writing textbooks learning mandarin , instructing people in mandarin. in guangdong, manchu mandarin teacher sun yizun advised yinyun chanwei , kangxi zidian, dictionaries issued qing government, correct guides mandarin pronunciation, rather pronunciation of beijing , nanjing dialects. teaching beijing dialect, kyugaigo, japanese foreign language school, hired manchu in 1876.

the han chinese li guojie, grandson of li hongzhang, married manchu daughter of natong (那桐), grand secretary (大學士). intermarriage consisted of han bannermen marrying manchus in areas aihun. han chinese bannermen wedded manchus , there no law against this.

as end of qing dynasty approached, manchus portrayed outside colonizers chinese nationalists such sun yat-sen, though republican revolution brought supported many reform-minded manchu officials , military officers. portrayal dissipated after 1911 revolution new republic of china sought include manchus within national identity. in order blend in, manchus switched speaking local dialect instead of standard chinese.

manchu young man dressed in traditional clothes

by years of republic of china, few areas of china still had traditional manchu populations. among few regions such comparatively traditional communities found, , manchu language still spoken, aigun (manchu: ᠠᡳ᠌ᡥᡡᠨ; möllendorff: aihūn; abkai: aihvn) district , qiqihar (manchu: ᠴᡳᠴᡳᡤᠠᡵ; möllendorff: cicigar; abkai: qiqigar) district of heilongjiang province.

until 1924, chinese government continued pay stipends manchu bannermen; however, many cut links banners , took on han-style names in shame avoid persecution. official total of manchus fell more half during period, refused admit ethnicity when asked government officials or other outsiders. on other hand, in warlord zhang zuolin s reign in manchuria, better treatment situation of manchus in mainland china reported. there not particular persecutions towards manchus. mausoleums of qing emperors still allowed managed manchu guardsmen in past. in case, many manchus joined fengtian clique, such xi qia member of qing dynasty s imperial clan.

as follow-up action mukden incident, manchukuo, puppet state in manchuria, created empire of japan nominally ruled deposed last emperor, puyi, in 1932. although nation s name implied manchu affiliation, new country ethnicities in manchuria, had majority han population , opposed many manchus people of other ethnicities fought against japan in second sino-japanese war, too. japanese ueda kyōsuke labelled 30 million people in manchuria manchus , including han chinese, despite fact of them not ethnic manchu, , japanese-written great manchukuo built upon ueda s argument claim 30 million manchus in manchukuo had right independence justify splitting manchukuo china. in 1942 japanese-written ten year history of construction of manchukuo attempted emphasize right of ethnic japanese land of manchukuo while attempting de-legitimize manchus claim manchukuo native land, noting manchus moved out during qing dynasty , returned later.

in 1952, after failure of both manchukuo , nationalist government (kmt), newborn people s republic of china officially recognized manchu 1 of ethnic minorities in 1952. in 1953 census, 2.5 million people identified manchu. communist government attempted improve treatment of manchu people; manchu people had hidden ancestry during period of kmt rule became more comfortable reveal ancestry, such writer lao she, began include manchu characters in fictional works in 1950s. between 1982 , 1990, official count of manchu people more doubled 4,299,159 9,821,180, making them china s fastest-growing ethnic minority. in fact, however, growth not due natural increase, instead people formerly registered han applying official recognition manchu. since 1980s, thirteen manchu autonomous counties have been created in liaoning, jilin, hebei , heilongjiang.

the 8 banners system 1 of important ethnic identity of today s manchu people. nowadays, manchus more ethnic coalition not contains descendants of manchu bannermen, has large number of manchu-assimilated chinese , mongol bannermen. however, solon , sibe bannermen considered part of 8 banner system under qing dynasty registered independent ethnic groups prc government daur, evenk, nanai, oroqen, , sibe.

since 1980s, reform after cultural revolution, there has been renaissance of manchu culture , language among government, scholars , social activities remarkable achievements. reported resurgence of interest spread among han chinese.