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Northeast China
Northeast China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning) Portions of Inner Mongolia included in light red
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	中国东北
Traditional Chinese	中國東北
Literal meaning	China Northeast
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó Dōngběi Wade–Giles Chungkuo Tungpei IPA [ʈʂʊ́ŋkwǒ tʊ́ŋpèi]
Alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	东北三省
Traditional Chinese	東北三省
Literal meaning	Three Northeastern Provinces
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dōngběi Sānshěng
Manchuria
Simplified Chinese	满洲
Traditional Chinese	滿洲
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Mǎnzhōu
Guandong
Simplified Chinese	关东
Traditional Chinese	關東
Literal meaning	pass east
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guāndōng
Manchu name
Manchu script	.mw-parser-output .font-mong{font-family:"Menk Hawang Tig","Menk Qagan Tig","Menk Garqag Tig","Menk Har_a Tig","Menk Scnin Tig","Oyun Gurban Ulus Tig","Oyun Qagan Tig","Oyun Garqag Tig","Oyun Har_a Tig","Oyun Scnin Tig","Oyun Agula Tig","Mongolian Baiti","Noto Sans Mongolian","Mongolian Universal White","Mongol Usug","Mongolian White","MongolianScript","Code2000","Menksoft Qagan"}.mw-parser-output .font-mong-mnc,.mw-parser-output .font-mong:lang(mnc-Mong),.mw-parser-output .font-mong:lang(dta-Mong),.mw-parser-output .font-mong:lang(sjo-Mong){font-family:"Abkai Xanyan","Abkai Xanyan LA","Abkai Xanyan VT","Abkai Xanyan XX","Abkai Xanyan SC","Abkai Buleku","Daicing White","Mongolian Baiti","Noto Sans Mongolian","Mongolian Universal White"} ᡩᡝᡵᡤᡳ ᡳᠯᠠᠨ ᡤᠣᠯᠣ
Romanization	Dergi ilan golo

Northeast China (Chinese: 中国东北) or Dongbei is a geographical region of China. It also historically corresponds with the term Inner Manchuria^[a] in the English language. It consists specifically of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang, collectively referred as the Three Northeastern Provinces (东北三省), but broadly also encompasses the eastern part of Inner Mongolia.^[b] The region is separated from Far Eastern Russia to the north largely by the Amur, Argun, and Ussuri rivers, from North Korea to the south by the Yalu River and Tumen River, and from the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region to the west by the Greater Khingan Range. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain.

Due to the shrinking of its once-powerful industrial sector and decline of its economic growth, the region is called the Rust Belt in China.^[1]
As the result, a campaign named Northeast Area Revitalization Plan has been launched by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, in which five prefecture-level cities of eastern Inner Mongolia, namely Xilin Gol, Chifeng, Tongliao, Hinggan, and Hulunbuir, are also formally defined as regions of the Northeast.^[2] The region is nearly congruent with some definitions of "Manchuria" in historical foreign usage.^[c]

Another term for the area is Guandong (关东), meaning "east of the Pass", referring to the famous Shanhai Pass between Liaoning Province and the neighboring Hebei Province (and also North China) to the west. This name was also used by the occupying Japanese colonists referring to their leased territory of Dalian after the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, as the Kwantung Chou (関東州), which gave name to the occupying Kwantung Army that was later mobilized to set up the puppet state of Manchukuo.

Administrative divisions

Cities with urban area over one million in population

Provincial capitals in bold.

History

Part of a series on the
History of Manchuria
Ancient period Early tribes Dangun Joseon Gija Joseon Wiman Joseon Yan Han dynasty Sushen Donghu Wuhuan Xianbei state Cao Wei Buyeo Goguryeo Sima Jin dynasty Yuwen Former Yan Former Qin Later Yan Northern Yan Kumo Xi Khitan Northern Wei Mohe Shiwei
Medieval period Tang Protectorate Balhae Liao dynasty Jurchen Jin dynasty Yuan rule Northern Yuan dynasty Ming rule Qing rule
Modern period Republic of China (Fengtian Clique) Russian Empire Far Eastern Republic Green Ukraine Manchukuo Soviet Union P.R. China (Northeast China) Russia (Outer Manchuria)
v t e

A wooden Bodhisattva statue, Jin dynasty, Shanghai Museum

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

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

Demographics

Northeast China has a total population of about 107,400,000 people, accounting for 8% of China’s total population. The overwhelming majority of the population in the Northeast is Han Chinese, many of whose ancestors came in the 19th and 20th centuries during a migration movement called "Chuang Guandong" (Chinese: 闖關東; literally: 'venture into the east of the Pass'). Northeast China historically had a significant Han Chinese population, reaching over 3 million by the end of Ming Dynasty, but they were subjected to cleansing, eviction and assimilation by the conquest of the Manchu Qing Dynasty , who then set up Willow Palisades during the reign of Shunzhi Emperor and prohibited any settlement of Han Chinese into the region. The Northeast then remained sparsely populated until the ban was finally lifted during the late Qing in response to the Russian incursions into Outer Manchuria (which resulted in the region's annexation by Russia after the Treaty of Aigun), and a large influx of migrant settlers, mainly landless peasants from the nearby Hebei and Shandong provinces, came in a scale equivalent to the 19th century American westward expansion, resulting in the local Han Chinese population to grow over 20 million before the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China at the end of the Chinese Civil War, further immigrations were organized by the Central Government to "develop the Great Northern Wilderness" (开发北大荒), eventually peaking the population over 100 million people.

Because most people in Northeast China trace their ancestries back to the migrants from the Chuang Guandong era, Northeastern Chinese were more culturally uniform compared to other geographical regions of China. People from the Northeast would first identify themselves as "Northeasterners" (东北人) before affiliating to individual provinces and cities/towns.

Ethnic Manchus form the second significant ethnic group in Northeast China, followed by the Mongols, Koreans, and the Huis, as well as 49 other ethnic minorities such as Daurs, Sibos, Hezhens, Oroqens, Evenks, Kyrgyz, etc.

Religion

Taoism and Chinese Buddhism were never well established in this region - instead Chinese folk religions led by local shamans predominate. The region has also a strong presence of folk religions and Confucian churches.

Economy

The Northeast was one of the earliest regions to industrialize in China during the era of Manchukuo. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Northeast China continued to be a major industrial base of the country, and has been hailed as "the Republic's eldest son" (共和国长子)^{[citation needed]}. Recent years, however, have seen the stagnation of Northeast China's heavy-industry-based economy, as China's economy continues to liberalize and privatize; the government has initialized the Revitalize the Northeast campaign to counter this problem, and established the Northeast Summit to improve policy coordination and integration.

The region is, on the whole, more heavily urbanised than most parts of China, largely because it was the first part of the country to develop heavy industry owing to its abundant coal reserves. Major cities include Shenyang, Dalian, Harbin, Changchun and Anshan, all with several million inhabitants. Other cities include the steel making centres of Fushun and Anshan in Liaoning, Jilin City in Jilin, and Qiqihar and Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang. Harbin, more than any other city in China, possesses significant Russian influences: there are many Orthodox churches that have fallen out of use since the Cultural Revolution. Shenyang and Dalian, meanwhile, have sizable populations of Japanese and South Koreans due to their traditional linkages.

The rural population of the Northeast is heavily concentrated in the warmer southern part of the area, where very warm to hot summer weather permits crops such as maize and millet to be grown with high yields. Soybeans and flax are also very important, as are wheat and barley. The region possesses large flocks of sheep, and pigs are abundant in the more densely settled southern part. The northern half of Heilongjiang is so cold and poorly drained that agriculture is almost impossible; however, the Amur River provides very rich fishing prospects, and sheep are even more abundant than in southern Heilongjiang.

Northeast China is the country’s traditional industrial base, focusing mainly on equipment manufacturing. Major industries include the steel, automobile, shipbuilding, aircraft manufacturing, and petroleum refining industries. The gross regional product of the three northeast provinces totaled ¥1.63 trillion in 2002. In recent years, the Chinese government has initialized the "Revitalize the Northeast campaign" to turn this region into one of China's economic growth engines. As of 2015 the region was losing population and the economy, dominated by state-owned enterprises, was stagnant.^[6]

Culture

Dalian Hotel at Zhongshan Square in Dalian

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

Dialects

There are two main dialects of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Northeast China. The dialect spoken in the majority of the Northeast is the Northeastern Mandarin, which is a very slight variant of the Standard Chinese but retains sporadic elements from native Tungusic languages, Japanese and Russian, where there are enough differences to give the dialect its own distinctive characteristics. However many residents in the southern fringe of the Liaodong region (mostly in Dalian and Dandong) speak the Jiaoliao Mandarin, which is actually a Shandong dialect.

Ethnic Manchus speak mostly Mandarin, and the Manchu language is almost extinct due to widespread assimilation to Han culture over the last four centuries. Mongols tend to be bilingual in their own Mongolian tongues as well as Mandarin.

Cuisine

Northeastern Chinese cuisine reflects the region's ethnic diversity. Native, Manchu, Northern Chinese, Russian, Korean and Japanese cooking styles all find their traces in Manchurian cooking. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the cuisine is the use of uncooked fresh vegetables. During the long winter season, pickled Chinese cabbage, which is called "Suan Cai", is preserved and used for cooking. In almost every other region of China, vegetables are cooked thoroughly before being eaten. Most of the meat dishes are based around Pork due to how cold it can get. Often braised pork or dumplings are the main attraction of a meal. This region's often cold climate makes it hard to grow or produce much of anything and growing seasons are correspondingly very short.

Folk dance and sports

Errenzhuan, yangge, Jilin opera and stilts are popular forms of traditional entertainment in Northeast China. "Northeastern Cradle Song" is an example of the folk songs of this region.

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

Major universities

• 
  Jilin University (吉林大学)


• 
  Northeast Agricultural University（东北农业大学）


• 
  Northeast Normal University (东北师范大学)


• 
  Harbin Institute of Technology (哈尔滨工业大学）


• 
  Northeastern University (东北大学)


• 
  Liaoning University (辽宁大学)


• 
  Shenyang Agricultural University (沈阳农业大学)


• 
  Shenyang University of Chemical Technology (沈阳化工大学)


• 
  Dalian University of Technology (大连理工大学)


• 
  Dalian Maritime University (大连海事大学)


• 
  Northeast Forestry University (东北林业大学)


• 
  Shenyang Normal University (沈阳师范大学)


• 
  Changchun University of Science and Technology (长春理工大学)


• 
  Northeast Petroleum University (东北石油大学)


• 
  Shenyang Aerospace University (沈阳航空航天大学)


• 
  Harbin Engineering University (哈尔滨工程大学)


• 
  Heilongjiang University (黑龙江大学)


• 
  Dongbei University of Finance and Economics (东北财经大学)

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Thomas R. Gottschang and Diana Lary: Swallows and Settlers - The Great Migration from North China to Manchuria, Centre for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 2000
  ISBN 0-89264-134-7
  


• 
  Michael Meyer: In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China, Bloomsbury Press, 2015,
  ISBN 978-1620402863
  


• Lenore Lamont Zissermann: Mitya's Harbin; Majesty and Menace, Book Publishers Network, 2016,
  ISBN 978-1-940598-75-8
  

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to China Northeast, Flora of China Northeast and Geography of China Northeast.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Northeast China.

• The Provincial Government of Liaoning


• The Provincial Government of Heilongjiang


• The Provincial Government of Jilin