Brief Introduction of Manchu Ethnic Group

Man nationality coming out of Mt.Changpai and the Amur River

Man nationality is one of the minorities in China. Nowadays, there are more than 9.82 million people of Man in all, most of which live in the three northeast provinces. Thereinto, the Man population living in Liaoning province is the largest and there are also some living in the middle and large cities of China.

Man nationality has a long history. Its ancestors can be traced to the Nuchen nationality from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the Mohe nationality of the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, the Wuji nationality of the Northern Dynasties, the Yilou nationality of the Han Dynasty and the Sushen nationality around the Shang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, the leader of the Jian state Nuchen nationality, Nurhachi, unified the various tribes of Nunchen, found the “Eight Banner” system, and established the Posterior Jin power in the forty-fourth year of Wanli period (1616 BC). In the ninth year of Tiancong period (1635), HuangTaiJi abolished the old name of the nationality and adopted “Manchuria” as the new name. In the first year of Chongde period (1636 BC), the name of Posterior Jin was changed into Qing. In the first year of Shunzhi period (1644), the army of Qing forced into Shanhaiguan and took over the central power. Beijing was set as the capital. After the Revolution of 1911, the nationality was called “Man nationality” generally. The Qing Dynasty founded by the ruling class of Man nationality was on behalf of Chinese feudal landlords and ruled China for over 260 years. During this period, the most outstanding emperors who contributed a lot to the history were Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong.

Man nationality has its own language and features. Manchu language belongs to the Manchu division of Manchu-Tungus group in Altai phylum. Manchu language was born out of Mongolian, based on the letter “u”. Later, a circle or a dot was added on the right of the letter and this was called “Manchu language with a circle or dot” or “new Manchu language” in history. Since the Qing Dynasty, a large number of Manchu had immigrated into the central plains area, which resulted in the close communication with Han nationality in economics, culture and living, so Manchu gradually learned Chinese.

Manchu mainly worked on agriculture. Those Manchu who resided dispersedly in the cities mainly worked on industry, culture and science. Manchu paid a lot of attention to education, advocated science and were good at learning. There are many literati coming from Manchu. Man nationality has made an outstanding contribution to the enrichment and the development of science and art of the Chinese Nation.