Manchu

For the 1/9, 2/9 Infantry Regiments of the U.S. Army, see U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment.

) are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria (today's Northeast China). During the Manchu conquest in the 17th century, they conquered Ming Dynasty China and founded the Qing Empire in its place. The Qing Empire ruled China until its abolition in 1912 in the Chinese Xinhai Revolution, which established the Republic of China in its place.

Manchus have largely assimilated with the Han Chinese, a mutual process that changed many elements of both ethnicities. The Manchu language is almost extinct, being spoken only among a small number of elderly people in remote rural areas of northeastern China and a few scholars; there are around 10,000 or so speakers of Sibe (Xibo), an innovative Manchu dialect spoken in the Ili region of Xinjiang. In recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in Manchu culture among both ethnic Manchus and Han Chinese. The number of Chinese today with some Manchu ancestry is quite large, although the bulk identify themselves as Han Chinese. The adoption of favourable policies towards ethnic minorities (such as preferential university admission and government employment opportunities) has also encouraged some people with mixed Han Chinese and Manchu ancestry to re-identify themselves as Manchu.

Origins

According to P. Huang the prehistoric ancestors of the Manchu were at least the peoples of the Yellow River valley, the Mongolian steppes, the Pacific coast and the taiga area around Lake Baikal. The first ancestors of the Manchu were the Sushen a people who lived during the 2nd and 1st millennia BC. They were followed by I-lou people were active during 202 BC.-220 AD. The Wu-chi followed in the 5th century and the tribes of the Mohe in the 6th century. One of the tribes of the Mohe the heishui tribe eventually became the ancestors of the Jurchens.Huang, P: "New Light on the origins of the Manchu.", page 239-282. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies,vol 50, no.1 1990 Retrieved from JSTOR database July 18, 2006The Manchus were descendants of the Jurchens, who had conquered a vast area in northeastern Asia in the twelfth century and established the Jinn Dynasty (literally Golden Dynasty) under the Wanyan clan that ruled over Manchuria and the northern half of China until being conquered and destroyed by the Mongols under Genghis Khan. The name Manchu was formally adopted by Nurhaci of the Jianzhou Jurchens in 1635, though it may have been in use as early as 1605. Nurhaci originated in present-day North Korea near the Paektu/Changbai Mountains. Nurhaci's son Hong Taiji decided the Jurchens would call themselves Manchus and prohibited the use of the name Jurchen.

The Manchu language is a member of the Tungusic language group, itself a member of the disputed Altaic language family (and hypothetically related to the Korean, Mongolic and Turkic languages).

The early significance of Manchu has not been established satisfactorily, although it seems that it may have been an old term for the Jianzhou Jurchens. One theory claims that the name came from the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī (the Bodhisattva of Wisdom), of which Nurhaci claimed to be an incarnation. Another theory is that the Manchus, like a number of other Tungusic peoples, take their name from the common Tungusic word mangu(n), 'a great river'. Before the seventeenth century, the ancestors of the Manchus were generally a pastoral people, hunting, fishing and engaging in limited agriculture and pig-farming.

Politically, Prime Yellow Banner was of great importance as the ruling Aisin Gioro (Chinese Aixin Jueluo) were Prime Yellow Banners. Because of the exalted place in Manchu spirituality held by the Moon Goddess, the White Banner held a very special significance and membership to it was often related to matters of religion. A woman born to the White Banner was presumed to be spiritually gifted. Shamans or those of shamanic potential were required to be white banner--either by birth or by adoption to white banner earned through rigorous tests for spiritual ability. Once ordained, the Manchu shaman was considered a holy vessel of great wisdom with the female shamans considered of greater spiritual power compared to their male counterparts.

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Plaque at the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, in both Chinese (left) and Manchu (right)