World of the Manchu

The Manchu people have their own language, although it is a Tungusic language. Their language is "Standard Manchu," named after their own people. Standard Manchu was made uniform by the Qianlong Emperor; he required the Manchu people to speak in Manchu or else they were reprimanded for speaking otherwise. Nowadays most Manchu speak Standard Chinese and the number of Manchu who speak the original language continues to lessen. Even though the number of Manchu people speaking standard Manchu is declining, Manchu classes are offered in schools.

Manchus are known to practice traditional activities still to this day. Some activities practiced are: riding and archery, wrestling, and falconry. Riding and archery was taken very seriously by the Qing dynasty, it was regarded as the most important tradition practiced. Manchus were tested and graded on their ability in riding and archery. How they performed in this also affected their rank in nobility. As for Manchu wrestling, it began during the Jin dynasty adopted from the Mongols. Rulers of the Jin and Qing dynasties encouraged the wrestling to be mandated as part of military training. Falconry is a major traditional practice that is still alive today in the Manchu culture.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchu_people#Manchu_wrestling

Manchuria: Homeland of the Manchu

Located in the Northeastern corner of China right above the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria is the homeland of the Manchu people. Nowadays Manchuria is referred to as Northeast China by the Chinese. But outside of China the land is widely known as Manchuria for its history and tradition. This land consists of the Chinese cities of Harbin, Changchun, and Shenyang. Some parts of Manchuria are bounded by Russian territory (northwest, north, east.)

Manchuria

Manchuria's climate ranges from humid, tropical-like heat in the summer to windy dry arctic cold in the winter. Due to its location by the Pacific Ocean and the Eurasian landmass there is complete wind reversal causing the climate range. In the winter in northern Manchuria temperatures can drop as low as −22°F and in the summer the temperatures do not get ridiculously high as the average high is 88°F.

Flag of Japanese ruled Manchukuo

When referring to their homeland, the Manchu never called their home "Manchuria." Manchuria is also known for being taken from the Chinese by the Japanese during World War II. The Japanese called it Manchukuo from 1932-1934 and called it the Great Empire of Manchukuo from 1934-1945. Under Japanese control, not only did Manchuria's name change but its flag did as well. In 1945, Soviet Russia ceased control of Manchukuo from the Japanese and transferred Manchuria back to Chinese control.








Sources:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/361449/Manchuria/4542/Manchuria-to-about-1900
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchuria#Geography_and_climate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo

Pictures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Manchuria.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo

History of the Manchu

Qing Dynasty flag

Descendants of the Jurchen people and the Jin dynasty (1115-1234), the Manchu are from the northeastern region of China; also known as Manchuria. The Manchu also founded the Qing dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 to 1910. The Jin dynasty fell by the means of Genghis Khan and the Mongols. The Qing dynasty was ruined by Western imperialism and Japanese expansion onto Chinese mainland in the early 1900s. The name "Manchu" is believed to come from Hong Taiji. Taiji forbade the culture to be called "Jurchen" in 1636. He came up with "Manchu" in honor of his father, Nurhachi, who believed himself to be a reincarnation of the bodhisattva of wisdom Manjushri. Another theory of where the "Manchu" name came from is based from the Manchu word mangun (river).

Ghengis Khan

The Manchu were pastoralist people, which is a social organization based on livestock raising as the primary economic activity. They are very skilled in horsemanship and archery. Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty would stage annual hunts as a nod to their tradition. They came up with a traditional hairstyle known as the "queue" on Han Chinese men. 

In 1952, the Republic of China recognized the Manchu as one of it's ethnic minorities. In the 1953 census, 2.5 million people identified themselves as Manchu background. After the fall of Nationalist Government (KMT), Communist China looked to improve the treatment and living of the Manchu.

Nationalist Government Emblem

More Manchu people became comfortable to expose themselves as Manchu than before during the KMT. Between the years of 1982 and 1990, the Manchu became China's fastest growing minority as the count of the Manchu people increased from 4,299,159 to 9,821,180. 



Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchu#History 
http://asianhistory.about.com/od/glossaryko/g/Who-Are-The-Manchu.htm 

Pictures:
http://flagartist.com/art/svg/flags/china-qing-dynasty-flag-1889-flags-of-the-world-openclipart-
org-commons-wikimedia-org/ 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalist_Government

Introduction to the Manchu Culture

In this blog you will be reading about the Manchu culture. I intend on learning a great amount of information and I look forward to sharing my newly acquired knowledge upon my readers. It is important to take other peoples lives into consideration and see how other people live compared to ourselves. I encourage readers and other bloggers to continue reading the content posted in this blog to learn more about this culture they may not be so familiar with. Below are the topics i will be covering within this blog:

• History of the Manchu
• Manchuria: Homeland of the Manchu
• World of the Manchu
• Manchu Cosmos
• Birds of Manchu
• Manchu & Neighboring Cultures
• Manchu Diaspora
• Cultural Survival
• Manchu Folk Art & Literature
• References