Northeast China

Northeast China or Northeastern China (simplified Chinese: 东北; traditional Chinese: 東北; pinyin: Dōngběi) is a geographical region of China. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of the Greater Khingan Range, namely Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang, but historically is meant to also encompass the four easternmost prefectures of Inner Mongolia west of the Greater Khingan. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China, with an area of over 350,000 km² (140,000 sq mi). It is separated from Russian Far East to the north by the Amur, Argun, and Ussuri Rivers; from Korea to the south by the Yalu and Tumen Rivers; and from Inner Mongolia to the west by the Greater Khingan and parts of the Xiliao River.

Northeast China
Country	China
Area
• Total	791,826 km^2 (305,726 sq mi)
Population ^[1]	98,514,948
• Density	124/km^2 (320/sq mi)
GDP	2022^[2]
- Total	¥5.795 trillion $861.514 billion
- Per Capita	¥58,824 $8,746 (excluding Inner Mongolia)

Due to the shrinking of its once-powerful industrial sector and the decline of its economic growth and population, the region is often referred to as China's Rust Belt.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} As a result, a campaign named Northeast Area Revitalization Plan was launched in the 2000s by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, in which five prefectures of eastern Inner Mongolia, namely Hulunbuir, Hinggan, Tongliao, Chifeng and Xilin Gol, are also formally defined as regions of the Northeast.^[8]

Names

Further information: Etymology of Manchuria

Northeastern China is known in Chinese contexts as simply the Northeast or Dōngběi, from the Mandarin pronunciation of its Chinese name.

The name Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endonym and demonym "Manchu") of Japanese origin and was not used by the Manchus or Chinese people.^[9] The geographical term Manchuria was first used in the 18th or 19th century by Japan. "Manchuria "variations of which arrived in European languages through Dutch, is a calque from Latin of the Japanese placename Manshū (満州, "Region of the Manchus"), which dates from the 18th century.^[10] The toponym has since become associated with Japanese colonialism. Its use is considered controversial by some historians such as Mark C. Elliott, Norman Smith, and Mariko Asano Tamanoi who question its legitimacy.^[11][12] In China, areas once considered part of Manchuria are referred to as the Northeast.^[13][14]

The area was historically referred to by various names. During the Ming dynasty, the area in which the Jurchens lived was referred to as Nurgan.^[15] The Qing dynasty used names such as Guandong (simplified Chinese: 关东; traditional Chinese: 關東; pinyin: Guāndōng),^{[note 1]} East of the Pass) or the Three Provinces (東三省; 东三省; Dōngsānshěng) referring to Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Fengtian since 1683 when Heilongjiang was split from Jilin.^[16]

Administrative divisions

GB^[17]	ISO No.^[18]	Province	Chinese Name	Capital	Population	Density	Area (km^2)	Abbr.
Liáo	21	Liaoning	辽宁省 Liáoníng Shěng	Shenyang	43,746,323	299.83	145,900	LN	辽
Jí	22	Jilin	吉林省 Jílín Shěng	Changchun	27,462,297	146.54	191,126	JL	吉
Hēi	23	Heilongjiang	黑龙江省 Hēilóngjiāng Shěng	Harbin	38,312,224	84.38	454,800	HL	黑

Cities with urban area over one million in population

Provincial capitals in bold.

#	City	Urban area^[19]	District area^[19]	City proper^[19]	Prov.	Census date
1	Shenyang	5,718,232	6,255,921	8,106,171	LN	2010-11-01
2	Harbin	4,933,054	5,878,939	10,635,971	HL	2010-11-01
3	Dalian	3,902,467	4,087,733	6,690,432	LN	2010-11-01
4	Changchun	3,411,209	4,193,073	7,674,439	JL	2010-11-01
5	Anshan	1,504,996	1,544,084	3,645,884	LN	2010-11-01
6	Jilin	1,469,722	1,975,121	4,413,157	JL	2010-11-01
7	Daqing	1,433,698	1,649,825	2,904,532	HL	2010-11-01
8	Fushun	1,318,808	1,431,014	2,138,090	LN	2010-11-01
9	Qiqihar	1,314,720	1,553,788	5,367,003	HL	2010-11-01
10	Benxi	1,000,128	1,094,294	1,709,538	LN	2010-11-01

History

Main article: History of Manchuria

 

A wooden Bodhisattva statue from the Jin dynasty now housed in Shanghai Museum

Northeast China was the homeland of several ethnic groups, including the Koreans, 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 Northeast China. The region came under the rule of various states throughout history, including Yan, Gija Joseon, Wiman Joseon, Buyeo, Western Han, Goguryeo, Xin dynasty, Eastern Han, Gongsun Yan, Cao Wei, Western Jin, Former Yan, Former Qin, Later Yan, Tang dynasty, Wu Zhou, Balhae, Liao dynasty, Jin dynasty, Eastern Liao, Later Liao, Eastern Xia, Mongol Empire, Yuan dynasty, Northern Yuan, Ming dynasty, Qing dynasty, and Republic of China.

During the late Qing dynasty, 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 the Republic of China, Zhang Zuolin established himself in Northeast China, but was murdered by the Japanese for being too independent. The last Qing 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" (simplified Chinese: 闯关东; traditional Chinese: 闖關東; lit. 'venture into the east of the Pass'). Northeast China historically had a significant Han Chinese population, reaching over 3 million by the end of the Ming Dynasty, but they were subjected to eviction and assimilation by the conquest of the Qing Dynasty, who then set up Willow Palisades during the reign of Shunzhi Emperor and prohibited any settlement of Han Chinese into the region. Despite officially prohibiting Han Chinese settlement, by the 18th century the Qing decided to settle Han into the Northeast so that Han Chinese farmed 500,000 hectares in the region by the 1780s.^{[20][21][22][23][24]} Besides moving into the Liao area in southern Manchuria, the path linking Jinzhou, Fengtian, Tieling, Changchun, Hulun, and Ningguta was settled by Han Chinese during the Qianlong Emperor's reign, and Han Chinese were the majority in urban areas of Manchuria by 1800.^[25][26] This resulted in the local Han Chinese population growing to 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 at 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, and Kyrgyz. Located in the Northeast is the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture where ethnic Koreans make up roughly 35% of the population.^[27]

Religion

Main article: Religion in Northeast China

Taoism and Chinese Buddhism coexist alongside predominating Chinese folk religions led by local shamans. 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). 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 has experienced difficulty distancing itself from a planned economy, a legacy that began in 1905 with the establishment of the Japanese sphere of influence there. The region's once-abundant raw materials have also depleted and the economy has suffered from bureaucratic inefficiency and protectionist politics.^[28]

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 Northeast is an important breadbasket region of China, as the Northeast China Plain has the largest stretch of arable flatland in the country, with an abundance of fertile black soil. The rural population heavily concentrated in the warmer southern part of the Northeast, 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 fisheries, 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 Anshan Iron and Steel Works was the most important industrial enterprise in northeast China until the discovery of the Daqing oil field in 1959.^[29]: 38

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.^{[30][needs update]}

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, the hometowns of most of the Han Chinese who migrated into Northeast China during the Chuang Guandong. Northeast China also takes cultural inspiration from the Tungusic peoples.

Dialects

There are two main dialects of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Northeast China.

The most widely spoken dialect is Northeastern Mandarin (called dongbeihua or 东北话), which is a very slight variant of the Standard Chinese but retains sporadic elements from native Tungusic languages, Korean and Russian.^{[citation needed]} There are enough differences from Mandarin to give dongbeihua its own distinctive characteristics.

The second dialect is Jiaoliao Mandarin, which is actually a Shandong dialect. Many residents in the southern fringe of the Liaodong region (mostly in Dalian and Dandong) speak Jiaoliao 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. Ethnic Mongols tend to be bilingual in their own Mongolian tongues as well as Mandarin.

Cuisine

Northeastern Chinese cuisine reflects the region's ethnic diversity, blending Northern Han, Manchu and Korean cooking styles. 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.^[31] Whereas rice is widely grown in south China, millet, wheat, and noodles are consumed more in Northeast China. 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 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.

Film, music, and literature

In 2019, the term Dongbei renaissance was coined by the rapper Gem to describe a revival in interest in the culture of the Northeast after his song Yelang Disco went viral. Artwork associated with the Dongbei renaissance often incorporates nostalgia for the "corny" aesthetics of the 1970s boom period of the Northeast, self-deprecating humor, and speculations on the decline and potential future of the economically depressed region. Notable works associated with the movement include Shuang Xuetao's fiction collection Moses on the Plain and the Diao Yinan film Black Coal, Thin Ice.^[32]

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)

See also

• Northeast Area Revitalization Plan
• Outer Manchuria

Notes

1. Not to be confused with the unrelated Guangdong.

References

Citations

1. . National Bureau of Statistics of China. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021.
2. GDP-2022 is a preliminary data "Home - Regional - Quarterly by Province" (Press release). China NBS.
3. . Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
4. "China Has Its Own Rust Belt, And It's Getting Left Behind As The Country Prospers". Forbes.
5. "Northeast China: Still Waiting for Regionalism". The Diplomat.
6. "China's rust belt population plummeted in last decade, exacerbating regional economic divide". South China Morning Post. 14 May 2021.
7. "China census reveals the true scale of the Northeast's decline". andrewbatson. 12 May 2021.
8. "Northeast Revitalization Plan (2007)". State Council of the People's Republic of China. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
9. Giles 1912, p. 8 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGiles1912 (help).
10. Nakami Tatsuo. "Qing China's Northeast Crescent: The Great Game." The Russo-Japanese War in Global Perspective: World War Zero, Volume 2. David Wolff et al., eds. Brill, 2005. p. 514. 16 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine ISBN 9789004154162"The use of the term 'Manchuria' as a place-name had begun with the Japanese in the eighteenth century, and it was later introduced to Europe by Philipp Franz von Siebold" [1796–1866].
11. Tamanoi 2000 2 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine, p. 249.
12. Smith 2012 16 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine, p. 219.
13. *Tamanoi, Mariko (2009). Memory Maps: The State and Manchuria in Postwar Japan. University of Hawaii Press. p. 10.
    • Nishimura, Hirokazu; Kuroda, Susumu (2009). A Lost Mathematician, Takeo Nakasawa: The Forgotten Father of Matroid Theory. Springer. p. 15.
14. Philippe Forêt (January 2000). Mapping Chengde: The Qing Landscape Enterprise. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 16–. ISBN 978-0-8248-2293-4.
15. Crossley 1999 16 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine, p. 55.
16. Clausen 1995, p. 7 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFClausen1995 (help)
17. GB/T 2260 codes for the provinces of China
18. ISO 3166-2:CN (ISO 3166-2 codes for the provinces of China)
19. 国务院人口普查办公室; 国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司, eds. (2012). 中国2010年人口普查分县资料. Beijing: China Statistics Press. ISBN 978-7-5037-6659-6.
20. Reardon-Anderson 2000, p. 504.
21. Reardon-Anderson 2000, p. 505.
22. Reardon-Anderson 2000, p. 506.
23. Scharping 1998, p. 18.
24. Reardon-Anderson 2000, p. 507.
25. Reardon-Anderson 2000, p. 508.
26. Reardon-Anderson 2000, p. 509.
27. Andrei Lankov (June 3, 2013). "The 'third Korea' Yanbian in decline". THEAsiaN. from the original on February 24, 2022.
28. Chan, Elaine (2019-05-06). "China's Northeastern rust belt was once 'eldest son', now struggling as runt of the litter". China Economy. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
29. Hou, Li (2021). Building for Oil: Daqing and the Formation of the Chinese Socialist State. Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series. Cambridge, Massachussetts: Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 978-0-674-26022-1.
30. Li Yongfeng (24 September 2015). "Central Planning Got the Northeast in Trouble – and Won't Save It". Caixin. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
31. Y. H. Hui; E. Özgül Evranuz (May 17, 2012). Handbook of Plant-Based Fermented Food and Beverage Technology, Second Edition. CRC Press. p. 58. ISBN 9781439849040.
32. Tone, Sixth (July 31, 2023). "As China's Economy Wobbles, Its Rust Belt Is Having a Moment". #SixthTone. Retrieved 2023-08-30.

Sources

• 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 Flora of China Northeast and Geography of China Northeast.

 

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Northeast China.

• The Provincial Government of Heilongjiang