preface
There is a people who originated 3,000 years ago, established the Qing Dynasty, eliminated the Northern Song Dynasty, and finally "disappeared" for 400 years.
What is the reason for this, and what happened 400 years after this disappearance?
The Jurchens flourished
The Jurchens originated from a minority group in the northeast 3,000 years ago and belonged to the Tungusic people. There are many other ethnic groups in the area.
Over time, some of the Tungusic people united with the surrounding Manchus, the predecessors of the current Manchus.
In 907, the Khitan rose and established the Liao state, and as the territory of the Liao state expanded, the Jurchens were also included in and administered by it, but the Liao monarch often suppressed the Jurchens, and the Jurchens were miserable at that time.
It was not until 1115 that the Jurchen leader Chengyan Ah Bone unified the tribe and formally established the Jin Kingdom. Ten years later, the Jin State destroyed the Liao State and attacked the Northern Song Dynasty.
The people of the Song Dynasty valued literature over martial arts, loved poetry and song, and compared with the nomadic Jurchens, their combat effectiveness could not be directly proportional.
In 1127, the Northern Song Dynasty was captured by the Jurchens, and some of the remaining Song dynasties moved south to establish the Southern Song Dynasty, but the Jurchens still pursued and fought fiercely.
The system of the Song Dynasty was huge, and a single Jurchen could not completely overthrow it, when many northern nomads such as Mongols and Jurchens joined forces to completely end the rule of the Song Dynasty.
But after that, the Jin Kingdom ruled by the Jurchens seemed to "float" and gradually became arrogant, which also caused the Jurchens to "disappear" for a full 400 years.
The truth that disappeared for 400 years
After the elimination of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jurchens tasted the sweetness of their power and began to drink to their ally Mongolia, and even occasionally suppressed and teased, just as the original Liao state treated itself.
Under such a high-pressure life, Mongolia finally couldn't help it, Genghis Khan stood up, united with Mongolian tribes, and repelled the Jurchen people far away in the Central Plains to their hometown in the north.
According to historical records, there were more than 7 million Jurchens before the war, but after this war, less than 100,000 remained, and such a cruel war almost wiped out the Jurchens.
It was also at this time that the Jurchens really realized what it was to be happy and sad, and could only retreat to the northeast and watch Genghis Khan establish the Yuan Dynasty and live under the rule of the Mongols.
Based on the unfriendly relationship before, the Yuan Dynasty monitored the Jurchens with high intensity, and set up a series of management departments in the places where the Jurchens gathered, strictly controlling their every move.
In this way, year by year, the Jurchens fell silent like stagnant water, and the Yuan Dynasty gradually relaxed its vigilance.
Although the Jurchens did not make trouble again, the Yuan Dynasty also had another headache, that is, Zhu Yuanzhang.
Recovery after 400 years
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang rebelled and overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty, and the Jurchen leader Aisin Juelo Mengtemu came to the Ming Dynasty to meet Zhu Yuanzhang.
This move caused dissatisfaction among many other royal families, and the Goryeo clan was the most vocal of them, and they jointly wrote a letter hoping that Zhu Yuanzhang would not receive the Jurchens, but Zhu Yuanzhang still insisted on his idea.
Although the Jurchens were superficially subservient to the Ming Dynasty, they had long been dissatisfied with the high-intensity suppression of the Ming Dynasty, and secretly planned how to strengthen the Jurchen family.
During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Nurhachi unified the Jianzhou region, and then immediately established Houjin and raised troops to attack the Ming Dynasty.
Nurhachi worked together with his son Emperor Taiji, and under their leadership, the Jurchens developed rapidly and gathered an unprecedented and huge force.
After Nur Hachi's death, the Crown Prince balanced the development of various tribes and avoided the previous conflicts between the Liao and Mongolian states, and specially improved and expanded the Eight Banners system.
In 1636, Emperor Taiji established the Qing Dynasty and unified most of the territory, and the Jurchen family, after more than 400 years of "forbearance", finally returned to the Central Plains from the northeast.
Some people may have questions, it turned out that the Qing Dynasty was founded by the Jurchens, but why did the emperors claim to be Manchus?
In fact, when the Mongols attacked the Jurchens, they had already killed most of the pure Jurchens, and most of the remaining Jurchens merged with other ethnic groups, just as they had originally combined with the Manchus.
But most of the Jurchens have been sinicized, and only a small number have returned to their hometown in the northeast.
And when the Aisin Gyoro family established the Qing Dynasty.
Most of the pure Jurchens were willing to submit to the Aisin Gyoro clan and become Manchus, and a small number of those who were unwilling to accept it returned to their hometown and continued to live their nomadic life.
epilogue
Whether it is Mongolia, Jurchen or Manchu, they all had glorious moments, but they all disappeared into the long river of history for a series of reasons.
But no matter what ethnic group, there has never been less suppression of weak ethnic groups.
Fortunately, we grew up in a new era of China, where all people are born equal and free, and the scenes of different races suppressing and bullying each other are gone.
What do you want to say about the story of the Jurchens?