Möngke Temür ( or ) or Dudu Mengtemu ( Manchu: ;遼寧省檔案館『滿州實錄上函』 ) (1370–1433) was a Jurchen chieftain of the Odoli tribe, one of the three tribes of the lower Sunggari river valley in Manchuria. In the 1380s the tribe migrated southward towards the lower valley of the

Tumen River The Tumen River, also known as the Tuman River or Duman River (), is a long river that serves as part of the boundary between China, North Korea and Russia, rising on the slopes of Mount Paektu and flowing into the Sea of Japan. The river ha ...

and settled in Womuho (present day

Hoeryong Hoeryŏng () is a city in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. It is located opposite Jilin Province, China, with the Tumen River in between. Sanhe (三合鎮), in Longjing City, is the closest Chinese town across the river. Hoeryŏng is the b ...

). As a distant ancestor of the Aisin Gioro clan which founded the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

, Möngke Temür was accorded the

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments ...

Emperor Yuan (原皇帝) and the

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dyna ...

Zhaozu (肇祖) by the Shunzhi Emperor of the

. His son was

Cungšan Cungšan (, , sometimes written as 董山) was a chieftain of the Jurchen Jianzhou Left Guard. Cungšan was the great-great-great-grandfather of Nurhaci, the founder of the Later Jin dynasty of China. His posthumous name was Emperor Chun (). His ...

Career

In 1388, the Hongwu Emperor established contact with three tribes of the

Jianzhou Jurchens The Jianzhou Jurchens () were one of the three major groups of Jurchens as identified by the Ming dynasty. Although the geographic location of the Jianzhou Jurchens changed throughout history, during the 14th century they were located south of t ...

, the Odoli, Huligai and Tuowen and attempted to enlist them as allies against the Mongols. There was a general migration south of the various Jurchen groups around the start of the 15th century and the three tribes established themselves around the Tumen River (near the modern border of China,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

). Not long afterwards, the various Jurchens began accepting Ming titles from the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...

as the Military Commanders of the three Wei, namely Jianzhou Wei (), Jianzhou Left Wei () and Jianzhou Right Wei (). The Wei () was military unit composed of 5 Suo (), and each Suo was staffed with 1100 soldiers. As Military Commanders of Wei, they were required to go to Beijing every year to pay tribute to the Emperor. In 1395, he visited the Joseon court to present tribute to the

Taejo of Joseon Taejo of Joseon (4 November 1335 – 27 June 1408), born Yi Seong-gye (), was the founder and first ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. After ascending to the throne, he changed his name to Yi Dan (), and reigned from 1392 to 1398. He was ...

. As a result, in 1404, he was awarded an honorary military position by the Koreans. During this time, the Ming court frequently sent envoys to local chieftains to persuade local chieftains to recognize the suzerainty of the Ming emperor, however Möngke Temür did not respond. This was to the delight of the Korean court and in 1405, he was nominated to be a myriarch under the Korean king. In April 1405, a Ming envoy of Jurchen origin Wang Jiaohuati, was sent to Korea to persuade the Korean king along with Möngke Temür to enter into tributary relations with the Ming. Ahacu (), later also known as Li Sicheng (), chief of the Huligai, became commander of the Jianzhou Wei (建州衛) in 1403, named after a

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

political unit in the area. Möngke Temür of the Odoli became leader of the Jianzhou Left Wei () and accepted the Chinese surname of Tóng () not long afterward. The Koreans tried to persuade Möngke Temür to reject the Ming dynasty's overtures, but was unsuccessful since Möngke Temür submitted to the Ming. The Korean king ordered Möngke Temür not to comply with the request of Ming, he first complied with this order only to capitulate, visiting Nanjing in September 1405, leaving with an appointment as regional commissioner. In the following years, the Jurchen tribes along with Möngke Temür's Odoli tribe fought skirmishes and battles with the Koreans. With the constant insecurity in the presence of the Koreans, Meng and his followers migrated westward, settling in May 1411 in Fengzhou, in the valley of the Hoifa river, an affluent of the Sunggari river, where the Jianzhou guard under Šigiyanu (Li Xianzhong) was located. Here the Ming government would establish the Jianzhou Left Guard from the existing Jianzhou guard with Möngke Temür as the regional commander of the new guard. During this time, the Yongle Emperor began frequently sending expeditionary forces towards the

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

, Möngke Temür and his followers would take part in one such expedition in 1422. With the threat of retaliatory invasions of the Mongols and the growing dominance of Möngke Temür,

Li Manzhu Li, li, or LI may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects * Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political te ...

, and his followers, who numbered more than six thousand were forced to leave Fengzhou and head back to Womuho in 1423. After his return, Möngke Temür decided that the best policy of self-preservation would be to serve both Ming and Korean interests. In 1426, he visited Beijing and was awarded a promotion as assistant commissioner in chief. His half brother Fanca visited Beijing in 1432, presented tribute, and was promoted to assistant commissioner. In 1432, Möngke Temür visited Beijing again and was promoted to commissioner in chief while Fanca was made a regional commissioner. Starting in 1427, Möngke Temür had begun sending his eldest son Agu to visit the Korean court with the hopes that Agu would become a royal bodyguard in Korea. On November 30, 1433, Möngke Temür and his son Agu were killed in a riot led by Yang Mutawuta, a Jurchen battalion commander from a different tribe in the area of Kaiyuan. Yang Mutawuta had followed Mongke Temur and his son.

References

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF CHINA The Qing Empire To 1800
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mongke, Temur 1370 births 1433 deaths Jurchens in Ming dynasty Aisin Gioro