The Khorchin (, ''Horchin''; ''Qorčin''; ) are a subgroup of the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

that speak the Khorchin dialect of

Mongolian Mongolian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Mongolia, a country in Asia * Mongolian people, or Mongols * Bogd Khanate of Mongolia, the government of Mongolia, 1911–1919 and 1921–1924 * Mongolian language * Mongolian alphabet * ...

and predominantly live in northeastern

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

of China.

History

The

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

gave

Borjigin A Borjigin is a member of the Mongol sub-clan that started with Bodonchar Munkhag of the Kiyat clan. Yesugei's descendants were thus said to be Kiyat-Borjigin. The senior Borjigids provided ruling princes for Mongolia and Inner Mongolia u ...

princes (descended from

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

's brothers) command of the Taining Guard, one of the Three Guards established in 1389. In 1446-48 most of the guards fled in the wake of

Esen Tayisi Esen (; Mongol script: ; ) (1407–1454), was a powerful Oirat taishi and the ''de facto'' ruler of the Northern Yuan dynasty between 12 September 1453 and 1454. He is best known for capturing the Emperor Yingzong of Ming in 1449 in the Bat ...

's invasions. However, the Fuyu Guard, another of the Three Guards, remained along the Nen and Onon rivers. Said to have been the descendants of

Khasar Khasar (; , ), was one of the three full brothers of the legendary Genghis Khan. According to the ''Jami' al-Tawarikh'', his given name was ''Jochi'' and he got the nickname ''Khasar'' after his distinguished bravery. He was also called Khabht K ...

, a brother of Genghis Khan, they became the direct ancestors of the Khorchin Mongols.

Adai Khan Adai (Mongolian script: ; ), (1390–1438) was a khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty, reigning from 1425 to 1438. After the prominent eastern Mongol chancellor Arughtai gave his allegiance to him, Adai briefly reunited most of the Mongol tribes ...

of the Khorchin challenged the power of the

Four Oirats The Four Oirats ( Written Oirat: , ; , ; ) or Oirat Confederation, formerly known as the Eleuths, was the confederation of the Oirat tribes which marked the rise of the Western Mongols in the history of the Mongolian Plateau. Despite the univer ...

and the Ming court in the succession struggle of

Northern Yuan dynasty The Northern Yuan was a dynastic state ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen people, Jurchen-led ...

. However, he was killed by them in Ejene in 1438 and his tribe was forced to flee southward. The Khorchin appeared again in Mongolian chronicles with the rise of Unebolad

wang Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) Wang () is the pinyin romanization of Chinese, romanization of the common Chinese surname (''Wáng''). It has a mixture of various origin with uncertain lineage of family history, however it is c ...

in the late 15th century. The Khorchins allied with

Dayan Khan Dayan Khan (; ), born Batumöngke ( , ; ''Bātúméngkè''; 1472–1517) was a khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty, reigning from 1480 to 1517. During his rule, he reunited the Mongols under Chinggisid supremacy. His reigning title, "Dayan" ...

and defeated the

Uriyangkhai Uriankhai is a term of address applied by the Mongols to a group of forest peoples of the North, who include the Turkic-speaking Tuvans and Yakuts, while sometimes it is also applied to the Mongolian-speaking Altai Uriankhai. The Uriankh ...

at the battle of Dalan Terqin in 1510. In 1624,

Nurhaci Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing, was the founding khan of the Jurchen people, Jurchen-led Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin dynasty. As the leader of the House of Aisin-Gi ...

received the submission of Khorchins who roamed east of Khingan mountains and west of the

Sungari The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about from Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea border through China's northea ...

. They were the first Mongol tribe that submitted to

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. The Khorchins were responsible for production of fermented mare's milk for

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

emperors. The later emperors of the Manchu Qing dynasty rewarded the Khorchin nobles highly for this early loyalty. Notable

Empress The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

es of the Qing dynasty, such as

Empress Xiaozhuangwen Bumbutai (; mnc, m= ; zh, 布木布泰; 28 March 1613 – 27 January 1688), of the Khorchin Mongol Borjigit clan, was the consort of Hong Taiji. She was 21 years his junior. She was honoured as Empress Dowager Zhaosheng during the reign of ...

(1613–88) and

Empress Xiaohuizhang Empress Xiaohuizhang (5 November 1641 – 7 January 1718), of the Khorchin Mongol Borjigit clan, was the wife and second empress consort of Fulin, the Shunzhi Emperor. She was empress consort of Qing from 1654 until her husband's death in 166 ...

(1641–1717), were the Khorchin-Borjigins. The Khorchins were further divided into two wings (north and south), each with three Banners.Occasional Papers by Mongolia Society, p.76 Due to the anti-Mongol rebellion among ethnic Han Jindandao followers in 1891, many thousands of

Kharchin Mongols The Kharchin (Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , ; zh, c=喀喇沁部), or Kharachin, is a subgroup of the Mongols residing mainly (and originally) in North-western Liaoning and Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. There are Khalkha-Kharchin Mongols in Dor ...

fled to the Khorchin. After 1900 both Chinese education and Chinese influence spread among them. When the

Japanese Empire The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From 1910 to ...

occupied parts of

and all of

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

in 1931, the Khorchins leaders became the puppets of the Japanese Empire. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

rural class struggle and the civil war of 1946–48 were very bloody and divisive. Since then they have been a powerful faction within

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

apparatus.

Popular culture

Korchin is a playable nation in the

grand strategy game A grand strategy wargame or simply grand strategy game (GSG) is a wargame that places focus on grand strategy: military strategy at the level of movement and use of a nation state or empire's resources. The genre has considerable overlap with 4 ...

Europa Universalis IV ''Europa Universalis IV'' is a 2013 grand strategy video game in the ''Europa Universalis'' series, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to '' Europa Universalis III'' (2007). The game was r ...

. Khorchin is a playable nation in the grand strategy game ''Age of History 2'', where its capital is

Baicheng Baicheng ( zh, s=, p=Báichéng Shì, l=White City, c=白城市) is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Jilin province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Heilongjiang to the east and northeast. At the 201 ...

References

* Great Mongolia 800

History

Popular culture

References

Notes

Sources

See also