The Mohe, Malgal, Mogher, or Mojie were historical groups of people that once occupied parts of what is now Northeast Asia during late antiquity. The two most well known Mohe groups were known as the Heishui Mohe, located along the Amur River, and the Sumo Mohe, named after the Songhua River. They have been traditionally defined by the approximate use of what would have been Tungusic languages. The Heishui Mohe are commonly thought as being direct ancestors to the 12th century Jurchens. The Tang documented the Mohe as inhabiting the land of Sushen, to the northeast of the Tang, east of the Turks, and north of

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...

. The Mohe constituted a major part of the population in the kingdom of

Balhae Balhae,, , ) also rendered as Bohai or Bohea, and called Jin (; ) early on, was a multiethnic kingdom established in 698 by Dae Joyeong (Da Zuorong). It was originally known as the Kingdom of Jin (震, Zhen) until 713 when its name was changed ...

in northeast Asia, which lasted from the late 7th century to early 10th century. After the fall of Balhae, few historical traces of the Mohe can be found, though they are considered to be the primary ethnic group from whom the Jurchen people descended. The Heishui Mohe in particular are considered to be the direct ancestors of the Jurchens, from whom the 17th century Manchu people and

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 ...

founders originated.Huang, P.: "New Light on the origins of the Manchu," ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies'', vol. 50, no.1 (1990): 239-82. Retrieved from JSTOR database July 18, 2006. The Mohe practiced a sedentary agrarian lifestyle and were predominantly farmers who grew soybean, wheat, millet, and rice, supplemented by pig raising and hunting for meat. The Mohe were also known to have worn pig and dog skin coats.Gorelova 2002
pp. 13-4.

Name

The Chinese

exonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

''Mohe'' (靺鞨) is a graphic pejorative written with ''mo'' 靺 "socks; stockings" and ''he'' 鞨 "shoes". ''Mo'' (靺) ( Middle Chinese: ) is an adjective, a customary expression meaning " barbarian" or

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

. Before the Five dynasties period, it was recorded as "靺羯", such as on the Honglujing Stele. ''He'' 鞨 is ''gal'' ( Middle Chinese ''gat'' or ), meaning " stone" by Mohe/Malgal, Jie/Gal language. The Jie ruler Shi Le (石勒) takes the surname ''shi'' (石 "stone") from ''gal''. According to the History of Jin (Jin Shi), Shi Tumen ( 石土門) is the prince of the Jurchen people, whose surname ''shi'' hints to a connection with the Mohe and Jie. The ethnonym of the Mohe bears a notable resemblance to that of the later historically attested *Motgit in Middle Chinese (; Korean: 물길 ulgil Japanese: もつきつ otsukitsu. The name of the Mohe also appears as "Maka" in "Shin-Maka" (Japanese 新靺鞨, しんまか) or "New Mohe," which is the name of a dance and the musical piece that accompanies it; the dance and song were introduced to the Japanese court during the Nara period or around the beginning of the Heian period from the

kingdom. In modern Japanese historical texts, the name of the Mohe is annotated with the " kana" reading Makkatsu (まっかつ), which is probably a transliteration based on the standard Sino-Japanese readings of the Chinese characters used to transcribe the ethnonym of the Mohe.

Tribes

According to some records, there were seven or maybe eight Mohe tribes :

Notable personalities

Prefecture Mohe chieftains

* Sumo Mohe ** Tudiji (突地稽

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: Tūdìjī,

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 ...

: Tulergi (''alien people''),

Hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

: 돌지계), ca. 580-620 ** Li Jinhang (李謹行

: Lǐ Jǐnháng,

: 이근행), 619-683, Tudiji's son ** Dae Joyeong (大祚榮

: Dá Zuòróng,

: 대조영), ?-719 * Baishan Mohe ** Geolsa Biu (乞四比羽

: Qǐsì Bǐyǔ,

: 걸사비우) * Heisui Mohe ** A Tou (阿頭

: Ā Tóu,

: Uju (''head, chief''),

:아두) ** Tou Fu (陁弗

: Toú fú,

: 타불) ** Su Wugai (蘇勿蓋

: Sū Wùgài,

: Sotki (''crusian''),

: 소홀개) ** Gao Zhimen (高之門

: Gāo Zīemén,

: Hocihon mangga (''handsome and strong''),

: 고지문) ** Wusukemeng (烏素可蒙

: Wū sù kě méng,

: Osohon mangga (''small but strong''),

: 오소고몽) ** Nisuliji (倪屬利稽

: Ní shǔ lì jī,

: Nisurigi (''finger ring for archery''),

: 아속리계) * Funie Mohe ** Shiyimeng (失異夢

: Shī yì mèng,

: Silin mangga (''elite and strong''),

: 실이몽) **

Li Duozuo Li Duozuo () (died August 7, 707), formally the Prince of Liaoyang (遼陽王), was an ethnically Mohe people, Mohe general of the History of China, Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty. He is mostly known for his participation in the ...

(李多祚

: Lǐ Duōzuò,

: 이다조) * Yuexi Mohe ** Wushikemeng (烏施可蒙

: Wū shī kě méng,

: Osohon mangga (''small but strong''),

: 오시가몽)

References

Citations

Bibliography

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