Inner and Outer Manchuria

     In an earlier blog and in The Manchurian Tales I make mention of the fact that Manchuria in the past was much bigger than it is today.  Prior to mid 19th Century, the area that was called Manchuria was about twice the size that it is today, and it even included the large island of Sakhalin!  In those days, a portion of it was called Outer Manchuria, and about an equal size portion was called Inner Manchuria.  What there is today is what used to be Inner Manchuria with a few additional pieces missing.
     As strange as it may seem, in ancient times, that whole region was part of series of Korean Dynasties or Empires, beginning with Puyo (494 BC - 200 BC), Gochosun (200 BC - 37 AD), Koguryo (37 AD - 668 AD), Palhe (698 AD - 926 AD).  So the entire region was populated with Koreans, as well as other groups that are identified as native Manchurians.  But, all of them, Koreans included, are of Tungus origin, racially the same and indistinguishable, but different from the Chinese who refer to themselves as "han" people.  As each empire or dynasty faded, the people simply mixed-in within the population.  It is highly unlikely that Koreans moved out of the area once the Korean Dynasties or Empires died out.  So, in a sense, Koreans could lay claim to that whole territory.  All of this took place centuries ago and long forgotten and really is of no significance today.  However, what happened in more recent times, in the 19th Century, is of much more interest and significance.
     At the conclusion of the infamous Opium Wars that that European nations (mainly the British Empire) waged against China, a series of treaties historically known as "Unequal Treaties" were initiated between the victors and the Ching Dynasty China.  Aside from keeping their opium trade alive, the British got Hong Kong and other concessions, the Portuguese got Macao, and Shanghai was cut up into pieces like a pie.  Russia, not to be left out of this "Unequal Treaties" feeding frenzy, signed two treaties with China, the Treaty of Aigun in 1858 and the Treaty of Peking in 1860 and gained all of the territory that was known as Outer Manchuria!  Forty years later, in 1900, Russia launched a military invasion into an area called the "Sixty Four Villages" and forcibly took an additional chunk of land from a weak and totally ineffectual Chinese government.  This was almost exactly like what is taking place in Ukraine today!  So, within a matter of half a century, Russia reduced the size of Chinese territory in Manchuria by half!  What remained was the Inner Manchuria, the territory that we know today as Manchuria.
     Chances are that had Russia not lost the war to Japan in 1905, all of Manchuria would have fallen under Russian rule.  Russia had already established itself with the railroad and the city of Harbin.  In fact, in the early 20th Century, Harbin was often referred to by international press as Harbin, Russia or "Russian Harbin."  Chinese government always seemed to lack interest in the region that was officially referred to as Guandong ("the other side of the pass"), a pass over the mountains that led from China into Manchuria.  The other name that was often used for the area was the "northeast region."  Later, the Chinese started to call the area the "three province region," trying to associate it closer with China.
     As I have discussed in The Manchurian Tales and some of the earlier blogs, the name Manchuria was supposedly an invention of a Japanese scholar in the early 19th Century.  The name Manchu was used by the Nuchen/Jurchen prince Nurhachi, to unite all of the various tribes, including Koreans.  Nurhachi's descendants went on to conquer China in the 17th Century and established the Ching Dynasty.
     So, the area that we call Manchuria today has a long and fascinating history.  Although it is somewhat of a stretch, you could theoretically say that all of that real estate, Manchuria and part of Siberia, is part of Korea.....at least historically!  You could also say that all of the territory gained by Russia in the 19th Century (most of it that is known as Primorsky Krai), is actually Manchuria.  If Manchuria was not gobbled up by Russia, in its original size it would be the size of half of China, rather than about a fifth that it is today.  And, if ancient Korean empires had held on to their territory, today Korea would be half the size of China instead of being the size of the state of Florida (South Korea alone would be half the size of Florida!).  Then again, had we not gone to war against Mexico and gained all that territory, the U.S. would be smaller, and if we didn't make the Louisiana Purchase and bought Alaska from the normally land greedy Russians (who were broke and foolish at the time!), we would not be anywhere as large as we are today.