:''This is an article for the Jurchen Jin Dynasty (1115-1234). For other Chinese dynasties whose names are also rendered "Jin" in
pinyin, see
Jin Dynasty''.
The 'Jīn Dynasty' (
Jurchen: Anchu; ;
1115-
1234), also known as the ''Jurchen Dynasty'', was founded by the
Wanyan (完顏 Wányán)
clan of the
Jurchen, the ancestors of the
Manchus who established the
Qing Dynasty some 500 years later. The name is sometimes written as ''Jinn'' to differentiate it from an earlier
Jìn Dynasty of
China whose name is spelled identically in the
Roman alphabet.
History
The Jin Dynasty was founded in what would become northern
Manchuria by the
Jurchen tribal chieftan
Wányán Āgǔdǎ (完顏阿骨打) in
1115. In
1125, it successfully annihilated the
Liao Dynasty which had held sway over
northern China, including
Manchuria and part of the
Mongol region for several centuries. Also at this time, the Jin made overtures to the Korean kingdom of
Goryeo, which
Emperor Yejong refused.
[1] On
January 9,
1127 Jin forces ransacked
Kaifeng, capital of the
Northern Song Dynasty, capturing both
Emperor Qinzong, and his father,
Emperor Huizong, who had abdicated in panic in the face of Jin forces. Following the fall of Kaifeng, Song forces under the leadership of the succeeding
Southern Song Dynasty continued to fight for over a decade with Jin forces, eventually signing the
Treaty of Shaoxing in
1141, calling for the cessation of all Chinese land north of the
Huai River to the Jin and the execution of Song General
Yue Fei in return for peace.
The migration south
After taking over
Northern China, the Jin Dynasty became increasingly Sinicized. About three million people, half of them
Jurchens, migrated south into northern China over two decades, and this minority governed about thirty million Chinese. The Jurchens were given land grants and organized society into 1,000 households (猛安 - ''meng'an'') and 100 households (謀克 - ''mouke''). Many married Chinese, although the ban on Jurchen nobles marrying Chinese was not lifted until
1191. After Jin
Emperor Tàizōng (太宗) died in
1135, the next three Jin emperors were grandsons of
Wányán Āgǔdǎ by three different princes. Young Jin
Emperor Xīzōng (熙宗) (r.
1135-
1149) studied the classics and wrote Chinese poetry. He adopted Chinese cultural traditions, but the Jurchen nobles had the top positions.
Later in life, Emperor Xīzōng became an alcoholic and executed many Chinese officials for criticizing him. He also had Jurchen leaders who opposed him murdered, even those in his own Wanyan family clan. In
1149 he was murdered by a cabal of relatives and nobles, who made his cousin Wányán Liàng (完顏亮) the next Jin emperor. Because of the brutality of both his domestic and foreign policy, Wanyan Liang was posthumously demoted from the position of emperor. Consequently, historians have commonly referred to him by the
posthumous name of
Prince Hǎilíng (海陵王).
[2]
Rebellions in the north
In
1153, Prince Hǎilíng moved the empire's "southern" capital from
Huining Fu in northern Manchuria (south of present-day
Harbin) to Zhongdu (now
Beijing). Four years later in
1157, he razed Beijing, including the nobles’ residences, and moved the
Jurchen southern capital from Beijing to
Kaifeng and began to reconstruct it (since its sack in
1127). Prince Hǎilíng also tried to suppress dissent by killing Jurchen nobles, executing 155 princes.
[3]
Emperor Prince Hǎilíng attacked the
Southern Song in
1161. Meanwhile, two simultaneous rebellions of
Jurchen nobles, led by soon-to-be crowned Wányán Yōng (完顏雍), and
Khitan tribesman erupted in
Manchuria, forcing the Jin Dynasty to withdraw its troops from southern China to quell the uprisings. The Jin were defeated in the
Battle of Caishi and
Battle of Tangdao. With a depleted military force, Prince Hǎilíng failed to make headway in his attempted invasion of the Song. Finally he was assassinated by his own generals in
December of
1161. His son and heir was also assassinated in the capital. Although crowned in
October, Wányán Yōng was not officially recognized as Jin
Emperor Shìzōng (世宗) until the murder of Prince Hǎilíng's heir.
[4] The Khitan uprising was not suppressed until
1164; their horses were confiscated so that the rebels had to take up farming. Other Khitan and
Xi cavalry units had been incorporated into the Jin army. Because these internal uprisings had severely weakened the Jin’s capacity to confront the Southern Song militarily, the Jin court under Emperor Shizong began negotiating for peace. The
Treaty of Lóngxīng (隆興和議) was signed in
1164 and ushered over 40 years of peace between the two empires.
In the early
1180s Emperor Shìzōng instituted a restructuring of 200 ''meng'an'' units to remove tax abuses and help Jurchens. Communal farming was encouraged. The Jin empire prospered and had a large surplus of grain in reserve. Shìzōng's grandson,
Emperor Zhāngzōng (章宗) (r.
1189-
1208) venerated Jurchen values, but he also immersed himself in Chinese culture and married a Chinese woman. The ''
Taihe Code of law'' was promulgated in
1201 and was based mostly on the
Tang Code. In
1207 the Song Chinese tried to invade, but the Jin forces effectively repulsed them. In the peace agreement the Song had to pay higher annual indemnities and behead
Hán Tūozhòu (韩侂胄), the leader of their war party.
[5]
Fall under the Mongol Empire
Starting from the early
13th century the Jin Dynasty began to feel the pressure of
Mongols from the north.
Genghis Khan first led the Mongols into
Western Xia territory in 1205 and ravaged them four years later. In
1211 about 50,000 Mongols on horses invaded the Jin Empire and began absorbing Khitan and Jurchen rebels. The Jin army had a half million men with 150,000 cavalry but abandoned the “western capital”. The next year the Mongols went north and looted the Jin “eastern capital”, and in
1213 they besieged the “central capital”. In
1214 the Jin made a humiliating treaty but retained the capital. That summer, Jin
Emperor Xuānzōng (宣宗) abandoned the central capital and moved the government to the “southern capital” of Kaifeng, making it the official seat of Jin Dynasty power. In
1216 a war faction persuaded Xuānzōng to attack the Song, but in
1219 they were defeated at the same place by the
Yangtze River, where Prince Hǎilíng had been defeated in
1161. Jin
Emperor Āizōng (哀宗) won a succession struggle against his brother and then quickly ended the war and went back to the capital. He made peace with the
Tanguts, who had been allied with the Mongols. Genghis Khan died in
1227 while his armies were conquering the
Western Xia Dynasty. His son
Ögedei Khan invaded the Jin Empire in
1232. The Jurchens tried to resist; but when Kaifeng was attacked, Āizōng fled south. The Mongols looted the capital in
1233, and the next year Āizōng committed suicide to avoid being captured, ending the Jin dynasty in
1234.
[6]
The Chengling Pagoda of
Zhengding,
Hebei province, built between 1161 and 1189 AD.
Rise of the Manchus
After thirty years of struggle, the Jurchen chief
Nurhaci (努爾哈赤) combined the three Jurchen tribes and founded the
Latter Jin Dynasty (
1616-
1636 CE). Nurhaci's eighth son and heir,
Huáng Tàijí (皇太極), later changed the name of his people from
Jurchen to
Manchu in
1635. The next year, he changed the name of the Latter Jin to
Qing in
1636.
(1) Quite long and thus not used when referring to this sovereign.
(2) Did not exist
References
See also
Puxian Wannu
External links
★
Jin-Song relations
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
