'Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture' (;
Korean: 연변 조선족 자치주 Yeonbyeon Joseonjok Jachiju) is an
autonomous prefecture in
Jilin province, in the northeastern part of
China. Yanbian is south of
Heilongjiang, east of Jilin's
Baishan City, north of
North Korea's
North Hamgyong Province, and west of
Russia. Yanbian is designated as an autonomous prefecture due to the large number of
ethnic Koreans living in the region. The prefectural
capital is
Yanji, and the area is 42,700 km².
The Prefecture has an important
Balhae archaeological site: the
Ancient Tombs at Longtou Mountain, which includes the
Mausoleum of Princess Zhenxiao.
Administration
The prefecture is subdivided into 8
county-level divisions: 6
county-level cities and 2
counties:
★
Yanji City (延吉市 Yánjí Shì): formerly county until 1950s
★
Tumen City (图们市/圖們市 Túmén Shì): established in 1965
★
Longjing City (龙井市/龍井市 Lóngjǐng Shì): formerly county until 1987
★
Hunchun City (珲春市/琿春市 Húnchūn Shì): formerly county until 1983
★
Dunhua City (敦化市 Dūnhuà Shì): formerly county until 1985
★
Helong City (和龙市/和龍市 Hélóng Shì): formerly county until 1993
★
Antu County (安圖縣/安圖縣 Āntú Xiàn)
★
Wangqing County (汪清縣/汪清縣 Wāngqīng Xiàn)
Map highlighting Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture within the Jilin province of China
The above counties and cities are divided into 642 villages (边境村/邊境村).
History
Yanbian was inhabited 26,000 years ago by the
Antu (simplified 安图人/traditional安圖人) (named after the county of the archaeological site). Between the
1st century and
7th century Yanbian was territory of
Goguryeo. Since approximately the
8th century A.D., Yanbian was part of
Balhae. In the
Ming Dynasty, Yanbian was governed by Jianzhou Guard-district (建州衛), and in the late
Qing Dynasty the area was divided into the Yanji (延吉廳) and Hunchun (琿春廳)
subprefectures.
In the 19th century, Korean immigrants migrated en masse from the
Korean peninsula to
China. After the foundation of the
Republic of China, a second wave arrived. The population increase was caused by the Japanese invasion of that region. The Japanese were trying to use Korean immigration to diffuse the staying power of Chinese in that region. After the end of
World War II, many Koreans did not go back to Korea, even though their country was liberated. Instead, they joined the
Chinese Civil War and were mobilized by both Chinese communists and the
Chinese Nationalists. When the civil war was over, the new Chinese government gave Koreans their own autonomous region (区) in
1952. Yanbian was upgraded to an ethnic autonomous prefecture in
1955.
In 1952, the Korean migrants composed some 60% of the local population, but by 2000 their share shrank to 32%. The Chinese authorities subsidize Korean language schools and publications, but also take measures to prevent an emergence of the Korean irredentism in the area. From the late 1990s the Koreans began to be assimilated into Chinese culture with increasing speed, often switching to daily use of Chinese and choosing to attend the Chinese language schools.
[1]
The name "Yanbian" was created in the
1920s, because it stretches (''yan'') on the boundary (''bian'') of three nations. It was also in the ''Yan''ji Border-affairs Public Bureau, where ''Yanji'' means ''Luck of the Stretch''. During the
Manchukuo period, it was called Kan-do (間島) Province by the
Japanese. The same characters when used as
hanja in
Korean are pronounced and romanized as
Gando (
hangul: 간도), the name is still currently used by
Koreans to refer to the entire larger region of
Manchuria long inhabited by those of Korean ethnicity.
Geography
★
Geographic coordinates: 41°59'47" - 44°30'42", 127°27'43" - 131°18'33" E
★ Boundary length: 755.2
km
★
★ China-Korea: 522.5 km
★
★ China-Russia: 232.7 km
Mountains that are in the prefecture are:
★ The central range of
Changbai Mountains (長白山主脈)
★ Zhangguangcai Peak (張廣才嶺)
★ Harba Peak (哈爾巴嶺)
★ Peony Peak (牡丹嶺)
★ Old Master Peak (老爺嶺)
★ Nan'gang Mountain Range (南崗山脈)
There have been over 40 types of
minerals and 50 kinds of metals, including
gold,
lead,
zinc copper,
silver,
manganese and
mercury, discovered near or in the mountains.
Average land height is 500
metres above
sea level.
Main rivers include:
★
Songhua River
★
Mudan River (Peony River)
★
Tumen River
★
★ Gaya River (流嘎呀河): branch of the Tumen
★
★ Hunchun River (琿春河)
The rivers sustain 28 running water processing facilities.
The rivers created basins, which are suitable for agricultural uses, like
rice paddies and
bean farms.
Transportation
Railways include:
★ Chang-Tu Line (长图线/長圖線): most important
★ Mu-Tu Line (牡图线/牡圖線)
★ Chao-Kai Line (朝开线/朝開線): Yangchuan-Shantun Line (阳川山屯线/陽川山屯線)
★ Tumen-Hunchun Railway: under construction
Public roads are 1,480-
kilometre altogether. There are four airports.
Demographics
Ethnicity compositions:
★ 2,184,000 (1997)
★
★ 57.4%
Han Chinese
★
★ 39.7% Korean (854,000), about 60% in the capital, Yanji
★
★ 2.4%
Manchus
★
★ 0.3%
Hui Chinese
★
★ 0.1% other
nationalities, including the
Mongols
★ Growth rate 0.4%.
Population density: 51 people per
km².
Like the peninsular Koreans, Yanbian Koreans' most common
surname is Kim. Many immigrated from Korea during the
19th century, and again during the Japanese Occupation.
The Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture has an index of urbanization standard (城市化水准/城市化水準) at 55.6%, 20 percentage points greater than the provincial average (31.3%) and 25 more than the national average (26.5%).
[2]
Culture
Both
Chinese and
Korean are used as official languages in Yanbian Ethnic Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Most ethnic Koreans in this area are bilingual. Like Koreans living in the Korean peninsula, ethnic Koreans in Yanbian use Western
punctuation in writing.
The Museum of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture was planned in 1960, and constructed in
1982. It contains over 10,000 exhibits, including 11 first-level artifacts. The exhibits' labels and explanations are bilingual in Korean and Chinese, and tour guides are also available in both languages.
Tourism
There are seven public parks in Yanbian's green space (18% of whole prefecture), including:
★ Yanji People's Park (延吉人民公园/延吉人民公園)
★ Youth Lake Park (青年湖公园/青年湖公園)
Also popular among locals during holidays and festivities.
Nature and Environment
Over 70% are originally forest in the prefecture, so there is a rich diversity of life.
★ 1,460
species of native
animals
★ 250 species of native
plants.
References
1. The gentle decline of the 'Third Korea' Andrei Lankov
2. 吉林延边朝鲜族自治州城市化水平走在全国前列 李亚彪
See also
★
List of China-related topics
External links
★
Official government website: in simplified Chinese, Korean and English
★
Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture: by the Information Office of Jilin Provincial Government
★
A map labeled in Chinese written in the list in the "Administration" section
★
Yanbian University: in Korean, simplified Chinese, and English
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