Sunday, February 28, 2010

Origin of the Chinese Part 3


In China's history, one finds a repeating pattern of barbarian invasion, followed by Sinicization and subsequent stability and prosperity. The Empire strengthens and the gene pool deepens, but each time at great cost in blood.


We are now in the 12th century, the Song dynasty, bastion of Han Chinese civilization is in decline from corruption, inept rulers, natural disasters and incessant incursions from the Northern Hordes. Two factors should be noted.

First of all, the Song dynasty saw the entrenchment of Confucianism in Chinese politics; this is the beginning of the conservatism that would later render China unable to defend itself against Western Powers. Not only was Confucianism the main school of philosophy, it was made the official dogma of government, and worse, the military. The reformer Wang Anshi whose reforms included implementing a mass military reserve system and investing in military technology to defeat and even colonize China's rivals (Khitans, Tanguts, Vietnamese, Koreans) to permanently remove the threat, was eventually forced out of power by conservatives who favored cloistering China from the outside, and maintaining a status quo with tens of thousands of taels of silver in tribute.

Secondly, the old Turkic nomads of the Mongol Steppe have been defeated, absorbed and exiled westward (where they would bring down 3 empires, Persia, Arab, and Byzantine). The new rulers of the Steppe came from Mongolic (Mongols, Khitans) and Tungustic (Jurchens/Manchus) stock. As opposed to the loose confederation of tribes that comprised the Gokturks, the Khitans, Mongols, and Jurchens all adopted Chinese style centralized government. This in combination with their ferocious and mobile cavalry made large scale invasion and occupation possible because of improved logistics. The Chinese military doctrine had stagnated since the days of the Tang, and was only prepared for sporadic raids of the Turkic horsemen, not the well-supplied mass cavalry invasion.

China retreated in the face of these hordes, finally succumbing to the Mongols completely after the Batter of Zhuya, in today's Hainan. The process of barbarian conquest took 2oo years, from the Jingkang incident to establishment of Yuan rule over all of China. The riverine environment of South China, and the use of gunpowder by the Chinese helped preserve the Song. During these two hundred years, the Northern hordes once again found themselves slowly losing their culture to the superior Chinese civilization. It was during this period that a new phenomenon occurred - the barbarian dynasties started employing Han Chinese in government at the highest levels. The Khitans were the first to do so; they would be emulated by all subsequent barbarian dynasties down to the Qing.

The assimilation was so thorough that the Khitans, once a great empire numbering millions of people, disappeared completely from the history books. It is estimated that about 10% of Northern Han Chinese carry genetic markers of the Khitans, and nearly half of Mongolians, carry the genetic marker. This shows the integration of the Khitans into the Chinese culture, many changing their surnames (from Yelu to Lu or Lui).



Perhaps the best example of assimilation are the Manchus. Even before they crossed Shanhaiguan into China, the Manchus had already absorbed the conquered Han Chinese population outside of Shanhaiguan. Historians estimate that the pre-Qing Manchu population was at least 50% Han. The Manchus, perhaps aware of their small numbers, integrated the Han captives into their 8 Flags military system. Interestingly, after gaining power over China, the Chinese who surrendered before Shanhaiguan were counted as Manchus, not Han.

As the dynasty became established and stable, even the emperor found it hard to maintain Manchu customs and language. Intermarriage between Han and Manchu/Mongol elite was initially banned, but gradually the restriction was relaxed and intermarriages had become so common by Daoguang's era that the emperor was forced to call on only Manchu families outside of Shanhaiguan (relatively pure blooded) to supply imperial consorts. Despite official efforts to promote Manchu as a language, nearly all Manchus were monolingual in the Lingua Franca - Chinese, by the 19th century. Today, despite a population of over 15 million, only 70 or so Manchus can speak their native language.

After 5000 years, from a tribe living off the Yellow river, the Han Chinese race has adapted the customs, genetics, and language of their neighbors and made it their own. The next 5000 years, the meaning of Han could become ever broader, especially as China once again rises in power. The defining lines between Chinese and Korean or Mongolian, or Chinese and Vietnamese could once again become blurred as they have frequently throughout history, only in the future, the 'blurring' would become permanent.

I hope you enjoyed the 3 part series on our ancestral origins. Check back soon for the new article 'New China's Territorial Ambitions'.

I look forward to your comments.

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