The Jurchens 女おんな真しん

The Jurchens (Chinese: Nüzhen 女おんな真しん, Nüzhi 女おんな直じき, Nüzhi 女おんな質しつ or Lüzhi 慮おもんばか真ま, also pronounced Ruzhen) were a federation of non-Chinese tribes living in the northeast of China (modern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang). In the late 11th century they formed a tribal confederation under the tribal leader (qagan) Aguda 阿おもね骨ほね打だ. With a strong military organisation of all tribes they succeeded to subdue the likewise non-Chinese Khitans that ruled Chinas north. The Jurchens conquered northern China and founded the Jin dynasty 金きん (1115-1234).
Ethnically and linguistically, the Jurchens belong to the Tungusic branch of the Altaic group, with the Türks and Mongols as distant relatives. The Manchus 滿まん洲しゅう, founders of the Qing dynasty 清きよし (1644-1911), are their ethnic descendants.
The Jurchens used a script (Nüzhen wenzi 女おんな真ま文字もじ) designed after the model of the Chinese script (see Jurchen script).
Traditional Chinese historians deducted their origin from the former inhabitants of that region, the Mohe 靺鞨 from the region of the Heishui River 黑水くろみず. The federation of the Jurchens also included people from Bohai (the former Sumo Mohe 粟あわ末まつ靺鞨), Khitans and Mongols. When the Khitan ruler Abaoji 阿保あぼ機き (Liao Taizu 遼りょう太ふとし祖そ, r. 907-927) destroyed the kingdom of Bohai, the Heishui Mohe submitted to the Khitans and adopted the name of Nüzhen. The designation Nüzhi has been used in order to avoid the personal name of Emperor Xingzong of the Liao 遼りょう興きょう宗むね (r. 1031-1054), Yelü Zongzhen 耶律宗そう真しん. In the 10th century the Jurchens lived in the area between the Changbai Range 長ちょう白山はくさん, the Songjiang River 松江まつえ and the Amur River 黑龍江こくりゅうこう. They lived on fishing and hunting, but also domesticated animals and lived off their fields, at least the Jurchen living in the south. In order to control the Jurchen tribes, Emperor Abaoji transferred several thousand Jurchens to the south to be integrated into the Chinese and Khitan population. These people were called the "matured" Jurchen (shu Nüzhen 熟じゅく女おんな真しん) or hesuguan 曷蘇館かん "shield, fence". The other Jurchens, especially those in the far northeast, were called the "raw" Jurchens (sheng Nüzhen 生なま女おんな真しん). Historical documents call the various tribes according to their living place, like Southern Jurchens 南みなみ女おんな真しん, Northern Jurchens 北きた女おんな真しん, Huanglong fu Jurchens 黃き龍りゅう府ふ女おんな真しん, Shunhua guo Jurchens 順化じゅんか國こく女おんな真しん, Changbaishan Jurchens 長ちょう白しろ山女やまめ真しん, Binhai Jurchens 濱はま海女あま真しん, Yidian Jurchens 乙おつ典てん女おんな真しん, or Aoyan Jurchens 奧おく衍女真しん. Song dynasty sources also known the Huiba Jurchens 回かい拔女真しん, Donghai Jurchens 東海とうかい女おんな真ま and Yellow Head Jurchens 黃き頭あたま女おんな真しん.
The Liao court of the Khitans gave all tribesleaders of the Jurchens the title of Great Prince (dawang 大王だいおう or Prince (wang 王おう), to rule over their people in the name of the Khitans. From the late 10th century on the family Wanyan 完かん顔がお gained control over a large part of the southern Jurchens. The chieftain Suike 綏可 moved his seat to the banks of River Anchuhu 按出虎とら水すい (modern River Ashi 阿おもね什河, Heilongjiang). His descendant Wugunai 烏がらす古こ廼 imported iron tools and systematically improved the economical base and the social coherence of his tribe. At the beginning of the 12th century, under the chieftain Aguda 阿おもね骨ほね打だ, the Jurchens had become totally independent from the domination by the Khitans. Aguda unified the tribes and in 1115 proclaimed himself qagan and emperor (as Jin Taizu 金太きんた祖そ, r. 1115-1122) of the Jin empire 金きん. Like the Khitans before, he loosely structured his administration according to the Chinese pattern and had created a script to write in Jurchen language. His younger brother Wuqimai 吳くれ乞買 succeeded him as Jin Taizong 金太きんた宗むね (r. 1123-1134). He divided the Jurchen tribes into military units, the menggan moke 猛もう安やす謀はかりごと克かつ. Within ten years this military machine destroyed the Liao empire. He was able to destroy the Liao empire and even conquered more territory from the Song empire 宋そう (960-1279) than the Khitans had done before. Part of the Jurchens moved into northern China and slowly mixed with the local population. The Mongols later saw the Jurchens as "Northern Chinese" and treated them better than the southern Chinese. Another part stayed in the northeastern homeland and lived on as their ancestors had done before. During the second half of the Ming period 明あきら (1368-1644) the Jurchens again became a strong federation and moved south. The Ming government divided them into the most southern Jianzhou Jurchens 建けん州しゅう女おんな真しん (Jurchen also transliterated as Jušen 諸しょ申さる), the Haixi Jurchens 海うみ西にし女おんな真しん, and the "wild" Jurchens (yeren Nüzhen 野人やじん女おんな真しん). The Jianzhou Jurchens, living in the borderland to the Ming, and economically highly interrelated with the Chinese communities in that region, founded the Later Jin dynasty 後金あときん under Nurhaci 努つとむ爾なんじ哈赤 and eventually became the Manchus that conquered China as the Qing dynasty. While the southern Jurchens became the Manchus, the northern Jurchens were called Hejin 黑くろ斤きん (or Heje, today called Hezhe 赫哲), Solun 索さく倫りん (today called Ewenke 鄂溫克かつ) and Elunchun 鄂倫春はる (or Orocen).