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Manchu
(980 words)

The Manchu (or Manchurians) were one of the peoples of the northern forest and steppe zone of east Asia, who succeeded in establishing an imperial dynasty in China as foreign rulers. The derivation of the term Manchu has not been established with certainty. It was first mentioned in 1599, and from 1635 it officially replaced the old ethnonym Jurchen. Ethnically and linguistically speaking, the Manchu belonged to the Tungusic group of the Altai peoples. They inhabited the northeastern region of China (now Manchuria).

The Manchu tribes always had close relations with the China …

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Theobald, Ulrich, “Manchu”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_023648>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20190801



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