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The Political Structure of the Chienchou Jurchens during the Post-Mongol Period: An Analysis of Han-Character Surnames of the Chienchou Wei Group’s Ruling Class Found in the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty
Full text linkThe Tungusic people who lived in the forest areas of premodern Northeast Asia are said to have had a social organization in common with the Turkic and Mongolian nomads in steppe areas, but their historical political structure is still vague. This paper examines the Chienchou Jurchens, a group of Jušen (Jurchen) who played an important role in Northeast Asia during the post-Mongol period (late 14th–16th centuries). Later, they formed the Qing Dynasty. Herein, we attempt to clarify their historical political structure.
The Chienchou Jurchens were divided into three groups: the Chienchou Wei, Chienchou Tsowei, and Chienchou Yuwei. This paper focuses on the Chienchou Wei group, the core of the Chienchou Jurchens at that time, and analyzes the surnames of the ruling class found in the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty in the 15th century. Particular attention is paid to their Han-character surnames. Han-character surnames indicate their clan, thus functioning as a sign of patrilineal origin and status in Chienchou Jurchen’s groups. However, unlike the Tsowei—the nursery of Nurhaci’s polity—, the various Han-character surnames that make up the Chienchou Wei group’s ruling class have not been analyzed, except for the Li surname, which relates to the chief clan of the Chienchou Wei group.
This paper focuses on the hereditary nominal posts of military officials of various ranks assigned by the Ming and Joseon Dynasty for the purpose of presenting the Chienchou Jurchen’s ruling class. These military posts functioned as ranks, indicating the status of the ruling class. In this paper, these posts are used as clues to identify ruling classes other than the chief clan in the Chienchou Wei group. The surnames Shen, Tung, Sheng, Lin, Huang, and Chiang were associated with the level below the chief clan for official positions. In the Chienchou Wei group in the 15th century, ruling class clans with different surnames were arranged in a hierarchy under the chief clan.
The findings of this study can be contrasted with those of the Northern Yüan Mongolian groups and are important for providing a structural understanding of the situation in eastern Eurasia in the post-Mongol period, prior to the establishment of the Qing Dynasty.journal articl
