China

The Juchen

The Liao were eventually overthrown by the Juchen (Pinyin: Nüchen), another seminomadic and semipastoral people who originated in Manchuria, swept across northern China, ended the Bei Song, and established the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). This new and much larger empire in northern China followed the Liao pattern of dual government and of some acculturation but at a much higher cultural level.

The Juchen, in establishing their Chinese-style Jin empire, occupied a broader geographic region in the farming country than had any previous nomadic or pastoral conquerors. The migration of their own people in large numbers notwithstanding, they were proportionally a smaller minority than were the Khitan, for the Jin ruled a much larger Chinese population. Because they formed a small minority in their own empire, their tribesmen were kept in a standing army that was always prepared for warfare. They were quartered among their farming subjects but were expected to respond to the command of their captains at short notice. In the military service the Juchen language was kept alive, and no Chinese-style names, clothing, or customs were permitted. They realized that protecting their separate ethnic and cultural identity was indispensable to maintaining military superiority.

Politically, however, it was necessary for the Juchen rulers to familiarize themselves with the sophisticated culture of their Chinese subjects in order to manage state affairs. While limiting Chinese participation in the government, they shrewdly deflected the interests of their subjects toward the pursuit of such peaceful arts as printing, scholarship, painting, literature, and, significantly, the development of drama for widespread entertainment. (These trends continued under the Mongols and enriched Chinese culture.) In spite of the Juchen efforts, time was on the side of the majority culture, which gradually absorbed the minority. The transplanted tribesmen, after settling on farmland, could not avoid being affected by the Chinese way of life, particularly during long periods of peace.

Economically, the Juchen were no match for the Chinese. In time a number of Juchen became tenants on Chinese-owned land; some were reduced to paupers. Their economic decline altered social relations. Eventually they were permitted to intermarry, usually with parties wealthier than themselves. Their military strength also declined. It became normal for military units to be undermanned. Captains of “hundreds” often could put no more than two dozen men into the field, and captains of “thousands” had no more than four or five such nominal “hundreds” under them. Their ruling class followed a parallel decline. The interests of the ruling group shifted from government affairs to Confucian studies, Chinese Classics, and Tang- and Song-style poetry. The rulers found little use for the two styles of Juchen script that their ancestors had devised. Eventually the Juchen, much weakened, were brought down by the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan and his successors.