Editing Jurchen people (section)

== Culture ==
[[File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769, Qilang people (奇楞).jpg|thumb|[[Qilang people]] (奇楞). [[Huang Qing Zhigong Tu]], 1769]]
[[Image:Ussuriysk-Stone-Tortoise-3815.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Bixi]] from the grave of a 12th-century Jurchen leader in today's [[Ussuriysk]]]]

Jurchen culture shared many similarities with the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of Siberian-Manchurian tundra and coastal peoples. Like the [[Khitan people]] and [[Mongols]], they took pride in feats of strength, horsemanship, archery, and hunting. Both Mongols and Jurchens used the title ''[[Khan (title)|Khan]]'' for the leaders of a political entity, whether "emperor" or "chief". A particularly powerful chief was called ''[[beile]]'' ("prince, nobleman"), corresponding with the Mongolian ''[[beki]]'' and [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] ''[[baig]]'' or ''[[bey]]''. Also like the Mongols and the Turks, the Jurchens did not observe [[primogeniture]]. According to tradition, any capable son or nephew could be chosen to become leader.

Unlike the Mongols,{{sfn|Franke|1994|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=iN9Tdfdap5MC&pg=PA217 217]}}{{sfn|Rachewiltz|1993|p=112}} the Jurchens were a sedentary{{sfn|Vajda|2000}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Williamson |first=Jeffrey G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QiDslL0o-hUC |title=Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-262-29518-5 |author-link=Jeffrey G. Williamson}}{{page needed|date=July 2021}}</ref> and agrarian society. They farmed grain and millet as their primary cereal crops, grew flax and raised oxen, pigs, sheep, and horses.{{sfn|Franke|1990|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ST6TRNuWmHsC&pg=PA416 416]}} "At the most", the Jurchen could only be described as "semi-nomadic" while the majority of them were sedentary.{{sfn|Breuker|2010|pp=220–221}}

Jurchen similarities and differences with the Mongols were emphasized to various degrees by [[Nurhaci]] out of political expediency.{{sfn|Perdue|2009|p=127}} Nurhaci once said to the Mongols that "the languages of the Chinese and Koreans are different, but their clothing and way of life is the same. It is the same with us Manchus (''Jušen'') and Mongols. Our languages are different, but our clothing and way of life is the same." Later, Nurhaci indicated that the bond with the Mongols was not based on any real shared culture, but rather on pragmatic reasons of "mutual opportunism". He said to the Mongols, "You Mongols raise livestock, eat meat and wear pelts. My people till the fields and live on grain. We two are not one country and we have different languages".{{sfn|Peterson|2002|p=31}}

During the [[Ming dynasty]], the Jurchens lived in sub-clans (''mukun'' or ''hala mukun'') of ancient clans (''hala''). Not all clan members were blood related, and division and integration of different clans was common. Jurchen households (''boo'') lived as families (''booigon'') consisting of five to seven blood-related family members and a number of slaves. Households formed squads (''tatan'') to engage in tasks related to hunting and food gathering and formed companies (''niru'') for larger activities, such as war.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

===Haixi, Jianzhou, Yeren===
The [[Haixi Jurchens]] were "semi-agricultural, the [[Jianzhou Jurchens]] and Maolian ({{zh|c=毛怜|labels=no}}) Jurchens were sedentary, while hunting and fishing was the way of life of the "Wild Jurchens".{{sfn|Chan|1988|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tyhT9SZRLS8C&pg=PA266 266]}} Hunting, horseback archery, horsemanship, livestock raising, and sedentary agriculture were all practiced by Jianzhou Jurchens.{{sfn|Rawski|1996|p=834}} The Jurchen way of life (economy) was described as agricultural. They farmed crops and [[Animal husbandry|raised animals]].{{sfn|Wurm|Mühlhäusler|Tyron|1996|p=828}} Jurchens practiced slash-and-burn agriculture in the areas north of [[Shenyang]].{{sfn|Reardon-Anderson|2000|p=504}}

{{quotation|"建州毛憐則渤海大氏遺孽，樂住種，善緝紡，飲食服用，皆如華人，自長白山迤南，可拊而治也。<br />The (people of) Jianzhou and Mao Lian are the descendants of the Ta family of Balhae. They love to be sedentary and sow, and they are skilled in spinning and weaving. As for food, clothing and utensils, they are the same as (those used by) the Chinese. (Those living) south of Changbai Mountain are apt to be soothed and governed."
| source= 据魏焕《皇明九边考》卷二《辽东镇边夷考》<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artx.cn/artx/lishi/20422.html |title=明代汉族与女真族的马市贸易 |author=萧国亮 |date=2007-01-24 |website=艺术中国(ARTX.cn) |page=1 |access-date=25 July 2014 |archive-date=29 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729230931/http://www.artx.cn/artx/lishi/20422.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Translation from ''Sino-J̌ürčed relations during the Yung-Lo period, 1403–1424'' by Henry Serruys.{{sfn|Serruys|1955|p=22}} }}

===Queue===
In 1126, the Jurchens initially ordered male [[Han Chinese]] within their conquered territories to adopt the Jurchen hairstyle by shaving the front of their heads and adopting Jurchen dress, but the order was later lifted.{{sfn|Zhang|1984|pp=97–8}} Jurchens were impersonated by Han rebels who wore their hair in the Jurchen [[queue (hairstyle)|queue]] to strike fear within their population.{{sfn|Franke|1990|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ST6TRNuWmHsC&pg=PA417]}} During the [[Qing dynasty]], the Manchus, who descended from the Jurchens, similarly made Han Chinese men shave the front of their head and wear the rest of their hair in a [[Queue (hairstyle)|queue]], or ''soncoho'' ({{ManchuSibeUnicode|ᠰᠣᠨᠴᠣᡥᠣ}}) ({{zh|c=辮子|p=biànzi|labels=no}}), the traditional Manchu hairstyle.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

===Dogs===
Although their [[Mohe people|Mohe]] ancestors did not revere dogs, the Jurchens began to revere dogs around the time of the Ming dynasty and passed this tradition on to the Manchus. It was prohibited in Jurchen culture to use dog skin, and forbidden for Jurchens to harm, kill, or eat dogs. The Jurchens believed that the "utmost evil" was the usage of dog skin by Koreans.{{sfn|Aisin Gioro|Jin|2007|p=18}}

===Sex and marriage===
Pre-marital sex was probably accepted in lower class Jurchen society since the practice of guest prostitution - providing visitors with sex - did not impede their ability to marry later. The Jurchens also allowed marriage with in-laws, a practice considered taboo in Chinese society.<ref name="L. S. Olschki"/><ref name="University of California Press"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Franke|first=Herbert|authorlink=Herbert Franke (sinologist)|title=Diplomatic Missions of the Sung State 960-1276|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iRIwAQAAIAAJ|year=1981|publisher=Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University|isbn=978-0-909879-14-3|page=14}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Lanciotti|1980|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cQAqAAAAYAAJ] 33}}</ref> [[Bride kidnapping|Abduction marriages]] were common.<ref>{{Cite book |last=JOHNSON |first=LINDA COOKE |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wqjst |title=Women of the Conquest Dynasties: Gender and Identity in Liao and Jin China |date=2011 |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |jstor=j.ctt6wqjst |isbn=978-0-8248-3404-3}}</ref>

===Burial===
Until recently, it was uncertain what kind of burial rites existed among the Jurchens. In July 2012, Russian archaeologists discovered a Jurchen burial ground in [[Partizansky District, Primorsky Krai|Partizansky District]] of [[Primorsky Krai|Primorye]] in Russia. Fifteen graves dating to the 12th or 13th century were found, consisting of the grave of a chieftain placed in the centre, with the graves of 14 servants nearby. All the graves contained pots with ashes, prompting the scientists to conclude that the Jurchens cremated the corpses of their dead. The grave of the chieftain also contained a quiver with arrows and a bent sword. The archaeologists propose that the sword was purposely bent, to signify that the owner would no longer need it in earthly life. The researchers planned to return to Primorye to establish whether this was a singular burial or a part of the larger burial ground.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://russia-ic.com/news/show/14426/ |title=A Large Burial Ground of the Jurchen People Has Been Found In Russia's Primorye: Russia-InfoCentre |publisher=Russia-ic.com |date=2012-07-27 |access-date=17 August 2012}}</ref>

===Agriculture===
Only the Mongols and the northern "wild" Jurchen were semi-nomadic, unlike the mainstream Jianzhou Jurchens descended from the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin dynasty]], who were farmers that foraged, hunted, herded and harvested crops in the Liao and Yalu river basins. They gathered ginseng root, pine nuts, hunted for came pels in the uplands and forests, raised horses in their stables, and farmed millet and wheat in their fallow fields. They engaged in dances, wrestling and drinking strong liquor as noted during midwinter by the Korean Sin Chung-il when it was very cold. These Jurchens who lived in the northeast's harsh cold climate sometimes half sunk their houses in the ground which they constructed of brick or timber and surrounded their fortified villages with stone foundations on which they built wattle and mud walls to defend against attack. Village clusters were ruled by beile, hereditary leaders. They fought each other and dispensed weapons, wives, slaves and lands to their followers in them. This was how the Jurchens who founded the Qing lived and how their ancestors lived before the Jin. Alongside Mongols and Jurchen clans there were migrants from Liaodong provinces of Ming China and Korea living among these Jurchens in a cosmopolitan manner. Nurhaci, who was hosting Sin Chung-il, was uniting all of them into his own army, having them adopt the Jurchen hairstyle of a long queue and a shaved forecrown and wearing leather tunics. His armies had black, blue, red, white and yellow flags. These became the Eight Banners, initially capped to 4 then growing to 8 with three different types of ethnic banners as Han, Mongol and Jurchen were recruited into Nurhaci's forces. Jurchens like Nurhaci spoke both their native Tungusic language and Chinese, adopting the [[Mongolian script]] for their own language, unlike the Jin Jurchen's use of the [[Khitan large script]]. They adopted [[Confucianism|Confucian values]] and practiced [[shamanism in the Qing dynasty|shamanist traditions]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Keay |first1=John |title=China: A History |date=2011 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0465025183 |page=422 |edition=reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DfzQDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA422}}</ref> Most Jurchens raised pigs and stock animals and were farmers.<ref name="Schneider 2011"/>

The Qing stationed the "New Manchu" Warka foragers in [[Ning'an|Ningguta]] and attempted to turn them into normal agricultural farmers but then the Warka just reverted to hunter gathering and requested money to buy cattle for beef broth. The Qing wanted the Warka to become soldier-farmers and imposed this on them, but the Warka simply left their garrison at Ningguta and went back to the [[Sungari]] to their homes to herd, fish and hunt. The Qing accused them of desertion.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bello |first1=David A. |editor1-last=Smith |editor1-first=Norman |title=Empire and Environment in the Making of Manchuria |date=2017 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=978-0774832922 |page=68 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PRJDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |series=Contemporary Chinese Studies |chapter=2 Rival Empires on the Hunt for Sable and People in Seventeenth-Century Manchuria}}</ref>