Editing Heilongjiang (section)

==History==
{{More citations needed|section|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Saint Sofia Church.jpg|thumb|left|[[Saint Sophia Cathedral, Harbin|Saint Sofia Church, Harbin]]]]

Ancient Chinese records and other sources state that Heilongjiang was inhabited by people such as the [[Sushen]], [[Buyeo]], the [[Mohe people|Mohe]], and the [[Khitan people|Khitan]]. [[Mongol]]ic [[Donghu people]] lived in [[Inner Mongolia]] and the western part of Heilongjiang.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140322043037/http://www.orientaldiscovery.com/html/2011/11/201111231554001713.html Origins of Minority Ethnic Groups in Heilongjiang]}}</ref> Some names are Manchu or Mongolian.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iqh.net.cn/lsdl_dmx_show.asp?column_id=2506&column_cat_id=469 |script-title=zh:浅谈黑龙江省地名的特点 |website=iqh.net.cn |language=zh-cn |access-date=16 January 2011 |archive-date=23 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723122439/http://www.iqh.net.cn/lsdl_dmx_show.asp?column_id=2506&column_cat_id=469 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The eastern portion of Heilongjiang was ruled by the [[Balhae|Bohai Kingdom]] between the 7th and 10th centuries, followed by the Khitan [[Liao dynasty]]. The Jurchen [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)]] that subsequently ruled much of north China arose within the borders of modern Heilongjiang.

[[File:CEM-44-La-Chine-la-Tartarie-Chinoise-et-le-Thibet-1734-Amur-2572.jpg|thumb|left|Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces on a French map dated to 1734]]
Heilongjiang as an administrative entity was created in 1683, during the [[Kangxi Emperor|Kangxi]] era of the [[Manchu]] [[Qing dynasty]], from the northwestern part of the [[Jilin]] province.<ref name=edmonds>{{cite book|title=Northern Frontiers of Qing China and Tokugawa Japan: A Comparative Study of Frontier Policy|first=Richard Louis|last=Edmonds|publisher=University of Chicago, Department of Geography; Research Paper No. 213|isbn=0-89065-118-3|year=1985|page=6}}</ref> This Heilongjiang Province only included the western part of today's Heilongjiang Province, and was under the supervision of the General of Heilongjiang (Sahaliyan Ula i Jiyanggiyūn) (the title is also translated as the Military Governor of Heilongjiang; ''jiyanggiyūn'' is the Manchu reading of the Chinese word {{lang|zh-hant|將軍}} {{Transliteration|zh|jiāngjūn}}; "military leader, general" and is cognate with [[Japanese language|Japanese]] ''[[shōgun]]''), whose power extended, according to the [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]], as far north as the [[Stanovoy Mountains]]. The eastern part of what's today Heilongjiang remained under the supervision of the General of Jilin (Girin i Jiyanggiyūn), whose power reached the [[Sea of Japan]]. These areas deep in [[Manchuria]] were closed off to [[Han Chinese]] migration.

[[File:镇守黑龙江等处地方将军印，黑龙江将军府.jpg|thumb|Seal of the Guard General of Heilongjiang at the Heilongjiang General Mansion]]
The original seat of the Military Governor of Heilongjiang, as established in 1683, was in Heilongjiang City (also known as [[Aigun]] or [[Heihe]], or, in [[Manchu language|Manchu]], Saghalien Ula), located on the Amur river. However, already in 1690 the seat of the governor was transferred to [[Nenjiang County|Nenjiang]] (Mergen) on the [[Nen River]], and, in 1699, further south to [[Qiqihar]]. According to modern historians, the moves may have been driven by supply considerations: Nenjiang and Qiqihar are connected by a convenient waterway (Nen River) with southern Manchuria, whereas accessing Aigun (Heihe) would require either sailing all the way down the [[Sungari River]] until its confluence with the Amur and then up the Amur to Heihe, or using a [[portage]] over the Lesser Xing'an Mountains between the Nen River valley and the Amur valley. An additional advantage of Qiqihar may have been its location at the junction of a northbound road (to Nenjiang) and a westbound one (to Mongolia), enabling its garrison to defend both against the Russians and the Ölöt [[Mongols]].<ref>Edmonds (1985), pp. 115–117</ref>

Little Qing Military presence existed north of Aigun. According to the 18th- and early-20th-century European sources and the reports of the Russians in the 1850s, the farthest Qing "advance guard" post was at Ulusu-Modon (Ulussu-Mudan) ({{lang-zh|乌鲁苏穆丹}} ''Wūlǔsūmùdān''), near the Amur river's famous S-shaped meander. (The post was on the left (north) bank of the river, lost to the Russians in 1860.)

In 1858 and 1860, the [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] government was [[Amur Annexation|forced to give up]] all land beyond the Amur and Ussuri rivers to the [[Russian Empire]], cutting off the Qing Empire from the [[Sea of Japan]] and giving Heilongjiang its present northern and eastern borders. At the same time, [[Manchuria]] was opened to [[Han Chinese]] migration by the [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] government. By the early twentieth century, due to the ''[[Chuang Guandong]]'', the [[Han Chinese]] had become the dominant ethnic group in the region.<ref>Patrick Fuliang Shan, "Taming China's Wilderness: Immigration, Settlement, and the Shaping of the Heilongjiang Frontier, 1900–1931", Ashgate, 2014, {{ISBN|978-1-4094-6389-4}}</ref>

In 1931, Japanese forces [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invaded]] Heilongjiang. In 1932, the Japanese completed their conquest of the province, which became part of the [[Japan]]ese [[puppet state]] of [[Manchukuo]].

In 1945, Japanese forces in Manchuria were [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|defeated by the Soviet Army]]. During the [[Chinese Civil War]], Soviet forces aided the Chinese communists. Heilongjiang became the first province to be completely controlled by the communists and [[Harbin]] the first major city to be controlled by them.

At the beginning of communist rule, Heilongjiang included only the western portion of the present-day province, and had its capital at Qiqihar. The remaining area was the [[Songjiang Province|province of Songjiang]]; its capital was Harbin. In 1954, these two provinces were merged into present-day Heilongjiang. During the [[Cultural Revolution]], Heilongjiang was also expanded to include [[Hulunbuir League]] and some other areas previously in [[Inner Mongolia]]; this has since mostly been reversed.
[[File:Jixi Xingguo Middle Road.jpg|thumb|400px|[[Jixi]]]]