Editing Manchukuo (section)

=== Background ===
The Qing dynasty was founded in the 17th century by Manchus hailing from northeastern China, conquering the ethnically Han [[Shun dynasty|Shun]] and [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] dynasties. Upon establishing themselves, the Qing referred to their state as {{zhi|t=中國|p=Zhōngguó|l=central country}} in Chinese and equivalently as {{lang|mnc|{{ManchuSibeUnicode|ᡩᡠᠯᡳᠮᠪᠠᡳ<br />ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ}}}}; {{transliteration|mnc|Dulimbai gurun}} in Manchu.{{sfn|Hauer|Corff|2007|p=117}}{{sfn|Dvořák|1895|p=80}}{{sfn|Wu|1995|p=102}} The name was used in official documents and treaties, and while conducting foreign affairs. The Qing equated the territory of their state, which among other regions included present-day Manchuria, Xinjiang, Mongolia, and Tibet, with the idea of 'China' itself, rejecting notions that only Han areas were core parts of China. The Qing thought of China as fundamentally multi-ethnic: the term 'Chinese people' referred to all the Han, Manchu and Mongol subjects within the empire; likewise, the term 'Chinese language' was used to refer to the [[Manchu language|Manchu]] and [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] languages in addition to those [[Sinitic languages|language varieties that descended from Old Chinese]]. Moreover, the Qing stated explicitly in various edicts, as well as within the [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]], that the Manchu home provinces belonged to China.{{sfn|Zhao|2006|pp=4, 7–14}}

The Manchu homeland was referred to as the {{zhi|t=三東省|p=Sān dōngshěng|l=three eastern provinces}} during the Qing, those provinces being [[Jilin]], [[Heilongjiang]], and [[Liaoning]]. These regions were first delineated in 1683, but would not become actual provinces until 1907.{{sfn|Clausen|Thøgersen|1995|p=7}} Jilin and Heilongjiang, considered primarily Manchu, were separated from Han Liaoning along the [[Willow Palisade]], with internal movement and migration regulated by ethnicity. These policies continued until after the end of the [[Second Opium War]] in the late 19th century, when the government started to encourage massive waves of Han migration to the northeast, collectively known as the [[Chuang Guandong]], in order to prevent the [[Russian Empire]] from seizing more of the area. In 1907, the three provinces constituting Manchuria were officially constituted, and the [[Viceroy of the Three Northeast Provinces]] position was established to govern them.