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Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture
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Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture (; ) is an autonomous prefecture in Jilin province, in the northeastern part of China. Yanbian is south of Heilongjiang, east of Jilin's Baishan City, north of North Korea's North Hamgyong Province, and west of Russia. Yanbian is designated as an autonomous prefecture due to the large number of ethnic Koreans living in the region. The prefectural capital is Yanji, and the area is 42,700 km².
The Prefecture has an important Balhae archaeological site: the Ancient Tombs at Longtou Mountain, which includes the Mausoleum of Princess Zhenxiao.
prefecture is subdivided into eight county-level divisions: six county-level cities and two counties:
The above counties and cities are divided into 642 villages (???/???).
he Ming Dynasty, Yanbian was governed by the Jianzhou Guard-district, and in the late Qing Dynasty the area was divided into the Yanji and Hunchun subprefectures.
In the 19th century, Korean immigrants migrated en masse from the Korean peninsula to China.
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Encyclopedia
Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture (; ) is an autonomous prefecture in Jilin province, in the northeastern part of China. Yanbian is south of Heilongjiang, east of Jilin's Baishan City, north of North Korea's North Hamgyong Province, and west of Russia. Yanbian is designated as an autonomous prefecture due to the large number of ethnic Koreans living in the region. The prefectural capital is Yanji, and the area is 42,700 km².
The Prefecture has an important Balhae archaeological site: the Ancient Tombs at Longtou Mountain, which includes the Mausoleum of Princess Zhenxiao.
Administration
The prefecture is subdivided into eight county-level divisions: six county-level cities and two counties:
- Yanji City (??? Yánjí Shì, ???): formerly county until 1950s
- Tumen City (???/??? Túmén Shì, ???): established in 1965
- Longjing City (???/??? Lóngjing Shì, ???): formerly county until 1987
- Hunchun City (???/??? Húnchun Shì, ???): formerly county until 1983
- Dunhua City (??? Dunhuà Shì, ???): formerly county until 1985
- Helong City (???/??? Hélóng Shì, ???): formerly county until 1993
- Antu County (???/??? Antú Xiàn, ???)
- Wangqing County (???/??? Wangqing Xiàn, ???)
The above counties and cities are divided into 642 villages (???/???).
History
In the Ming Dynasty, Yanbian was governed by the Jianzhou Guard-district, and in the late Qing Dynasty the area was divided into the Yanji and Hunchun subprefectures.
In the 19th century, Korean immigrants migrated en masse from the Korean peninsula to China. After the foundation of the Republic of China, a second wave arrived. The population increase was caused by the Japanese invasion of that region. The Japanese were trying to use Korean immigration to diffuse the staying power of Chinese in that region. After the end of World War II, many Koreans did not go back to Korea, even though their country had been liberated (as there were economic and political problems back in their country). Instead, they joined the Chinese Civil War and were mobilized by both Chinese communists and the Chinese Nationalists. When the civil war was over, the new Chinese government gave Koreans their own autonomous region in 1952. Yanbian was upgraded to an ethnic autonomous prefecture in 1955.
In 1952, the Korean migrants composed some 60% of the local population, but by 2000 their share shrank to 32%. The Chinese authorities subsidize Korean language schools and publications, but also take measures to prevent an emergence of the Korean irredentism in the area. From the late 1990s the Koreans began to be assimilated into Chinese culture with increasing speed, often switching to daily use of Chinese and choosing to attend the Chinese language schools.
The name "Yanbian" was created in the 1920s, because it stretches (yan) on the boundary (bian) of three nations. It was also in the Yanji Border-affairs Public Bureau, where Yanji means Luck of the Stretch. During the Manchukuo period, it was called Kan-do Province by the Japanese. The same characters when used as hanja in Korean are pronounced and romanized as Gando (hangul: ??), however, the name Gil Im Seong is more frequently used by Koreans to refer to Jilin province.
Geography
- Geographic coordinates: 41°59'47" - 44°30'42", 127°27'43" - 131°18'33" E
- Boundary length: 755.2 km
- China-Korea: 522.5 km
- China-Russia: 232.7 km
Mountains that are in the prefecture are:
- The central range of Changbai Mountains
- Zhangguangcai Peak
- Harba Peak
- Peony Peak
- Old Master Peak
- Nan'gang Mountain Range
There have been over 40 types of minerals and 50 kinds of metals, including gold, lead, zinc copper, silver, manganese and mercury, discovered near or in the mountains.
Average land height is 500 metres above sea level.
Main rivers include:
The rivers sustain 28 running water processing facilities.
The rivers created basins, which are suitable for agricultural uses, like rice paddies and bean farms.
Transportation
Railways include:
- Chang-Tu Line (???/???): most important
- Mu-Tu Line (???/???)
- Chao-Kai Line (???/???): Yangchuan-Shantun Line (?????/?????)
- Tumen-Hunchun Railway: under construction
Public roads are 1,480-kilometre altogether. There are four airports.
Demographics
Ethnicity compositions:
- 2,184,000 (1997)
- 57.4% Han Chinese
- 39.7% Korean Chinese (854,000)
- 2.4% Manchus
- 0.3% Hui Chinese
- 0.1% other nationalities, including the Mongols
- Growth rate 0.4%.
Population density: 51 people per km².
Like the peninsular Koreans, Yanbian Koreans' most common surname is Gim. Many immigrated from Korea during the 19th century, and again during the Japanese Occupation.
The Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture has an index of urbanization standard (?????/?????) at 55.6%, 20 percentage points greater than the provincial average (31.3%) and 25 more than the national average (26.5%).
Culture
Both Chinese and Korean are used as official languages in Yanbian Ethnic Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Most ethnic Koreans in this area are bilingual. Like Koreans living in the Korean peninsula, ethnic Koreans in Yanbian use Western punctuation in writing.
The Museum of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture was planned in 1960, and constructed in 1982. It contains over 10,000 exhibits, including 11 first-level artifacts. The exhibits' labels and explanations are bilingual in Korean and Chinese, and tour guides are also available in both languages.
Tourism
There are seven public parks in Yanbian's green space (18% of whole prefecture), including:
- Yanji People's Park (??????/??????)
- Youth Lake Park (?????/?????)
Also popular among locals during holidays and festivities.
Nature and Environment
Over 70% are originally forest in the prefecture, so there is a rich diversity of life.
Sports
Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture is an important football region to Chinese football. For 50 years more than 40 footballers have ever been selected into Chinese national football team.
The first professional football team in this prefecture is Jilin Three Stars Football Club. From 1994 to 2000, this club had been playing for 7 years in Chinese top football league. In 2000, they were relegated from the top league. Because of the poor economic condition the club was sold to Lucheng Group, a rich group in Zhejiang Province.
In 2001, Yanbian Football Club was founded. They now playing in the second-class football league.
See also
External links
- : in simplified Chinese, Korean and English
- : by the Information Office of Jilin Provincial Government
- : in Korean, simplified Chinese, and English
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