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ETHNIC KOREANS IN CHINA
- This article talks about the Korean people (朝鲜族/조선족) in China. Not to be confused with the overseas Chinese in North and South Korea.
Ethnic Koreans in China (Chinese: 朝鲜族; pinyin: Cháoxiǎn zú; Korean: 조선족) are Korean people with People's Republic of China citizenship. They form one of the 56 ethnicities officially recognized by the Chinese government. As of the year 2000, there are 1.9 million ethnic Koreans in China. Most of them live in Northeast China. Their largest population live at the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture (854,000 in 1997).
History
Throughout history, due to the close interactions between China and Korea, some degree of population movements have always occurred between the two neighboring countries. There were recorded Korean migrations in the early Qing Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty and earlier. The vast majority of early Korean populations in China had assimilated with Chinese society, and vice versa. The current Korean population in China is mainly descended from the migrations occurred between 1860 and 1945. In the 1860s, a series of natural disasters struck Korea, leading to disastrous famines. It led many Koreans migrate to China, after the Qing Dynasty lessened the border control and began to accept Korean migrants. By 1894, an estimated 34,000 Koreans lived in China, with numbers increasing to 109,500 in 1910. After the Japanese annexation of Korea, larger numbers of Koreans moved to China. Some merely fled from Japanese rule, while others intended to use China as a base for their anti-Japanese resistance movements. By 1936, there were 854,411 Koreans in China. As Japanese rule extended to China, the Japanese government forced Korean farmers to migrate north to China to develop the land. By 1945, the number of Koreans in China reached to 1,692,342. During the World War II, many Koreans in China joined the Chinese peoples in fighting against the Japanese invaders. Many also joined on the Communist side and fought against the Chinese Nationalist armies during the Chinese Civil War. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yanbian, where most ethnic Koreans live, was designated as an autonomous region in 1952, and was upgraded to an autonomous prefecture in 1955.
Culture
Ethnic Koreans in China speak the same language that is used in Korean Peninsula. Most of them can also speak Mandarin.
Most ethnic Koreans in China are not affiliated with religion. But some traditional people belive in Buddhism and some affected by the western influence in South Korea began to believe in Christianity.
Famous ethnic Koreans in China
- Cui Jian (崔健, in Korean 최건/Choi Geon), Chinese rock musician, songwriter, trumpet player, guitarist and composer
- Jin Yan (金焰, in Korean 김염/Kim Yeon), famous actor
- Jin Haixin (金海心, in Korean 김해심/Kim Haesim), pop star
- Li Dezhu (李德洙, in Korean 이덕수/Lee Deok-su), Chief Executive of the State Ethnic Affairs of PRC
- Li Yongtai, (李永泰, in Korean 이영태/Lee Yeong-tae), Member of the 9th NPC Standing Committee, Deputy Commander of the PLA Air Force
- Zhao Nanqi (趙南起, in Korean 조남기/Cho Nam-gi), People's Liberation Army General, former Vice Chairman of The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
See also
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