2022, Vol., No.33

Journal of Manchurian Studies 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.33

pISSN : 1738-3668
https://journal.kci.go.kr/manchuria

This paper clarifies the relation between the mining policy in Jilin(吉林) province and the reorganization of the Manchurian frontier in Late Qing period, 1860~1912. Jilin, the north-eastern frontier of the Qing empire, changed after 1860s due to, because Russian invasion and the Han Chinese illegal infiltration. The Qing dynasty began reforms aimed at to exploiting mines in Jilin province. Both the Jiapigou(夾⽪溝) and Sanxing(三姓) mines were crucial to the expansion of state power of Qing. In Jiapigou, the Qing government had to defend against ‘gold bandits(金匪)’ including the ‘Han Bianwai(韓邊外).’ From the 1880s, the Qing government embraced Han Bianwai society estabilishng Huadian province( 樺甸縣) in Jiapigou in 1910. In Sanxing, Qing empire had already estabilished rule over Tungusic native tribes including the Heje(赫哲), from the 17th century These tribes paid tribute to Qing empire with sable. However, after the Russian invasion in 1860s, these tribes broke away from the Qing, The Qing tried to recover state power in the downstream of Amur, which included Sanxing. Exploiting the mines became a crucial means of recapturing state power in Sanxing. The exploitation also helped develop a hunting economy into a mining market in the region. Through the above investigations of Jiapigou and Sanxing, this paper reveals the role mining policies can play in reestablishing state power and how such policies mattered during the Qing’s dominion in Manchurian frontier.

This paper investigated Andong’s Innovation Yurim and its role in constructing SeoGando (⻄間島) at Sinminhoe (新⺠會) as the base for an independence movement. SeoGando’s construction depended on the work of Lee Hoe-young, Yang Gi-Tak, and Andong’s Innovation Yurim affiliates such as Lee Sang-ryong and Kim Daerak. In 1911, these pioneers sacrificed their personal incomes to travel for 40 days heading toward Yuha-hyeon, traversing from Andong to Hwanin-hyeon, to establish the first base for independence. They faced several travails along the way, including months without proper housing. Several accounts take note of their ‘Shaving Hair’(薙髮) and ‘Changing Clothes’(易服). However, their efforts were not in vain. In June 1911, they were favorably received by the Chinese, allowed to borrow land, and eventually organized a Gyeonghaksa Temple where they established the Sinheung Academy. This academy would subsequently become a training center for military officers, a position gained through the backing of future-Provisional President of China Yuan Shikai. He rewarded Lee Sang-ryong with land and settlement in Tonghua County Habniha for having assisted the Revolutionary Army during the 1912 Wuchang Uprising. Eventually, however, financial and natural disasters forced the founders to abolish the Gyeonghaksa while maintaining the Shinheung School. While the founders either left or died after the reorganization, Lee Sang-ryong went on to write a historical account in his Daedong History in 1916 before forming the local government’s Bumindan.

Russia and Japan’s occupation of Fushun (撫順) and their control over the Fushun Coal Mine led to the development of the mine and the surrounding areas. In particular, the transfer of the mine’s operational control to the Southern Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd. (滿鐵) introduced modern mining facilities and electricity, which led to greater efficiency. Such developments also helped to drive Fushun City modernization. However, the Fushun Coal Mine’s rank and ethnicity-based discriminatory labor practices hampered its productivity. While the Japanese monopolized high-ranking positions, the Chinese were limited to precarious, low-wage, and high-risk positions. As a result, Chinese workers were often single and impoverished. In essence, colonial control of the mine succumbed to a normal consequence of colonial sequestering. Namely, the ethnic and systemic discrimination tied to colonial oppression invariably distorts the façade of ‘modernity’ and eventually displaces it with the dehumanizing face of ‘coloniality.’