In the Ming dynasty, Yanbian was governed by the Jianzhou Guard (建州衛) and in the late Qing dynasty the area was divided into the Yanji (延吉廳) and Hunchun (琿春廳) subprefectures. From 1644 to the 1800s the Manchurian administrators of the Qing state attempted to separate Northeast China, politically and ethnographically, into a "Manchuria" to which they could retreat in case an ethnically Han Chinese dynasty regained control over China. However, this effort failed because of the trading and agricultural opportunities available to Han Chinese migrants in the northeast region which made it profitable to evade the rules, as well as later Qing relaxation of the same rules (Chuang Guandong) to discourage Russian encroachment.[1][2]
In the late 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. Of the 2 million ethnic Koreans in Manchuria at the time of the communist takeover, 1.2 million remained in the region after the end of World War II. Many participated in the Chinese Civil War, most on the side of the Chinese communists. When the civil war was over, the new Chinese government gave these Koreans their own autonomous region (区) in 1952. Yanbian was upgraded to an ethnic autonomous prefecture in 1955.[citation needed] During the Cultural Revolution, ethnic Koreans were killed and persecuted in Yanbian.[3]
Korean (Joseon) migration into Northeast China began in significant numbers in the last quarter of the 19th century and was mainly motivated by economic hardship on the Korean side of the border. After the Japanese annexed Korea in 1910, a small but significant number of migrants also came to Manchuria for political reasons.[4]
In 1952, the Korean migrants comprised some 60% of the local population, but by 2000 that was down to 32%. The Chinese authorities subsidize Korean language schools and publications, but also take measures to prevent an emergence of Korean irredentism in the area. From the late 1990s, the Koreans have assimilated into mainstream Chinese culture with increasing speed, often switching to daily use of Chinese and choosing to attend Chinese-language schools.[5]
The rivers sustain 28 running water processing facilities. They created basins, which are suitable for agricultural uses, like rice paddies and bean farms.
Population density: 51 inhabitants per square kilometer (130 inhabitants per square mile).
As on the Korean peninsula, the most common surname among Yanbian Koreans is Kim (Jin [金] in Chinese). Many emigrated from Korea during the 19th century and again during the Japanese occupation.[citation needed]
Between 1952 and 2002, the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture had among the highest rates of urbanization (城市化率) at 55.6%, 20 percentage points greater than the provincial average (31.3%) and 25 more than the national average (26.5%).[6]
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.[citation needed] The exhibits' labels and explanations are bilingual in Korean and Chinese and tour guides are also available in both languages.
The first professional football team in this prefecture is Jilin Three Stars Football Club. From 1994 to 2000, this club had played each year in the top Chinese football league. In 2000, they were relegated from the top league. Because of poor economic conditions the club was sold to Lucheng Group in Zhejiang Province.
In 2016, Yanbian Football Club was sponsored by Shenzhen Funde Group (Chinese: 富德集团) when they got the permission of Chinese Super League, since they acquired the 1st place in the Chinese Second League in 2015.
^Lovell, Julia (2019-09-03). Maoism: A Global History. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 114–115. ISBN978-0-525-65605-0. Events took a horrific turn in the frontier town of Yanbian, where freight trains trundled from China into the DPRK, draped with the corpses of Koreans killed in the pitched battles of the Cultural Revolution, and daubed with threatening graffiti: 'This will be your fate also, you tiny revisionists!'
^Min, Pyong Gap (1992). "A Comparison of the Korean Minorities in China and Japan". International Migration Review. 26 (1): 4–21. doi:10.2307/2546934. JSTOR2546934. PMID12285045.
延边朝鲜族自治州概编写组编写 (June 2009). 延边朝鲜族自治州概况 [Overview of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture] (in Chinese). Beijing: Publishing House of Minority Nationalities. ISBN978-7-105-08642-9.
