Hūlun () was a powerful alliance of Jurchen tribes in the late 16th century, based primarily in modern

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

province of China. The Hūlun alliance was formed by Wan (d. 1582), the leader of the Hada tribal federation, which had drawn its importance from the control of commerce between the late-

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

Liaodong The Liaodong Peninsula (also Liaotung Peninsula, ) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located between the mouths of the Daliao River (the ...

and Jurchen tribes to the east via Guangshun Pass (east of Kaiyuan, which is located near the northern tip of today's Liaoning Province). Besides the Hada themselves, the Hūlun included three other tribal federations, known as Ula,

Yehe Nara (Manchu: , Wade-Giles: nara hala, Chinese: , or ) is a clan name shared by a number of royal Manchu clans. The four tribes of the Hūlun confederation () – Hada (), Ula (), Hoifa () and Yehe () – were all ruled by clans bearing this ...

, and Hoifa. While the Hūlun people were mostly of Jurchen origin, they had been heavily influenced by the Mongol language and culture, and intermarried with the neighboring

Khorchin The Khorchin ( mn, Хорчин, ''Horçin''; ''Qorčin''; ) are a subgroup of the Mongols that speak the Khorchin dialect of Mongolian and predominantly live in northeastern Inner Mongolia of China. History The Ming dynasty gave Borjigin p ...

and

Kharchin The Kharchin (, ; ), or Kharachin, is a subgroup of the Mongols residing mainly (and originally) in North-western Liaoning and Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. There are Khalkha-Kharchin Mongols in Dorno-Gobi Province (Kharchin Örtöö was part of the ...

Mongols. Therefore, were viewed by their southern neighbors –

Jianzhou Jurchens The Jianzhou Jurchens () were one of the three major groups of Jurchens as identified by the Ming dynasty. Although the geographic location of the Jianzhou Jurchens changed throughout history, during the 14th century they were located south of t ...

, which were in the late 16th century led by

Nurhaci Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing (), was a Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th century in Manchuria. A member of the House of Aisin-Gioro, he reigned ...

– as ''Monggo'' ("Mongols"). The Hūlun khan Wan aspired to paramount leadership in the region, establishing a network of political and business relations with Jurchen and Mongol leaders, as well as with the

governor of

, Li Chengliang.

, the chief of the Jianzhou Jurchens, was Wan's son-in-law,Jurchen and Mongol chieftains of the time were often polygamous, thus it would be common for each of them to be a son-in-law, and later in life father-in-law, of many other chiefs; see many allusions to such relations elsewhere in Crossley (2006). and, in Pamela Crossley's view, viewed Wan and his Hūlun as role models for himself and his Later Jin dynasty in northeastern China. Many years later, long after Hong Taiji had renamed Jurchens to

Manchus The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

, and both Wan and Nurhaci were dead, Qing historians referred to Wan as one of the first great leaders of the "Manchu nations". In the closing years of the 16th century, Hūlun tribes started recognizing Nurhaci's supremacy although, in some cases, the Nurhaci-appointed chief of a tribe would then try to assert his independence, and a new war would result, as it was the case with Bujantai, the leader of the Ula. Eventually, all four tribes were fully incorporated into Nurhaci's empire (Hada 1601, Hoifa 1607, Ula 1613, Yehe 1619).

Notes

References

Jurchens History of Manchuria Qing dynasty {{China-hist-stub