Tungusic peoples are an ethno-linguistic group formed by the speakers of

Tungusic languages The Tungusic languages (also known as Manchu-Tungus and Tungus) form a language family spoken in Eastern Siberia and Manchuria by Tungusic peoples. Many Tungusic languages are endangered. There are approximately 75,000 native speakers of the doz ...

(or Manchu–Tungus languages). They are native to Siberia and

Northeast Asia Northeast Asia or Northeastern Asia is a geographical subregion of Asia; its northeastern landmass and islands are bounded by the Pacific Ocean. The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by American historian and political scient ...

. The Tungusic phylum is divided into two main branches, northern (Evenic or Tungus) and southern ( Jurchen– Nanai). An intermediate group ( Oroch– Udege) is sometimes recognized.

Name

The name ''Tungusic'' is artificial, and properly refers just to the postulated linguistic phylum (

). It is derived from Russian (), a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

for the

Evenks The Evenks (also spelled Ewenki or Evenki based on their endonym )Autonym: (); russian: Эвенки (); (); formerly known as Tungus or Tunguz; mn, Хамниган () or Aiwenji () are a Tungusic people of North Asia. In Russia, the Eve ...

(Ewenki). English usage of ''Tungusic'' was introduced by Friedrich Max Müller in the 1850s, based on earlier use of German by

Heinrich Julius Klaproth Heinrich Julius Klaproth (11 October 1783 – 28 August 1835) was a German linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, orientalist and explorer. As a scholar, he is credited along with Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat, with being instrumental in turning ...

. The alternative term ''Manchu–Tungus'' is also in use ( 'Tunguso-Manchurian'). The name ''Tunguska'', a region of eastern Siberia bounded on the west by the Tunguska rivers and on the east by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

, has its origin from the Tungus people (Evenks).''The Languages of the Seat of War in the East''
by Max Müller, 1855 Russian was likely taken from East Turkic (literally, 'wild pig, boar', from Old Turkic ),Tungus. (n.d.) ''American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition''. (2011). Retrieved May 2, 2019 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Tungus although some scholars prefer derivation from the Chinese word (, 'Eastern Barbarians', cf. 'Tungusic'). This "chance similarity in modern pronunciation led to the once widely held assumption that the Eastern Hu were Tungusic in language. However, there is little basis for this theory."

History

It is generally suggested that the homeland of the Tungusic people is in northeastern

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

, somewhere near the Amur River region. The Tungusic language family is grouped mostly with Turkic and Mongolic, which forms the proposed linguistic area of the

Altaic Altaic (; also called Transeurasian) is a controversial proposed language family that would include the Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic language families and possibly also the Japonic and Koreanic languages. Speakers of these languages are ...

(or Micro-Altaic). Genetic evidence collected from the Ulchsky District suggests a date for the Micro-Altaic expansion predating 3500 BC. The Tungusic expansion into Siberia displaced the indigenous Siberian languages, which are now grouped under the term Paleosiberian. Several theories suggest that the

Pannonian Avars The Pannonian Avars () were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples were also known as the Obri in chronicles of Rus, the Abaroi or Varchonitai ( el, Βαρχονίτες, Varchonítes), or Pseudo-Avars ...

of the Avar Khaganate in Central, East and Southeast Europe were of Tungusic origin or of partially Tungusic origin (as a ruling class). Tungusic people on the Amur river like Udeghe, Ulchi and Nanai adopted Chinese influences in their religion and clothing with Chinese dragons on ceremonial robes, scroll and spiral bird and monster mask designs, Chinese New Year, using silk and cotton, iron cooking pots, and heated homes from China. The Manchu originally came from

, which is now

Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...

and the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

. Following the Manchu establishment of the Qing dynasty in the 17th century, they have been almost completely assimilated into the language and culture of the ethnic Han population of China. The southern Tungusic Manchu farming sedentary lifestyle was very different from the nomadic hunter gatherer forager lifestyle of their more northern Tungusic relatives like the Warka, which left the Qing state to attempt to make them sedentarize and farm like Manchus. During the 17th century, the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

was expanding east across Siberia, and into Tungusic-speaking lands, resulting in early border skirmishes with the Qing dynasty of China, leading up to the 1689

Treaty of Nerchinsk The Treaty of Nerchinsk () of 1689 was the first treaty between the Tsardom of Russia and the Qing dynasty of China. The Russians gave up the area north of the Amur River as far as the Stanovoy Range and kept the area between the Argun River ...

. The first published description of a Tungusic people to reach beyond Russia into the rest of Europe was by the Dutch traveler Isaac Massa in 1612. He passed along information from Russian reports after his stay in Moscow.

Ethnic groups

"Tungusic" (Manchu-Tungus) peoples are divided into two main branches, northern and southern. The southern branch is dominated by the Manchu (historically Jurchen). The Chinese

Qing emperors The Qing dynasty (1636–1912) was a Manchu-led imperial Chinese dynasty and the last orthodox dynasty of China. It was officially founded in 1636 in what is now Northeast China, but only succeeded the Ming dynasty in China proper in 1644. The Qi ...

were Manchu, and the Manchu group has largely been

sinicized Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix , 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies come under the influence of Chinese culture, particularly the language, societal norms, cul ...

(the

Manchu language Manchu (Manchu:, ) is a critically endangered East Asian Tungusic language native to the historical region of Manchuria in Northeast China. As the traditional native language of the Manchus, it was one of the official languages of the Qin ...

being moribund, with 20 native speakers reported as of 2007). The Sibe were possibly a Tungusic-speaking section of the (Mongolic) Shiwei and have been conquered by the expanding Manchu (Jurchen). Their language is mutually intelligible with Manchu. The Nanai (Goldi) are also derived from the Jurchen. The Orok (Ulta) are an offshoot of the Nanai. Other minor groups closely related to the Nanai are the Ulch, Oroch and Udege. The Udege live in the

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of t ...

and Khabarovsk Krai in the Russian Federation. The northern branch is mostly formed by the closely related ethnic groups of

(Ewenki) and

Evens The Evens ( eve, эвэн; pl. , in Even and , in Russian; formerly called ''Lamuts'') are a people in Siberia and the Russian Far East. They live in regions of the Magadan Oblast and Kamchatka Krai and northern parts of Sakha east of th ...

. (Evenks and Evens are also grouped as "Evenic". Their ethnonyms are only distinguished by a different suffix - -n for Even and -nkī for Evenkī; endonymically, they even use the same adjective for themselves - ǝwǝdī, meaning "Even" in the Even language and "Evenkī" in the Evenkī language.) The Evenks live in the

Evenk Autonomous Okrug Evenk Autonomous Okrug (russian: Эвенки́йский автоно́мный о́круг, ; , ), or Evenkia, was a federal subject of Russia (an autonomous okrug of Krasnoyarsk Krai). It had been created in 1930. Its administrative center w ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in addition to many parts of eastern Siberia, especially Sakha Republic. The Evens are very closely related to the Evenks by language and culture, and they likewise inhabit various parts of eastern Siberia. People who classify themselves as Evenks in the Russian census tend to live toward the west and toward the south of eastern Siberia, whereas people who classify themselves as Evens tend to live toward the east and toward the north of eastern Siberia, with some degree of overlap in the middle (notably, in certain parts of Sakha Republic). Minor ethnic groups also in the northern branch are the Negidals and the Oroqen. The Oroqen,

Solon Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων; BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...

, and Khamnigan inhabit some parts of

Heilongjiang Province Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost provinc ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

, and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and may be considered as subgroups of the Evenk ethnicity, though the Solons and the Khamnigans in particular have interacted closely with Mongolic peoples (Mongol, Daur, Buryat), and they are ethnographically quite distinct from the Evenks in Russia.

Demographics

Population genetics

Paternal

The Tungusic people are closely related to other Northern Asian populations and to the

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

. The main haplogroup of the Ewenic peoples (Evenks, Evens, Oroqens, and Negidals) is the C-M48 subclade (and especially its C-M86 subclade) of

Haplogroup C-M217 } Haplogroup C-M217, also known as C2 (and previously as C3), is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is the most frequently occurring branch of the wider Haplogroup C (M130). It is found mostly in Central Asia, Eastern Siberia and significant fre ...

. Besides the Ewenic peoples, C-M86 is also common among Mongols (165/426 = 38.7% C-M77 in a sample of Kalmyks, 29/97 = 29.9% C-M86 in a sample of Mongols from northwest Mongolia,Natalia Balinova, Helen Post, Siiri Rootsi, ''et al.'' (2019), "Y-chromosomal analysis of clan structure of Kalmyks, the only European Mongol people, and their relationship to Oirat-Mongols of Inner Asia." ''European Journal of Human Genetics'' https://doi.org/10.1038/s41431-019-0399-0 27/149 = 18.1% C-M86 in a sample from Mongolia), Kazakhs (225/1294 = 17.39% C-M86, with Y-DNA belonging to this clade being observed in 58/76 = 76.3% of a sample of the Baiuly, 80/122 = 65.6% of a sample of the Alimuly, and 30/86 = 34.9% of a sample of the Jetyru, three tribes of western Kazakhstan who are collectively known as the Junior/Lesser/''Kishi jüz'' or the AlshynsE. E. Ashirbekov, D. M. Botbaev, A. M. Belkozhaev, A. O. Abayldaev, A. S. Neupokoeva, J. E. Mukhataev, B. Alzhanuly, D. A. Sharafutdinova, D. D. Mukushkina, M. B. Rakhymgozhin, A. K. Khanseitova, S. A. Limborska, N. A. Aytkhozhina, "Distribution of Y-Chromosome Haplogroups of the Kazakh from the South Kazakhstan, Zhambyl, and Almaty Regions." ''Reports of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan'', ISSN 2224-5227, Volume 6, Number 316 (2017), 85 - 95.), and Ulchi (14/52 = 26.9%E. V. Balanovska, Y. V. Bogunov, E. N. Kamenshikova, O. A. Balaganskaya, A. T. Agdzhoyan, A. A. Bogunova, R. A. Skhalyakho, I. E. Alborova, M. K. Zhabagin, S. M. Koshel, D. M. Daragan, E. B. Borisova, A. A. Galakhova, O. V. Maltceva, Kh. Kh. Mustafin, N. K. Yankovsky, and O. P. Balanovsky, "Demographic and Genetic Portraits of the Ulchi Population." ISSN 1022-7954, ''Russian Journal of Genetics'', 2018, Vol. 54, No. 10, pp. 1245–1253.). Y-DNA haplogroup C is also the most common haplogroup among the Udege (12/20 = 60% C-M48, 14/21 = 66.7% C-RPS4Y711,''cf.'' Han-Jun Jin, Ki-Cheol Kim, and Wook Kim, "Genetic Diversity of Two Haploid Markers in the Udegey Population From Southeastern Siberia." ''American Journal of Physical Anthropology'' 142 : 303–313 (2010). 19/31 = 61.3% C3*(xC3c, C3d) plus 3/31 = 9.7% C3c), but the frequency among them of the C-M86 subclade is unclear. Haplogroup N Y-DNA is also found among Ewenic peoples with varying frequency. Haplogroup N Y-DNA among Evenks in the basin of the Yenisei River and the Taimyr Peninsula most often belongs to the N-P43 subclade, which they share mainly with the Samoyedic and

Ugric The Ugric or Ugrian languages ( or ) are a proposed branch of the Uralic language family. The name Ugric is derived from Ugrians, an archaic exonym for the Magyars (Hungarians) and Yugra, a region in northwest Russia. Ugric includes three ...

peoples of Western Siberia. Haplogroup N among Evenks, Evens, and Negidals in Eastern Siberia (the basin of the Lena River and parts to its south or east) belongs mainly to the N-Tat subclade, haplotypes of which they often share either with Yakut or with Buryat. However, the modern Manchu people show relatively high amounts of Haplogroup O2, which is common among the Han Chinese. A study on the Manchu population of Liaoning reported that they have a close genetic relationship and significant admixture signal with northern

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

. The Liaoning Manchu were formed from a major ancestral component related to

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

farmers and a minor ancestral component linked to ancient populations from Amur River Bain, or others. The Manchu were therefore an exception to the coherent genetic structure of Tungusic-speaking populations, likely due to the large-scale population migrations and genetic admixtures in the past few hundred years.

Maternal

According to a total of 29 sample from the mtDNA studies of Xibo, Oroqen, and Hezhen from China: 283 samples from a mtDNA study of Tungusic Evenks, Evens, and Udeges in Russia published in 2013, their main mtDNA haplogroups are : The Ewenic (Evenk and Even) people in Siberia appear similar to their North Siberian Turkic (Yakut and Dolgan) and Yukaghir neighbors in regard to their mitochondrial gene pool, exhibiting high frequencies of haplogroups C4a, C4b, C5, D4l2, and D5a2a2. D4l2 seems to be relatively common among Dolgans, Ewenic people, and Yukaghirs and less common among Yakut, whereas D5a2a2 seems to be relatively common among Evenks in the basin of the Iyengra River and the Yakut and less common among Evens, Yukaghirs, and Dolgans. C4a, C4b, and C5 seem to be spread relatively evenly among these populations. Evens, Evenks in the basin of the Nyukzha River, and Yukaghirs also share mtDNA haplogroup Z1a with notable frequency, but this haplogroup is rare among Evenks in many other areas as well as among Yakut and Dolgans. The mitochondrial gene pool of the Udege appears to differ starkly from that of the Ewenic people. According to the same study by Duggan ''et al.'' (2013), the members of a sample of Udege belong to haplogroup N9b (10/31 = 32.3%, probably descended from Jomon people of northern Japan), haplogroup C4b1 (6/31 = 19.4%, also found among Evenks, Evens, Yakut, Dolgans, Buryat, Bargut, and Yukaghirs; three of the six Udege members of C4b1 belong to the C4b1f subclade marked by a T14153C mutation, which has only been observed in Udege to date), haplogroup M7a2a3 (5/31 = 16.1%, probably descended from Jomon people, but also observed among Evenks in the basin of the Nyukzha River and among Buryat), haplogroup M8a1b (4/31 = 12.9%, related to Japanese haplogroup M8a1a), haplogroup M9a1a1a2 (3/31 = 9.7%, this subclade also has been found in a Nivkh individual and belongs to a mainly Japanese but also Korean, Khamnigan, Kalmyk, Chinese, and Tibetan branch of the M9a1a1 clade, which is widespread in East Asia and notably frequent among present-day Tibetans), haplogroup Y1a (2/31 = 6.5%, shared mainly with the Hezhen, other Amur Tungusic/Nani peoples, and Nivkhs), and C4a1a4a (1/31 = 3.2%, also observed among Tibetans, Bargut, Buryat, Kyrgyz, Altai Kizhi, Teleut, Shor, Yakut, Evenks, and Evens). The mitochondrial gene pool of the

Ulchi Ulchsky District (russian: У́льчский райо́н) is an administrativeResolution #143-pr and municipalLaw #194 district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Khabarovsk Krai, seventeen in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is locat ...

, a Tungusic-speaking people who live in the lower basin of the Amur River, differs in detail both from the Ewenic peoples and from the Udege. According to Sukernik ''et al.'' (2012), the mitochondrial DNA of the present-day Ulchi population belongs predominantly to haplogroup Y1a (69/160 = 43.1%), which is shared with Nivkhs, Koryaks, Evens, and Mongolians and is estimated to have a time to most recent common ancestor of approximately 6,000 (95% CI 3,300 <-> 8,800) years before present on the basis of complete genomes or approximately 1,800 (95% CI 800 <-> 2,900) years before present on the basis of synonymous positions. Another 20% of the present-day Ulchi population belongs to mitochondrial DNA haplogroup D, which is significantly more diverse than their haplogroup Y1a mtDNA and can be resolved as follows: 12/160 = 7.5% D4o2, 4/160 = 2.5% D4h, 3/160 = 1.9% D4e4, 3/160 = 1.9% D4j, 2/160 = 1.25% D3, 2/160 = 1.25% D4c2, 1/160 = 0.6% D4a1, 1/160 = 0.6% D4b2b, 1/160 = 0.6% D4g2b, 1/160 = 0.6% D4m2, 1/160 = 0.6% D4o1, 1/160 = 0.6% D5a. Haplogroups C (20/160 = 12.5%, including 11/160 = 6.9% C5, 5/160 = 3.1% C4b, 3/160 = 1.9% C4a1, 1/160 = 0.6% C1a) and G (14/160 = 8.75%, including 12/160 = 7.5% G1b and 2/160 = 1.25% G2a1) are also well represented. The remainder of the Ulchi mitochondrial DNA pool comprises haplogroups N9b (7/160 = 4.4%), M8a (6/160 = 3.75%), F1a (5/160 = 3.1%), M7 (4/160 = 2.5%), M9a1 (1/160 = 0.6%), Z1a2(xZ1a2a) (1/160 = 0.6%), and B5b2 (1/160 = 0.6%). Besides a very high frequency of mtDNA haplogroup Y1a among the Ulchi, they also have a greater proportion of C5 than C4b or C4a, unlike the Udege, Evens, or Evenks. The haplogroup D mtDNA of the Ulchi is very diverse, but the most frequently observed subclade is D4o2, which Duggan ''et al.'' (2013) have observed only in their sample of Evens from Kamchatka among their samples of Tungusic peoples. The second most frequent subclade of haplogroup D among the Ulchi, D4h, was not observed among the Evenk, Even, or Udege samples of Duggan ''et al.'' (2013), but it has been observed in people from China, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, and the Americas. Like the Udege, the Ulchi lack D4l2, the most frequently observed subclade of haplogroup D among Siberian Evenks and Evens, as well as haplogroup A. Haplogroup Z1a, which is very frequent in some samples of Evens and Evenks, has been observed only in the form of a rare basal Z1a2* in a single Ulchi individual. Small percentages of Evens and Evenks belong to haplogroup F1b, which is spread widely in Central Asia and northern East Asia, whereas a small percentage of Ulchis belongs to haplogroup F1a, this latter clade being found mainly in Southeast Asia, but also throughout China, Korea, and Japan. The Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP) included small samples of three Tungusic populations from the PRC in its panel: Xibo, Oroqen, and Hezhen. The Hezhen sample included ten individuals, whose mtDNA haplogroups are Y1a (4/10 = 40%), C5 (1/10 = 10%), C5d1 (1/10 = 10%), D4o2a1 (1/10 = 10%), B5b2a1b (1/10 = 10%), and F1d (1/10 = 10%). The Oroqen sample also included ten individuals, whose mtDNA haplogroups are D3 (4/10 = 40%), B4d (1/10 = 10%), C4a1 (1/10 = 10%), F1b1 (1/10 = 10%), F1c (1/10 = 10%), J1c10a1 (1/10 = 10%), and M11 (1/10 = 10%). The Xibo sample included nine individuals, whose mtDNA haplogroups are C5d1 (2/9 = 22.22%), C5a1 (1/9 = 11.11%), C4a1'5 (1/9 = 11.11%), D4b2 (1/9 = 11.11%), F1a1c (1/9 = 11.11%), R11b (1/9 = 11.11%), U4a2a1 (1/9 = 11.11%), and Z3a (1/9 = 11.11%). The data seems to reflect some amount of gene flow with peoples living around the Sea of Okhotsk (Koryaks, Nivkhs, Ainus, ''etc.'') on the one hand and peoples living in Central Asia (Turkic peoples, Mongols) on the other. A minor connection with Beringian populations (Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Eskimo-Aleut, Na-Dene) is apparent in the presence of mtDNA that belongs to haplogroup D2, haplogroup D3, and haplogroup A2a among present-day Northern Tungusic people.

Gallery

File:Mazer Portrait of Tungus (1850).jpg, Portrait of a Tungusic man by Carl Peter Mazer (1850) File:Foochow Manchu.jpg, The Manchu people in Fuzhou in 1915 File:Portrait of the Imperial Bodyguard Zhanyinbao.jpg, A Manchu guard File:Evenkshome.jpg, An

wooden home File:Lansdell-1885-p211-Sibo-military-colonists.jpg, Sibe military colonists (1885) File:Udege Family.jpg, An Udege family (early 20th century) File:P270a Drunken Tungus at Vorogovo.jpg, Tungus man in

Vorogovo Vorogovo (russian: Ворогово) is a rural locality (selo) in Turukhansky District, Krasnoyarsk Krai. It had a population of 856 in 2010, a decrease from its 2002 population of 1104. Climate Vorogovo has a subarctic climate The subarctic c ...

, Siberia (1914) File:A Manchu young man dressed in traditional clothes.jpg, A Manchu man in traditional clothing

References

* Mile Nedeljković, Leksikon naroda sveta, Beograd, 2001.

External links

Manchu Tungusic people of China
{{Authority control Ethnic groups in China Ethnic groups in Russia