Jurchens - Culture and Society

Culture and Society

Among the ancestor tribes of the Jurchens were the Heishui Mohe tribes, which were among the various Mohe tribes living along the Amur River (Black Water). The Jurchens generally lived by traditions that reflected the hunting-gathering culture of Siberian-Manchurian tundra and coastal peoples. Like the Khitans and Mongols, they took pride in feats of strength, horsemanship, archery, and hunting. They engaged in shamanic rituals and believed in a supreme sky goddess (abka hehe, literally sky woman). In the Qing dynasty, bowing the Confucian pressure, this reverence for a female sky deity was switched to a male, sky father, Abka Enduri. (abka-i enduri, abka-i han). (Source: Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes) After conquering China, during the Jin Dynasty, Buddhism became the prevalent religion and Daoism was assimilated as well.

The Jurchen made the male Han, within the conquered territories, shave the tops of their heads and adopt Jurchen dress. This "bald-head" fashion was known as 禿髮 tūfǎ (“Bald-Hair or Stripped-Hair”) to the Chinese.. The later Manchus (who were also Jurchens) similarly made the Han men shave their heads and adopt the queue (ponytail), or soncoho (Chinese: 辮子 biànzi), which was the traditional Manchurian hairstyle.

Jurchen society was in some ways similar to that of the Mongols. Both Mongols and Jurchens used the title Khan for the leaders of a political entity, whether "emperor" or "chief". A particularly powerful chief was called beile ("prince, nobleman"), corresponding with the Mongolian beki and Turkish beg or bey. Also like the Mongols and the Turks, the Jurchens did not observe a law of primogeniture. According to tradition, any capable son or nephew could be chosen to become leader.

During Ming times, the Jurchen people lived in social units that were sub-clans (mukun or hala mukun) of ancient clans (hala). Members of Jurchen clans shared a consciousness of a common ancestor and were led by a head man (mukunda). Not all clan members were blood related and division and integration of different clans was common. Jurchen households (boo) lived as families (booigon), consisting of five to seven blood-related family members and a number of slaves. Households formed squads (tatan) to engage in tasks related to hunting and food gathering; and formed companies (niru) for larger activities, such as war.

Until recently, it was uncertain what kind of burial rites existed among the Jurchens. In July 2012 the Russian archaeologists discovered a Jurchen burial ground in Partizansky District of Primorye (Primorsky Territory) in Russia. The burial ground of 15 graves dates back to 12-13 c. and consists of a chieftain's grave placed in the centre, with 14 servants' graves nearby. All graves contained pots with ashes, prompting the scientists to conclude that the Jurchens cremated their dead people's corpses. The chieftain's grave also contained a quiver with arrows and a bent sword. The archaeologists propose that the sword was purposely bent, to signify that the owner would no longer need it in earthly life. The researchers plan to return to Primorye next year, to establish whether this was a singular burial or a part of the larger burial ground.