Ethnic Koreans in China

<th style="background-color:#fee8ab;">Related ethnic groups</th><td style="background-color:#fff6d9;">Korean people</td>

Ethnic Koreans in China (Traditional Chinese: 朝鮮族; Simplified Chinese: 朝鲜族; pinyin: Cháoxiǎn zú; Korean Hangul: 조선족) are citizens of People's Republic of China, who are ethnicly Korean. Ethnic Koreans in China form one of the 56 ethnicities officially recognized by the Chinese government. As of the year 2000, there are 2 million ethnic Koreans in China. Most of them live in Northeast China. Their largest population live in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture (854,000 in 2000).

History

Throughout history, due to the close interactions between China and Korea, some degree of population movements have always occurred between the two neighboring countries. There were written records of Korean migrations in the early Qing Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty and earlier. The vast majority of early Korean populations in China had assimilated with Chinese society, and vice versa. The current Korean population in China is mainly descended from the migrations occurred between 1860 and 1945. In the 1860s, a series of natural disasters struck Korea, leading to disastrous famines. It led many Koreans migrate to China, after the Qing Dynasty lessened the border control and began to accept Korean migrants. By 1894, an estimated 34,000 Koreans lived in China, with numbers increasing to 109,500 in 1910. After the Japanese annexation of Korea, larger numbers of Koreans moved to China. Some merely fled from Japanese rule, while others intended to use China as a base for their anti-Japanese resistance movements. By 1936, there were 854,411 Koreans in China. As Japanese rule extended to China, the Japanese government forced Korean farmers to migrate north to China to develop the land. By 1945, the number of Koreans in China reached to 1,692,342. During the World War II, many Koreans in China joined the Chinese peoples in fighting against the Japanese invaders. Many also joined on the Communist side and fought against the Chinese Nationalist armies during the Chinese Civil War. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yanbian, where most ethnic Koreans live, was designated as an autonomous county in 1952, and was upgraded to an autonomous prefecture in 1955.

Culture

Bilingual (Chinese and Korean) signs in Yanji, China

Ethnic Koreans in China speak Mandarin and Korean.

Most ethnic Koreans in China are not affiliated with any religion, though minorities believe in Buddhism and Christianity. South Korean churches have been known to send missionary groups to evangelize among the ethnic Koreans in China and refugees from North Korea, especially in the Northeast.

Famous ethnic Koreans in China

• Cui Jian (崔健, in Korean 최건/Choi Geon), Chinese rock musician, composer, trumpet player and guitarist
• Gao Xianzhi (高仙芝, in Korean 고선지), General of Tang Dynasty
• Jin Haixin (金海心, in Korean 김해심/Kim Haesim), pop star
• Li Dezhu (李德洙, in Korean 이덕수/Lee Deok-su), Chief Executive of the State Ethnic Affairs of PRC
• Li Yongtai, (李永泰, in Korean 이영태/Lee Yeong-tae), Member of the 9th NPC Standing Committee, Deputy Commander of the PLAAF
• Zhao Nanqi (趙南起, in Korean 조남기/Cho Nam-gi), People's Liberation Army General, former Vice Chairman of The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

See also

• Chinese ethnic groups
• Korean people
• Ethnic Chinese in Korea

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