Jurchen

The Jurchen group gathers the Tungusic-speaking peoples of Manchuria, among them the Haixi of the Songhua River and the Hūrga. They were hunter-gatherers, semi-nomadic herders or settled farmers, and lacked a central authority. The Jurchens founded the Jin dynasty in 1115, which ruled northern China until the Mongols overthrew it in 1234.

In 1337 they lived under the Yuan, and the Ming later classed them as Jianzhou, Haixi and Wild Jurchens, whose chiefs paid tribute and held posts as border commanders. Nurhaci united most tribes, organised them in the Eight Banners and founded the Later Jin in 1616. In 1635 Hong Taiji renamed his people the Manchus, and the Qing dynasty followed in 1636.