Tōngliáo

The country around Tongliao lies on the plains of eastern Mongolia, where the Horqin Mongols established their pastures by the late Ming period. In the seventeenth century their leaders formed an alliance with the rising Later Jin state, a relationship strengthened by marriage and military cooperation. In 1636 the Horqin banners joined other Mongol banners in a gathering at Jirim Mountain, giving their league its name. The alliance tied this pastoral region to the fortunes of the new Qing dynasty.