Yenji

Yenji lies in the basin of the Burhatun River, amid the hills north of the Tumen. In 1414 the Ming court established a guard named for the river and granted offices to Jurchen leaders who had come to pay tribute. The river's broad valley formed part of a network of settlements and waterways extending toward the Tumen. Under the Qing, the country was reserved as part of the dynasty's ancestral homeland. The Burhatun and neighboring rivers were used for gathering freshwater pearls, while the forests supplied ginseng and furs for the court. Restrictions on settlement gave the basin a different history from the densely cultivated lands farther south.