Manchuria (World of Imperial Russian Glory)

Grand Principality of Manchuria Великое Княжество Маньчжурия Velikoye Knyazhestvo Man'chzhuriya (Russian) Гүрүн Амба Дери Итан Голо Gürün Amba Deri Itan Golo (Manchu) 滿洲大公國 Mǎnzhōu Dàgōngguó (Chinese) - Principality in Russia - OT equivalent: Northeast China
Motto:  "Восточная граница" "Vostochnaya granitsa ("Eastern Frontier")
Capital		Mukden
Official languages		Russian
Co-official		Manchu, Chinese
Demonym		Manchurian
Leaders
-	Crown Prince	John I
-	Governor-General	Vladimir Chǔféng
-	Head Minister	Pavel Sòngyáo
Population
-	estimate	20,402,004

OT equivalent: Northeast China, Far Eastern district (Russia)

The Grand Principality of Manchuria (Russian: Великое Княжество Маньчжурия, Velikoye Knyazhestvo Man'chzhuriya; Manchu: Гүрүн Амба Дери Итан Голо, Gürün Amba Deri Itan Golo; Chinese: 滿洲大公國, Mǎnzhōu Dàgōngguó) is one of the Grand Principalities of Russia, bordering the Grand Duchy of the Far East, Korea and China to the south and maritime borders with Japan.

It is currently Russia's most populous region, and one of its most important economic, cultural and military centers. It is also one of two predominantly-Buddhist regions in Russia, with the other being Kalmykia.

The principality was established in 1945 as a governorate, after the Russians defeated the Japanese and their puppet state of Manchukuo however, Russian control only extended to Port Arthur and Harbin (Kharbin) after World War II.

After the Russo-Chinese conflict, all of Manchuria came under Russian control, where Manchu monarchists agreed with the Russians to declare the Tsar as their Emperor, and in-turn, Manchuria would become a Grand Principality, and a local constitutional monarchy was established with Prince Puzhong (of the Manchu Aisin Gioro) as the first Prince of Manchuria and Prince Zhang Jinghui as the first Governor-General.

Eventually, the region received an influx of fleeing Chinese monarchists, re-establishing Chinese influence in the region. Today, they are integrated as part of both the local Manchurian and Russian royal and nobility system.

Afterwards, the Russian government and senate approved for the transformation of Port Arthur, formerly Ryujun under Japanese occupation, Kharbin and Mukden, and of Manchuria as a region of huge economic, political and military importance for the Empire. It became transformed into an active hub. Heavy Orthodox Christian missionary activity also followed, which Christianized the once-Buddhist Aisin Gioro nobility. It now serves as one of Russia's most important naval and shipping ports.

Manchuria is a region that had been fought over by many empires, including the Russian, Japanese and Chinese Empire, and their influence showed, and was the traditional homeland of the Manchus, the nation of the Qing Dynasty.

Today, Manchuria serves as one of the Russia's most important naval ports.

History

Ming Dynasty

The Ming dynasty took control of Liaoning in 1371, just three years after the expulsion of the Mongols from Beijing. During the reign of the Yongle Emperor in the early 15th century, efforts were made to expand Chinese control throughout entire Manchuria by establishing the Nurgan Regional Military Commission. Mighty river fleets were built in Jilin City, and sailed several times between 1409 and ca. 1432, commanded by the eunuch Yishiha down the Songhua and the Amur all the way to the mouth of the Amur, getting the chieftains of the local tribes to swear allegiance to the Ming rulers.

Soon after the death of the Yongle Emperor the expansion policy of the Ming was replaced with that of retrenchment in southern Manchuria (Liaodong). Around 1442, a defence wall was constructed to defend the northwestern frontier of Liaodong from a possible threat from the Jurched-Mongol Oriyanghan. In 1467–68 the wall was expanded to protect the region from the northeast as well, against attacks from Jianzhou Jurchens. Although similar in purpose to the Great Wall of China, this "Liaodong Wall" was of a simpler design. While stones and tiles were used in some parts, most of the wall was in fact simply an earthen dike with moats on both sides.

Chinese cultural and religious influence such as Chinese New Year, the "Chinese god", Chinese motifs like the dragon, spirals, scrolls, and material goods like agriculture, husbandry, heating, iron cooking pots, silk, and cotton spread among the Amur natives like the Udeghes, Ulchis, and Nanais.

Starting in the 1580s, a Jianzhou Jurchens chieftain Nurhaci (1558–1626), originally based in the Hurha River valley northeast of the Ming Liaodong Wall, started to unify Jurchen tribes of the region. Over the next several decades, the Jurchen (later to be called Manchu), took control over most of Manchuria, the cities of the Ming Liaodong falling to the Jurchen one after another. In 1616, Nurhaci declared himself a khan, and founded the Later Jin dynasty (which his successors renamed in 1636 to Qing dynasty).

Qing Dynasty

The process of unification of the Jurchen people completed by Nurhaci was followed by his son's, Hong Taiji, energetic expansion into Outer Manchuria. The conquest of the Amur basin people was completed after the defeat of the Evenk chief Bombogor, in 1640.

In 1644, the Qing dynasty took Beijing, defeating the Ming dynasty and went on to conquer China. As the ancestral land of the Qing rulers, Manchuria was accorded a special status within the Qing empire. The Eight Banners system involved military units originated in Manchuria and was used as a form of government.

During the Qing dynasty, the area of Manchuria was known as the "three eastern provinces" (東三省, dong san sheng) since 1683 when Jilin and Heilongjiang were separated even though it was not until 1907 that they were turned into actual provinces. The area of Manchuria was then converted into three provinces by the late Qing government in 1907.

For decades the Qing rulers tried to prevent large-scale immigration of Han people, but they failed and the southern parts developed agricultural and social patterns similar to those of North China. Manchuria's population grew from about 1 million in 1750 to 5 million in 1850 and 14 million in 1900, largely because of the immigration of Han farmers. The Manchus became a small element in their homeland, although they retained political control until 1900.

The region was separated from China proper by the Inner Willow Palisade, a ditch and embankment planted with willows intended to restrict the movement of the Han people into Manchuria during the Qing dynasty, as the area was off-limits to the Han until the Qing started colonizing the area with them later on in the dynasty's rule. This movement of the Han people to Manchuria is called Chuang Guandong. The Manchu area was still separated from modern-day Inner Mongolia by the Outer Willow Palisade, which kept the Manchu and the Mongols separate.

However, the Qing rule saw a massive increase of Han settlement, both legal and illegal, in Manchuria. As Manchu landlords needed the Han peasants to rent their land and grow grain, most Han migrants were not evicted. During the 18th century, Han peasants farmed 500,000 hectares of privately owned land in Manchuria and 203,583 hectares of lands which were part of courier stations, noble estates, and banner lands, in garrisons and towns in Manchuria the Han people made up 80% of the population. Han farmers were resettled from north China by the Qing to the area along the Liao River in order to restore the land to cultivation.

Contact and conflict between Qing Dynasty and Russian Empire

To the north, the boundary with Russian Siberia was fixed by the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689) as running along the watershed of the Stanovoy Mountains. South of the Stanovoy Mountains, the basin of the Amur and its tributaries belonged to the Qing Empire. North of the Stanovoy Mountains, the Uda Valley and Siberia belonged to the Russian Empire. In 1858, a weakening Qing Empire was forced to cede Manchuria north of the Amur to Russia under the Treaty of Aigun; however, Qing subjects were allowed to continue to reside, under the Qing authority, in a small region on the now-Russian side of the river, known as the Sixty-Four Villages East of the River.

In 1860, at the Convention of Peking, the Russians managed to annex a further large slice of Manchuria, east of the Ussuri River. As a result, Manchuria was divided into a Russian half known as "Outer Manchuria", and a remaining Chinese half known as "Inner Manchuria". In modern literature, "Manchuria" usually refers to Inner (Chinese) Manchuria. (cf. Inner and Outer Mongolia). As a result of the Treaties of Aigun and Peking, China lost access to the Sea of Japan. The Qing government began to actively encourage Han subjects to move into Manchuria since then.

The Manza War in 1868 was the first attempt by Russia to expel Chinese subjects of various ethnicities from territory it controlled. Hostilities broke out around Vladivostok when the Russians tried to shut off gold mining operations and expel Chinese workers there. The Chinese resisted a Russian attempt to take Askold Island and in response, 2 Russian military stations and 3 Russian towns were attacked by the Chinese, and the Russians failed to oust the Chinese. However, the Russians finally managed it from them in 1892

Modern Era

Russian and Japanese encroachment

Inner Manchuria also came under strong Russian influence with the building of the Chinese Eastern Railway through Harbin to Vladivostok. Some poor Korean farmers moved there. In Chuang Guandong many Han farmers, mostly from Shandong peninsula moved there, attracted by cheap farmland that was ideal for growing soybeans.

During the Boxer Rebellion in 1899–1900, Russian soldiers killed ten-thousand Chinese (Manchu, Han and Daur peoples) living in Blagoveshchensk and Sixty-Four Villages East of the River. In revenge, the Chinese Honghuzi conducted guerilla warfare against the Russian occupation of Manchuria and sided with Japan against Russia during the Russo-Japanese War.

Japan replaced Russian influence in the southern half of Inner Manchuria as a result of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905. Most of the southern branch of the Chinese Eastern Railway (the section from Changchun to Port Arthur (Japanese: Ryojun) was transferred from Russia to Japan, and became the South Manchurian Railway. Jiandao (in the region bordering Korea), was handed over to Qing dynasty as a compensation for the South Manchurian Railway.

From 1911 to 1931 Manchuria was nominally part of the Republic of China. In practice it was under Japan domination, which exerted influence through local warlords.

Japanese influence extended into Outer Manchuria in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917, but Outer Manchuria came under Soviet control by 1925. Japan took advantage of the disorder following the Russian Revolution to occupy Outer Manchuria, but Soviet successes and American economic pressure forced Japanese withdrawal.

In the 1920s Harbin was flooded with 100,000 to 200,000 Russian white émigrés fleeing from Russia. Harbin held the largest Russian population outside of the state of Russia.

It was reported that among Banner people, both Manchu and Han in Aihun, Heilongjiang in the 1920s, would seldom marry with Han civilians, but they (Manchu and Han Bannermen) would mostly intermarry with each other. Owen Lattimore reported that, during his January 1930 visit to Manchuria, he studied a community in Jilin (Kirin), where both Manchu and Han bannermen were settled at a town called Wulakai, and eventually the Han Bannermen there could not be differentiated from Manchus since they were effectively Manchufied. The Han civilian population was in the process of absorbing and mixing with them when Lattimore wrote his article.

Manchuria was (and still is) an important region for its rich mineral and coal reserves, and its soil is perfect for soy and barley production. For Japan, Manchuria became an essential source of raw materials

State of Mancukuo 1931-1945

Around the time of World War I, Zhang Zuolin, a former bandit (Honghuzi) established himself as a powerful warlord with influence over most of Manchuria. He was inclined to keep his army under his control and to keep Manchuria free of foreign influence. The Japanese tried and failed to assassinate him in 1916. They finally succeeded in June 1928.

Following the Mukden Incident in 1931 and the subsequent Japanese invasion of Manchuria, Inner Manchuria was proclaimed to be Manchukuo, a puppet state under the control of the Japanese army. The last Qing emperor, Puyi, was then placed on the throne to lead a Japanese puppet government in the Wei Huang Gong, better known as "Puppet Emperor's Palace". Inner Manchuria was thus detached from China by Japan to create a buffer zone to defend Japan from Russia's Southing Strategy and, with Japanese investment and rich natural resources, became an industrial domination. Under Japanese control Manchuria was one of the most brutally run regions in the world, with a systematic campaign of terror and intimidation against the local Russian and Chinese populations including arrests, organised riots and other forms of subjugation. The Japanese also began a campaign of emigration to Manchukuo; the Japanese population there rose from 240,000 in 1931 to 837,000 in 1939 (the Japanese had a plan to bring in 5 million Japanese settlers into Manchukuo). Hundreds of Manchu farmers were evicted and their farms given to Japanese immigrant families. This would begin the first of ethnic Manchu migration into Russia. Manchukuo was used as a base to invade the rest of China in 1937–40.

Upon hearing of the dangerous situation for the Russian population of Harbin, Procurator-General Boris Rezhukin ordered pre-emptive strike against Japan, however - he ended up perishing before this operation could ever take place. Thus, the Harbin Russian population was left to fend for their own.

At the end of the 1930s, Manchuria was a trouble spot with Japan, clashing twice with Russia. These clashes - at Lake Khasan in 1938 and at Khalkhin Gol one year later - resulted in many Japanese casualties. Russia won these two battles and a peace agreement was signed, which the Japanese would allow the Russian population of Harbin to be evacuated safely. However, the regional unrest endured, and the Harbin Russian emigres (or imigres at this point) reported harassments by Japanese troops.

World War II

During the Second World War, the State of Manchukuo formed an alliance with the nascent Bogd Khanate of Mongolia, which had declared independence from China. However, Mongolia was a lot more independent in its approach, and while it allied with Manchukuo and Japan, did not want to partake in operations against the Russians, as the Mongols took a precautionary step in case Japan lost the war, to which it did.

The invasion of Russia was launched from the State of Manchukuo, opening up the Eastern Theater of the Great Patriotic War. Manchukuo and Japan launched aerial raids into Khabarovsk, and other southern Russian cities in their Far East, or Inner Manchuria.

However, Japan's invasion of the Russian Far East was particularly weak, as its true main goal was the Malay Archipelago, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, attacking eastern Russia more-so to prevent and wear out the Russians from engaging in a two-front war with the United States against Japan.

The region was the site of the Manchuria Offensive, in which the Russians and their Kuomintang and Manchu allies vanquished Manchukuo, and Japanese rule over it.

As part Russia and Korea 1945-present

In 1943, the the State of Manchukuo went on the defensive against the Russian offensives in the Manchuria offensive, and was fully vanquished by 1945. In 1945, the North Pacific Agreement divided Manchuria into Chinese and Russian zones, with China getting the majority of Outer Manchuria with Russian suzerainty limited to Harbin and Port Arthur. Korea became a satellite state of the Russian Empire, and a constitutional monarchy, under the restored rule of the Joseon dynasty, Yi King as proclaimed the Emperor of Korea, however parliamentary elections were held.

However, the loss of Port Arthur, Harbin, Outer Mongolia and Korea triggered Chinese ultra nationalists the wrong way, and in ways that would begin the Russo-Chinese conflict.

Post-war period

North Pacific Agreement and Extension of Russian control

While the offensive was commencing, many Manchu clans and warlords entered into service either on the Russian side or the Kuomintang, but soon many joined the Russian side, mostly descendants of Bannermen nobles, to which the Russians allowed them to use native Manchu titles. The southernmost Manchuria regions, inhabited by ethnic Koreans, were to be united with the rest of the Korean Peninsula.

These agreements were ratified via the North Pacific Agreement signed between the Russian Empire, China, United States, Mongolia and Korea.

Russo-Chinese conflict and Chinese Civil War - Russia annexes most of Manchuria

Manchuria was soon to become the site of the infamous conflict between the two former allies. The international recognition of Outer Mongolia, Dalian and Harbin as part of the Russian Empire as the Korean Peninsula under its influence upseted many Chinese ultranationalists, in spite of Chiang Kai-shek's acceptance of the terms, as he signed it as well.

In the early 1950s, Chiang Kai-shek's government and efforts to not only unite China, but also stabilize it, was severely disrupted by the activity of rogue ultra-nationalist military leaders, who called for their own attacks and operations against the Russians, seeing Chiang as a coward and a traitor, causing the Chinese Civil War to rage. Chinese forces launched attacks against Port Arthur and Kharbin, in a failed attempt to retake the two cities, triggering the a full-on wrath of another Russian offensive, one that saw Russia controlling all of Manchuria.

Since the Chinese were considered the aggressors, and violators of the North Pacific Agreement, the Chinese government was unable to invoke the Foreign Aid Clause, in which foreign nations would aid the invaded, rather while the United States reluctantly offered the Russians help (feeling that the Russians did not need any such), the latter declined claiming that it could take China alone, to which it did.

Manchu and Chinese monarchists soon used this opportunity, to revive the Banner system, and side with Russia, favoring the better security and getting extremely sick and tired of the in-fighting in China. Chinese warlords under the leadership of Zhang Jinghui formed the Great Northern Alliance, or the Beifang Movement, also known in Russia as the "Chinese Whites". The Russians promised the Chinese Whites and Manchus the restoration of their royal lineages, and that a future Manchurian state would be administered independently of the Grand Duchy of the Far East, and to become high-ranking royals if they joined the Empire. In this case, the Manchu Bannermen and the Chinese Whites entered the service of the Tsar, and then proclaimed the Tsar as their Emperor. In exchange, Manchu Bannermen and Chinese Whites will get to study in the prestigious universities within the Empire, paid for by the government.

In 1956, as promised, with all Manchuria now its own Grand Principality, Nicholas I Tsaytsenovich (Prince Puzhong), was installed as its Crown Grand Prince, with the Tsar passing an order to use the local Manchu Aisin Gioro and Chinese to enforce Russian rule.

However, the majority of Manchuria was Chinese-speaking, even the native Manchus. The Russian Senate and Assembly made their due efforts to transform post-war Manchuria into an active hub for the Russian Empire, and immediately called for efforts to restore the Manchu language. The Russians utilized slave and prisoner labor, a move highly criticized by other foreign powers.

Transformation into economic hub

After annexing all of Manchuria, the Assembly approved for massive transformation campaign in Manchuria. In spite of just having fought a conflict with China, the Russians used Manchuria for trade with China. Construction of Mongolia-Manchuria Railway began, which would provide Manchuria with a transit system into Urga, the capital city of Outer Mongolia.

Port Arthur and Kharbin soon became new homes to Russian military veterans, and wealthy magnates from other parts of the Empire began to established properties in Manchuria, and there became increased fundings for universities in the two cities, with the construction of the new naval and maritime port in Port Arthur. The geography of the terrain around the city of Kharbin was rich in natural resources, which via the agreement with the All-Manchu Council, Russian magnates would hired native Manchus to work and exploit the land.

The Russians used Japanese prison labor to build the new cities.

Spread of Christianity and restoration of Chinese nobility

Then comes the Christianization efforts of Manchuria by Orthodox missionaries, however the increase of Christianity came in different waves. Many of the officers of the Beifang Movement, now princes and nobles of the empire, converted to Orthodox Christianity. The Archdiocese of Manchuria (Архиепископия Маньчжурии) placed their jurisdiction from Kharbin, as it was home to a historical Russian population when it was still the Chinese city of Harbin. Archbishop Nicholas I, responsible for governing the Russian Orthodox Church in Manchuria had a goal to convert as much Manchus and Chinese to Orthodox Christianity.

The activities however - were actually staunchly opposed by the Tsar Vladimir the Tumultuous himself, who favored preserving native Manchu and Chinese tradition. The royalty and nobility were very mixed on the idea of converting the Aisin Gioros and Beifang nobles to Orthodox Christianity. Neoconservatives also partook in whitewashing Manchu culture, and Russifying it.

The Christianizing of the Asian population went hand in hand with the influx of Chinese monarchists and nobility, fleeing persecution from their homeland. Many gradually became Orthodox Christians, where the Manchurian Chinese nobility today for the most part, are Chinese Orthodox, an autonomous Chinese-speaking church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Manchu Language Revival - c. 1970s

One of the largest hallmarks of Russian Manchuria was the successful revival of the Manchu language as the All-Manchu Council started to reach critical success in a decade. Upon becoming a Grand Principality, the All-Manchu Council was formed with the goal of reviving the Manchu language. Because Evenki was closely related to Manchu, and the only good-surviving relative of Manchu, the All-Manchu Council started to employ Evenki-speaking people. The Russians allowed the All-Manchu Council to dictate the policies regarding language, so-long as Russian was co-promoted alongside Manchu, and the nobility was required strictly to speak Manchu when applicable, using only Chinese when neither Manchu or Russian words existed.

The usage of Manchu-language Bibles is what encouraged many Manchus to become Orthodox Christians, as the Bible was one of the first religious texts to be printed in Modern Manchu. This caused approximately 15.5% of the total Manchu population, including even entire Banner families and other Manchu nobility to become Christians.

A number of Manchu poets are artists, such as Boris Enchayev (Yinca-hala Booris), Miroslav Gardaev (Garja-hala Miyeraslaaba) and Ivan Yobalutov (Jobalot-hala Ibaana) became very famous throughout Russia during this time, and innovators such as Feodor Mordadzhaev (Mordaja-hala Feyodor) made the Manchu-style heated beds famous throughout Russia, the founder of Mordayaev Inn, one of Russia's largest spa businesses. All of them were Russian Orthodox converts, or descendants of converts.

Within only a decade, the Aisin Gioro adopted Russian and European traditions, and in spite of having a Manchu Language Revival, it too was heavily Russian-influenced and written in the Cyrillic script. Most of the Manchus simply did not bother to resist, since they simply wanted to peace, and while it was a "peace" that came a cultural cost, the Manchus were just simply fed up of the civil wars in China, and preferred the high-end lifestyle in Russia

1980s - Asiatic and Manchu Cultural Re-awakening

In 1985, Pavel Mokhurev (or Mohur-hala Pawala in Manchu) became the Head Minister of Manchuria. Mokhurev had views resembling that of Franko Korkunov, as well as Princes Eduard I and George I, who had a desire to restore the pre-Russification Manchu culture. Mokhurev began to support building of new Manchurian Orthodox cathedrals belonging to Diocese of Manchuria Oriental-style, whereas past cathedrals had been built Russian-style.

The 1980s saw a huge resurgence of pre-Russian Manchu culture, as well as Manchurian Chinese culture, as Mokhorev criticized the Russian state for Europeanizing the Manchus. The once-cordial relations between ethnic Manchus and ethnic Russians began to seriously deteriorate, with the Manchus regarding the Russians as being no better than the Chinese, and promoting what many referred to as a "perverted form of Manchu culture that catered only towards Russian interests".

In 1988, Mokhorev requested to have Manchuria re-named the "Principality of the Northern Qing" (Manchu: Uанг-гu Сiндарi Голо-Амба, Wang-gu Sindari Golo-Amba; Russian: Княжество Северный Цин, Knyazhestvo Severnyy Tsin), but was rejected by Russian authorities, despite support from Korkunov himself.

However, the Manchurian independence movement never really took hold.

In 2000, the local Senate and Assembly both approved for the capital city of the Principality to be re-located to Mukden, making the third time the Principality changed capital cities.

After the Chinese invasion of Southeast Asia in February of 2022, the Russian government enacted sanctions against China. The Sino-Russian community feared a similar cultural repression as during the Russo-Chinese conflict, however neither the Senate or Assembly having done any such thing.

Both local and national authorities stated that Chinese culture and language nationwide will enjoy the status it once had prior to the sanctions, therefore in many of Manchuria's universities, Chinese language-education continued to be offered alongside Russian and Manchu, Chinese-language universities were permitted to continue operating as usual.

However, again, light martial law was declared in Manchuria, with a large increase of Imperial Russian Army and Imperial Internal Troops. However, it was also aimed at preventing attacks between Sino-Russians, Manchus, ethnic Russians and other ethnicities, so far, the Internal Troops have prevented over 1,301 vandalization attempts against Sino-Russian-owned communities.

Contrary to the effects of Russo-Chinese conflict, many government authorities have actively supported the preservation of Sino-Russian-owned businesses.

1990s

During the Tumultuous 1990s, most of Manchuria sided with the Tsarist state, and Manchuria received the notoriety of becoming one of the most pro-Tsarist territorial administrations in Russia. The reason being, many of the Chinese and Manchu nobles remembered the horrors of World War II and the Chinese Civil War, and upon hearing of the situation in China, many did not want a share of the misery and horror that the separatists were waging.

Like the Baltics Germans in Northern Europe, the Manchu and Chinese nobles sided with the Tsar. Manchuria was relatively quiet, and was one of the least civil war-effected regions. Suspected separatists were executed on the spot, Grand Prince John I Nikolayevich simply had no patience for separatists. General Vassily Xueming carried out a bloody purge of suspected separatists similar to Admiral Vladimir Ungern-Sternberg, both also being princes. As a result, Vassily Xueming was later granted the title Duke of Manchuria.

During the Tumultuous 1990s, six detachments from the Manchurian Command were sent into other parts of Russia to fight the separatists, becoming known for being highly deadly fighters. Their feats popularized martial arts and MMA across the country. Generalissmo Wassily Felgenhauer noted, "I may be the Generalissmo of all Russia, but in my opinion, the Manchurians have become Generalissmos in their own right."

Demographic

Manchu people form the majority and are the namesake of the Grand Principality. Currently, Manchus form the majority, at 65%. The remaining 19% are Chinese, ethnic Russians, as well as Central Asians, Germans and other Europeans.

The largest faith practiced is Buddhism, accounting for 54.5%. Manchuria is one of two predominantly-Buddhist regions of the Russian Empire. Although the Aisin Gioro once followed Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, they now follow Tibetan Buddhism, as they converted as part of Sinophobic nature as an effect of the Russo-Chinese war.

Half of the Russian Orthodox are ethnic Manchus and Chinese who belong to the Manchu and Chinese Churches, autonomous Manchu-speaking sections within the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as ethnic Han Chinese who follow the autonomous Chinese Orthodox Church (Chinese: 中國東正教會, Zhōngguó dōngzhèngjiào huì; Russian: Китайская Православная Церковь, Kitayskaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov') with the other half belonging to the Russian church proper. There is also the Japanese Orthodox Church, formed for the ethnic Japanese-Manchurian community.

Germans form the fourth-largest group, they are mostly Lutheran with a sizable Eastern Orthodox and Catholic minority, with the Orthodox being converts or descendants of converts. Most Manchurian Germans live in the big cities, often-not alongside ethnic Russians.

Islam is the third-largest faith, practiced mostly by those who either come from or are descended from migrants from Russia's predominantly-Muslim regions. Other faiths are Catholicism, which is practiced by the Lithuanian or overseas Polish community.

Culture

Manchuria is one of Russia's culturally diverse regions but is a hub of Asian culture in Russia. The cities of Mukden and Kharbin are considered the capitals of ethnic Manchu and Chinese culture in Russia, and of the world, and have drawn much interest from the international community. Though even as the Chinese city of Harbin, the modern city Kharbin was then already a Russian culture city in China. Additionally, because the Manchus had at one point, been assimilated into Chinese and Japanese culture, large-scale traces of these two cultures can be found in Manchuria, and the culture of Manchuria has been noted to be very "easternized", even among the Slavic Russians, and bearing more Mongolic and Chinese influence in contrast to the European-dominated culture of western Russia.

The city of Port Arthur on the other hand, is a predominantly-Russian city.

Language

Although Russia is the sole national language of all Grand Principality/Duchy-level administrations, Manchu and Chinese are co-officials at a local level. In all of the Principalities within it, namely of Kheyluntszyan (OTE equivalent: Heilongjiang province), Tszilin (Jilin) and Lyaonin (Liaoning), Manchu and Chinese are co-official to Russian and are used alongside Russian in all public media. Today, 70% of Manchurian residents attend Manchu-speaking schools.

The Manchu language is a Tungusic language, and prior to the Russian occupation of Manchuria, was a dead language, until through rigorous Russian efforts, was revived by the All-Manchu Council. Now, (akin to Hebrew of our OTL), it has been one of the most successful language revivals. It is now spoken by 4.4 million people as a native language. Manchu is now written in the Cyrillic script and monitored from the Grand Academy of the Manchu Language based in Mukden (OTE: Shenyang).

Royal and Noble families

Manchuria is noted for its preservation of the Qing and Imperial Chinese noble traditions, where Manchu and Chinese princely families thrive. Currently, outside of the ruling imperial House of Romanov, the princely and duchal families that have domiciled themselves to Manchuria are the Chinese Houses of Zhang, Zhen, Fu, Jiangyin, Gongmao, Qianwu and Jinghui, and the Manchu Aisin Gioro houses of Vladimirov, Nikolayev, Khilarayev, Sochoroyeyev and Tatarayev as the most prominent,

Additionally, there are lower-ranking "Banner" families who follow the Manchu, Qing and Imperial Chinese noble system, who are regarded by their Russian equivalents, therefore bearing the Count/Countess and Baron/Baroness titles.

Outside of the native Manchu and Chinese houses, the various Russian, Slavic and Russo-German houses, the houses of Golytsin, Struve, Ungern-Sternberg, Rzhevsky, Mikhalkov, and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach-Manchuria.

Most of the Manchu royalty lives in Mukden, while the Chinese live in Kharbin and the Russian and European royals in Port Arthur.

Center of Chinese monarchism and Chinese Christianity

Other than being an important center of Chinese Christianity, Manchuria is also home to the broader Chinese monarchist movement. It is already home to the world's only place where Chinese nobility and royalty are recognized. The Chinese Orthodox Church's primate is also located in Kharbin.

Education

• Royal Grand Institute of Technology and Sciences of Kharbin (OTE: Harbin Institute of Technology; Russian: Королевский Большой институт технологий и наук Харбина, Korolevskiy Bol'shoy institut tekhnologiy i nauk Kharbina) - one of the most prestigious tech and science schools in Russia, known for its association with military innovations, a school of "cosmonauts" and engineers, ranked one of the best global universities in the world
• Kharbin Royal Grand University of the Arts (Russian: Харбинский королевский большой университет искусств, Kharbinskiy korolevskiy bol'shoy universitet iskusstv; Chinese: 哈爾濱皇家大藝術大學, Hā'ěrbīn huángjiā dà yìshù dàxué) - prestigious liberal arts school in Kharbin, specializing in history, music, art, culinary, academia, philosophy and political sciences
• Royal Chinese University of Kharbin (Chinese: 哈爾濱中文大學, Hā'ěrbīn zhōngwén dàxué; Russian: Китайский университет Харбина, Kitayskiy universitet Kharbina) - autonomous Chinese language university for ethnic Chinese and Chinese-speakers and Chinese culture in Russia
• Royal Chinese University of Technology and Sciences of Kharbin (Chinese: 哈爾濱中國科技大學, Hā'ěrbīn zhōngguó kējì dàxué; Russian: Китайский университет технологий и наук Харбина, Kitayskiy universitet tekhnologiy i nauk Kharbina) - Chinese-language technology university catering to Chinese-speaking citizens of Russia
• Japanese University of Kharbin (Japanese: 日本カルビン大学, Nihon karubin daigaku; Russian: Японский университет Харбина, Yaponskiy universitet Kharbina), university in Kharbin for Overseas Japanese community in Russia
• Grand Teutonic German University of Manchuria (German: Große Teutonische Deutsche Universität der Mandschurei, Russian: Великий тевтонско-немецкий университет Маньчжурии, Velikiy tevtonsko-nemetskiy universitet Man'chzhurii) - prestigious private multi-faceted university of German-speaking people
• Grand Royal University of Port Arthur (Russian: Большой Королевский университет Порт-Артура, Bol'shoy Korolevskiy universitet Port-Artura) - prestigious multi-subject research university,
• Japanese University of Port Arthur (Japanese: 日本旅順大学, Nihon Ryojun daigaku; Russian: Японский университет Рёдзюн, Yaponskiy universitet Port-Artura) - one of Russia's oldest and most-preserved university catered towards the Overseas Japanese community, established originally for communities of Japanese defectors to the Russian side after World War II
• Royal Far Eastern University (Russian: Королевский Дальневосточный Университет, Korolevskiy Dal'nevostochnyy Universitet) - prominent private, prestigious research university in Port Arthur
• All-Manchu Grand University of Mukden (Manchu: Еiтен Манюi Гiсuн Аниыах-Амба Мuкден, Eiten Manjui Gisun Aniyah-Amba Mukden; Russian: Всеманьчжурский великий университет Мукдена, Vseman'chzhurskiy velikiy universitet Mukdena) - autonomous and prestigious university in Mukden, catered towards Manchu-speaking people
• Royal Mukden College of the Arts (Manchu: Uанг Iскuс Гiсuн Мuкден, Wang Iskus Gisun Mukden; Russian: Королевский Мукденский колледж искусств, Korolevskiy Mukdenskiy kolledzh iskusstv) - autonomous university of the arts in Mukden

Religion

• Vassily the Blessed Cathedral - (Russian: Собор Василия Блаженного, Sobor Vasiliya Blazhennogo) - also known as the Port Arthur Grand Cathedral, or the Victory Cathedral, Orthodox cathedral built in Port Arthur after World War II, now the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in Manchuria
• Saint Sophia Cathedral (Russian: Софийский собор; Chinese: 聖索菲亞教堂) - one of Manchuria's most historical cathedrals from 1907, caters to both mainliner Russian Orthodox and autonomous Chinese and Manchu Orthodox, located in the Greater Metro Kharbin area
• Saint Paul Grand Cathedral (Chinese: 聖保羅大教堂, Shèngbǎoluó dà jiàotáng; Russian: Святой Павел собор, Svyatoy Pavel sobor) - autonomous Chinese Orthodox cathedral, the largest cathedral for Chinese-speaking Orthodox Christians, located in Kharbin
• Saint Nicholas Cathedral - (Russian: Собор Святого Николая, Sobor Svyatogo Nikolaya) - one of Manchuria's oldest cathedrals, and one of its largest, located in the city of Kharbin, it was heavily extended after World War II
• Buddhist Temple of Bliss - (Russian: Буддийский Храм Блаженства, Buddiyskiy Khram Blazhenstva; Manchu: Бураки Aз жаргал, Buraki Az-jargal; Chinese: 極樂寺, Jílè sì) - Buddhist temple in Kharbin, built by Chinese
• Guanmin Temple' - (Russian: Храм Гуань Минь, Khram Guan' Min; Chinese: 關民寺, Guān mín sì; Manchu: Бураки Гуанмин, Buraki Guanmin) - Buddhist temple located in Sufiyenge, a predominantly Chinese-Russian city