KIRIN

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Chi-lin, (Pinyin) Jilin, sheng (province) of the Northeast region of China (formerly called Manchuria). It borders Russia to the east, North Korea to the southeast, the Chinese provinces of Liaoning to the south and Heilungkiang to the north, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the west. It has an area of about 72,200 square miles (187,000 square kilometres). The capital is Ch'ang-ch'un. Chinese (Wade-Giles) Chi-lin, or (Pinyin) Jilin, sheng (province) of the central (Northeast Manchuria) region of northeastern China, bordered by the Primorsky kray (region) of Russia to the east, North Korea to the southeast, the Chinese provinces of Liaoning to the south and Heilungkiang to the north, and the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region to the west. The capital of Kirin is Ch'ang-ch'un. History In early modern times the Kirin region was inhabited by groups of steppe and forest dwellers and was at times loosely united politically by leaders who presented tribute of furs, ginseng, and pearls at the court of the Ming emperors of China. In the late 16th century the Hurka tribe dominated the region before being defeated by the Manchu leader Nurhachi. After the establishment of the Ch'ing, or Manchu, dynasty in 1644, the region was at first directly administered by a military governor posted in the town of Chi-lin, and the region was thereafter referred to as Kirin. Despite the Ch'ing government policy of discouraging agricultural settlement in the Manchu homeland, large numbers of settlers from North China established farms in the region during the 18th century, a period of rapid population expansion in China proper. In 1799 the transition to an agricultural economy was officially recognized with the establishment of a prefectural government at Ch'ang-ch'un to administer the new settlements. In the late 19th century, economic development accelerated in Kirin with the building of railways and industries processing agricultural products. This development encouraged a new influx of Chinese settlers and led to conflict between Russia and Japan over economic interests in the area. Kirin was created a province in 1907, near the end of the Ch'ing dynasty, and was occupied by the Japanese Army in 1931, becoming a part of the puppet state of Manchukuo (193245). Just before Japan's surrender to the Allies on Aug. 15, 1945, Soviet forces entered the region, dismantled key industrial installations, and removed them to the Soviet Union. Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops, Chinese Nationalists moved in, but by 1948 they had been driven out by Chinese Communist forces. Frank Andrew Leeming Victor C. Falkenheim