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2002–2007 Chinese history project From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Northeast Project (simplified Chinese: 东北工程; traditional Chinese: 東北工程), which is short for the Serial Research Project on the History and Current State of the Northeast Borderland (simplified Chinese: 东北边疆历史与现状系列研究工程; traditional Chinese: 東北邊疆歷史與現狀系列研究工程), was a five-year research project on the history and current situation of the frontiers of Northeast China which lasted from 2002 to 2007.[1] It was launched by the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS) and received financial support from both the Chinese government and the CASS.
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The stated purpose of the Northeast Project was to use authoritative academic research to restore historical facts and protect the stability of Northeast China—a region sometimes known as Manchuria—in the context of the strategic changes that have taken place in Northeast Asia since China's "Reform and Opening" started in 1978.[2] Two Chinese leaders of the project accused some foreign scholars and institutions of rewriting history to demand territory from China or to promote instability in the frontier regions, hence the necessity of the Project.[3]
The Project has been criticized for applying the contemporary vision of China as a "unified multiethnic state" to ancient ethnic groups, states and history of the region of Manchuria and northern Korea.[4] According to this idea, there was a greater Chinese state in the ancient past.[4] Accordingly, any pre-modern people or state that occupied any part of what is now the People's Republic of China is defined as having been part of Chinese history.[5] Similar projects have been conducted on Tibet and Xinjiang, which have been named Southwest Project and Northwest Project, respectively.[6][7]
Due to its claims regarding Gojoseon, Goguryeo and Balhae, the project sparked disputes with South Korea.[8] In 2004, this dispute threatened to lead to diplomatic disputes between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea, although all governments involved seem to exhibit no desire to see the issue damage relations.[9]
The Northeast Project advocated that Goguryeo and other Northeast ethnic groups belonged to the local minority, non-Han, ethnic regime in ancient China. The Northeast Project argued that there is no relationship between Goguryo and the Goryeo regime. The Northeast Project argued that there is no relationship between Goguryo and the current North Korean regime. The Tohoku Project argued that there is no relationship between Goguryo and the current Korean regime. The Northeast Project argued that the main part of Goguryo has been integrated into the Chinese nation (Han and minority nationalities, and its branches may be integrated into the current Korean nation.
The Northeast Project was approved in 2001.[10] Its first organizational meeting was held in Changchun (Jilin province) in June 2001 between representatives of the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS) and delegates from the Politburo of the Communist Party of Jilin Province, but the five-year project officially began in February 2002.[11] The "Second Academic Conference on the History and Current State of the Northeast and on Goguryeo" (第二届东北边疆历史与现状暨高句丽学术研讨会) was held in Changchun in July 2002, organized by the "Research Center for Chinese Borderland History and Geography" (中国边疆史地研究中心; part of the CASS) and the Jilin Academy of Social Sciences, and supported by ten more academic institutions from the Northeast Chinese provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning.[12]
Two articles unrelated to the Northeast Project claim that the Project had a budget of "an astounding 20 billion yuan" (3.21 billion US dollars), or about "three trillion Korean won."[13]
In 1982 the PRC constitution was amended to redefine the People's Republic of China as a "unitary multiethnic state built up jointly by the people of all its ethnicities" (中华人民共和国是全国各族人民共同缔造的统一的多民族国家).[14] Inspired by such concepts, in the 1990s some Chinese historians such as Sun Jinji 孫進己 and Zhang Boquan 張博泉 began to re-identify Goguryeo, especially the first half of Goguryeo's history before it moved its capital to the Korean peninsula, as part of the history of China rather than Korea.[15] As early as 1993, the leader[who?] of a North Korean delegation attending a historical conference on Goguryeo in China accused Chinese historians of understanding ancient China as coterminous with the PRC, a view he claimed was not backed up by historical evidence.[16] In 2002, the PRC government took the North Korea delegation leader's challenge and initiated the Northeast Project.[citation needed]
China asserted that Goguryeo was an ethnic Tungusic state; and in modern-day China, Tungusic ethnicities like Manchus are citizens of China and viewed as part of China's multi-ethnic historical civilization.[citation needed]
The Northeast Project is part of a series of historical research projects conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Science, preceded by the Origin of Chinese Civilization Project (Chinese: 中華文明探源工程) and Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project.[17] These projects and other subsequent ones such as the Northeast Project are based on the modern idea of Zhonghua Minzu or a "unified multi-ethnic state", which conceives ancient China in terms of the territorial bounds of the modern Chinese state.[18] This has led to numerous historical research projects by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on areas near the Chinese border, where historical territory overlaps with contemporary neighbors. This includes Manchuria and the Korean peninsula, which comprise the contemporary territories of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation (Siberia).[citation needed]
The Northeast Project consists of research on historical kingdoms, polities and ethnicities in this area, and also modern issues such as territorial disputes and immigration.[19] Pre-modern historical kingdoms and polities covered in the Northeast Project are in chronological order: Gojoseon, Buyeo, Goguryeo, Baekjae, Balhae, Yuan dynasty, Ming dynasty, Joseon and Qing dynasty. Modern historical and contemporary states covered by the Northeast Project are the Empire of Japan, the Soviet Union, South and North Korea and the PRC. Research in the Northeast Project has claimed Gojoseon, Bueyo, Goguryeo and Balhae as regional governments of the ancient Chinese empire. This contrasts with other historiography,[clarification needed][citation needed] where these kingdoms are considered to be sovereign independent states in Korean history.
The Northeast Project's claims on ancient kingdoms that most Koreans consider as part of their own history began to receive wide press coverage in South Korea in 2004, which led to public outrage. The Northeast Project has also received strong criticism from academic experts from South Korea and many other countries[20][21] including China itself.[22] Controversy mainly focused on Goguryeo, which continues to play a central role in Korean nationalism.[23] The Northeast Project's appropriation of Goguryeo has become a turning point in public perception of China in South Korea and also affected strategic and diplomatic relations between the two countries.[24] In South Korea, the Northeast Project has come to symbolize China's historical revisionism and radical political expansionism and continues to be mentioned even well after the Project was officially concluded in 2007.[citation needed][25]
However, there are lingering doubts as to whether the Northeast Project is truly finished. According to some Korean scholars, the termination of the Northeast Project is still debatable.[citation needed]
After the Northeast Project came under strong criticism in 2004, key members of the Northeast Project,[who?] along with other academics in Northeast China, founded the journal History and Geography of Northeast China (Chinese: 东北史地), published by the Jilin Academy of Social Sciences.[19] The journal continued most research formerly conducted by the Northeast Project, and further expanded its research scope to include the historical kingdoms and polities of Lelang Commandery and Silla, both located in the Korean peninsula.[citation needed]
The publications of the Northeast Project include at least the following books, which were all published in the "Northeast Borderland Research" (东北边疆研究) series of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Press. All titles are in Chinese.
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