The Study Of China-Korea Boundary Affairs About The Tumen River In The Qing Dynasty

In 1712, Mukedeng acted under the imperial edict of the Emperor KangXi's command and went to inspect the China-Korea border for the second time. He found the source of boundary rivers, the Yalv River and the Tumen River, ("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) which was called Tumen River ("Tu" is read in the third tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) in the Qing Dynasty and Douman River in Korea at that time, and made a mark by erecting a stone tablet on the watershed of the two rivers, on which the inscription was as followed: the west is Yalv and the east is Tumen("Tu" is read in the third tone of the Chinese Pinyin System). After that, Korea was entrusted to establish symbols such as wooden fences, stone piles and mounds so as to indicate that the north of the Tumen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) belonged to China and the south belonged to Korea. During the following 170 years, neither China nor Korea held disagreement about the boundary river, the Tumen River. ("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System)At the end of the 19th century, a large number of Korean crossed the border to cultivate and settle down on the north rank of the Tumen River, ("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) which was in fact Chinese territory. Those people were called reclaiming people. In 1881, the Qing court lifted the ban of reclaiming the wasteland in Yanbian region. In the following year, Korea demanded to return all the reclaiming people. And the Qing Imperial Court gave Korea one year as the time limit. Under the circumstance that Korea was not able to repatriate the reclaiming people in 1883, Korea made the following statement to the Qing court that the Tumen River ("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System)was not the China-Korea Boundary River and the Mukedeng Tablet inscription "Tumen" ("Tu" is read in the third tone of the Chinese Pinyin System)was not the Tureen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System). More over, the west rank of the Tumen River was Korean territory. And the so-called boundary issue between China and Korea was provoked. The two countries made boundary inspection and negotiation in 1885 and 1887 respectively, and finally confirmed the history fact that the Tumen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) was China-Korea boundary. The problem as to the territory to the west of the confluence of the Hongshi Shan River and the Shiyi River which were the sources of the Tureen River ("Tu" is read in the thirdtone of the Chinese Pinyin System) on the furthest north and which of the two should be regarded as the boundary river remained unsettled. And the China-Korea boundary line was settled after 1964.This thesis is composed of three parts: introduction, body (four chapters) and conclusion.Introduction: This part expounds the aim and significance of research, summarizes the tendency of research both home and aboard and introduces the main content, the out-breaking view point as well as the researching methods.Chapter One: In the middle of the 15th century, the Qing Dynasty expanded its western territory. After Korea had established six towns on the south rank of the middle and lower reaches of the Tumen River ("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System), it began to be habitually regarded as the natural boundary line by both China and Korea. The Qing Dynasty completely inherited the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and continued to use the definite river section which was in the middle and lower reaches of the Tumen River ("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System)as the habitual boundary line. The land on the north of the river belonged to China while the south belonged to Korea.Chapter Two: During the Emperor KangXi's time, Mukedeng was commanded to inspect the boundary twice. At his second inspection, the source of boundary rivers, the Yalv River and the Tumen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System), was confirmed. At meantime, the Xiaohongdan River was formulated to be the orthodox source of the Tureen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) and a stone tablet was set up on the watershed of the Xiaobai Mountain to denote the source of the two rivers. Mukedeng entrusted Korea to build symbols between the furthest northern source of the Tumen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) and the Xiaohongdan River. However, Korea betrayed Mukedeng's original idea and built stone piles and mounds along the Huanghuasong ditch which was the upper source of the Songhua River flowing north. Before its disappearance, the Mukedeng Tablet was located on the southeast of the Tianchi Lake eight or nine li away. Afterwards, it was repeatedly moved form its original position toward China during the following more than 220 years.Chapter Three: In 1883, Korea claimed to the Qing Dynasty that the Tumen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) wasn't China-Korea Boundary River and the Hailan River was the boundary river "Tumen" ("Tu" is read in the third tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) mentioned in the Mukedeng Tablet Inscription. In 1885, China and Korea made boundary inspection and had negotiation. And the Qing Dynasty insisted that "Tumen" ("Tu" is read in the third tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) was namely the Tumen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System), but Korea changed its past viewpoints and called the Huanghuasong ditch as the "Tumen" ("Tu" is read in the third tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) boundary river. Although the two countries carefully inspected the China-Korea boundary along the Changbai Mountain, they didn't reach agreement about which river the "Tumen" ("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) really was.Chapter Four: In 1885, after the negotiation on the boundary issue, Korea positively gave up the standpoint that "Tumen" ("Tu" is read in the third tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) wasn't the Tumen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) and admitted the fact that the Tumen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) was originally viewed as the boundary river by China and Korea. In 1887, the two countries negotiated for the second time mainly about which river on the upper reaches of the Tumen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) was its orthodox source and can be taken as the bonder. The Qing Dynasty held the Shiyi River as the border, but Korea claimed the Hongtushan River as the border, so they never reached agreement. At last, Korea advised that it should be left to the Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty to make the final decision. The Emperor Guangxu gave the order that the Shiyi River was the border, but Korea still disagreed. After 1897, Korea claimed that "Tumen" ("Tu" is read in the third tone of the Chinese Pinyin System)wasn't the Tumen River ("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) again, Korea had to abandon it only because it couldn't make the statement valid.Conclusion: Outlines the primary viewpoints of this thesis after the detailed research. After the middle of the 15th century, the Tumen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) was considered to be the boundary line generally and habitually and China still had territory on the south of Changbai Mountain. Before Mukedeng's inspection, the main section of the Tureen River("Tu" is read in the second tone of the Chinese Pinyin System) was taken as the boundary on the east of the Sanjiang Kou, but the border on the upper reaches of this river was still indefinite. In 1712, Mukedeng identified the Xiaohongdan River as the border, and after 1887, the Shiyi River was viewed as the border. Accodring to the JianDao Agreement of 1909, Shiyi River was still the boundary line. And from the beginning of 1960s, China and Korea made sure that the Hongtu Shan River was the boundary and the Tianchi Lake was divided into two.