Willow Palisade
Encyclopedia
Willow Palisade was a system of ditches and embankments planted with willow
s intended to restrict movement into Manchuria
, built by the Qing Dynasty
during the later 17th century. It is often conveniently divided into three connected sections: the western and eastern sections, forming the "Inner Willow Palisade" around Liaodong Peninsula, and the northern section, also known as the "Outer Willow Palisade", separating the traditionally Manchu areas (to the east) from the traditionally Mongol area (to the west) north of the Inner Palisade.
in the west, Siberia
in the north, China proper
to the south and North Korea
in the southeast. Inner Manchuria has access to the Yellow Sea
and the Bohai Sea
to the south, while Outer Manchuria has access to the Sea of Japan
and the Sea of Okhotsk
to the east and northeast.
To the south, Manchuria was separated from China proper by the Inner Willow Palisade, which restricted the movement of the Han Chinese 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 palisade, often conventionally divided into the eastern and western sections, started in the hills near the Great Wall of China
(inland from Shanhaiguan
) and ran northeast toward a point located some 33 km north of Kaiyuan, Liaoning
, where the Outer Palisade (see below) joined the Inner Palisade. From this junction point the eastern section of the Inner Palisade went eastward, toward Korean border, and eventually southward, ending near the mouth of the Yalu River
.
With an exception of the northernmost segment (north of Kaiyuan
), both eastern and western sections of the Inner Palisade ran either outside of the old Liaodong Wall (the defensive wall built by the Ming Dynasty
in the 15th century to protect the agricultural heartland of Liaoning from incursions by Mongols
and Jianzhou Jurchens
), or, in places, reused parts of the old wall.
The Manchu area was separated from modern-day Inner Mongolia
by the Outer Willow Palisade, which kept the Manchu and the Mongols in the area separate. This Outer Palisade, often also described as the northern section of the palisade system, started at the junction point of the three sections (north of Kaiyuan) and ran to the north-east, ending soon after crossing the Sungari River north of Jilin City
, near the town of Fate
(法特, within Shulan
County-level city, at 44°29′N 126°31′E)
that was about 1 zhang (3.5 m) deep and 1 zhang wide. Rows of willow trees were planted on top of the levees, each tree's branches being tied to those of its neighbors. Certain sections of the palisades system coincided with the old (Ming Dynasty
) Liaodong Wall - the extension of the Great Wall of China
meant to protect the Ming Liaoning
from the Manchus - and there no willows needed to be planted.
The palisades system gradually deteriorated with time, so that by the late Qing it was mostly composed of only one levee with willows on top and a moat on the outer side of it.
There were a number of gates in all three sections of the Willow Palisade, each one garrisoned by a few tens of soldiers. The locations of the gates changed sometimes, but their total number stayed at 20 or 21 during most of the Qing era,
Construction of the western section of the system (separating Liaoning from the Mongol lands in the west) is thought to have started in 1648, just 4 years after the fall of Beijing
to the Qing Manchus, and to have been completed before the end of the Shunzhi Emperor
era (1644–62). The first gate officers were appointed in 1651-54. An expansion program, using convict labor, was undertaken in 1676-79, moving sections of the palisades 20-30 li (12–18 km) west, into the Mongol area.
The construction of the eastern section of the system (the "Inner Willow Palisade" between Liaoning and the Manchus' Jilin
) is thought to have started even before the Manchus' conquest of China proper, possibly as early as 1638, and was probably completed by 1672.
The northern section, between the Manchu and Mongol lands, was constructed ca. 1681, and therefore known as Xinbian ("The New Palisade").
Originally, the eastern section of the system was meant to prevent the movement of Han Chinese from Liaoning (where they usually were tolerated, and sometimes even were encouraged to settle) into the Manchu lands of Jilin, to pick ginseng
, poach in the imperial hunting preserves, or even to settle permanently. As the palisade curved south at its eastern end, toward the mouth of the Yalu River
, it was also meant to keep settlers from the Yalu River valley, which the early Qing government intended to maintain as an unpopulated "no man's land" along the Korea
n border.
Similarly, the western section would keep potential Chinese settlers from occupying Yangximu pasture lands on the Mongol side of the palisade.
The mid-18th century saw a gradual decline of the palisades system. Often, troops only guarded sections near the gates, while away from the gates one could find sections where the willows were gone, and the dikes eroded. In 1745, for example, a government censor (御史, yushi) named He Qizhong reported his concern that illegal migrants and ginseng smugglers may be crossing the palisade all too easily. By the late 18th and early 19th century the migration-control function of the palisade further diminished because of the introduction of legal migration schemes enabling Chinese peasants to settle on certain Manchu or Mongol lands beyond both the western and eastern sections of the palisade, some of which were sponsored by Manchu and Mongol landlords interested in attracting Chinese tenant farmers on their properties.
Between 1820 and 1860, the strip of today's Liaoning province between the easternmost section of the Palisade and the Yalu River was populated by Chinese settlers as well, eliminating the unpopulated area between the Chinese and Korean Empires.
Thus during the 19th and early 20th century the main significance of the Palisades remained in collecting taxes on the ginseng and other goods that passed through the gates, and regulating cutting of lumber beyond the palisades, although smuggling remained a problem.
As attested by a number of travelers in the region in the first decade of the 20th century, the trenches were mostly gone, and only remainders of the dikes remained, mostly in the western section of the system. According to the Japanese traveler Inaba Iwakichi, who went through Weiyuanbao gate (in the eastern section of the system, near its junction with the other two sections near Kaiyuan
) in 1907, and then again several years later through a gate in the Outer Palisade near Shibeiling (south of Changchun
), there was nothing for him to see but a few old tree stumps. As he was told by an old gate guard, the willows had been cut by Russian and Japanese troops during the Russo-Japanese War
of 1904-05. The remaining gates were falling apart, even if still staffed with tax collectors. The last troops were removed from the gates of the Palisades in 1920.
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
s intended to restrict movement into Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, built by the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
during the later 17th century. It is often conveniently divided into three connected sections: the western and eastern sections, forming the "Inner Willow Palisade" around Liaodong Peninsula, and the northern section, also known as the "Outer Willow Palisade", separating the traditionally Manchu areas (to the east) from the traditionally Mongol area (to the west) north of the Inner Palisade.
Layout
Manchuria borders MongoliaMongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
in the west, Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
in the north, China proper
China proper
China proper or Eighteen Provinces was a term used by Western writers on the Qing Dynasty to express a distinction between the core and frontier regions of China. There is no fixed extent for China proper, as many administrative, cultural, and linguistic shifts have occurred in Chinese history...
to the south and North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
in the southeast. Inner Manchuria has access to the Yellow Sea
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
and the Bohai Sea
Bohai Sea
Bohai Sea , also known as Bohai Gulf, Bohai, or Bo Hai, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of Northeastern and North China. It is approximately 78,000 km2 Bohai Sea , also known as Bohai Gulf, Bohai, or Bo Hai, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of...
to the south, while Outer Manchuria has access to the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
and the Sea of Okhotsk
Sea of Okhotsk
The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and...
to the east and northeast.
To the south, Manchuria was separated from China proper by the Inner Willow Palisade, which restricted the movement of the Han Chinese into Manchuria during the Qing dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
, 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 palisade, often conventionally divided into the eastern and western sections, started in the hills near the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
(inland from Shanhaiguan
Shanhaiguan District
Shanhaiguan District is a district of the city of Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, People's Republic of China, named after the pass of the Great Wall within the district, Shanhai Pass...
) and ran northeast toward a point located some 33 km north of Kaiyuan, Liaoning
Kaiyuan, Liaoning
Kaiyuan is a county-level city in the northeast of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. It is under the administration of Tieling City, which lies to the southwest....
, where the Outer Palisade (see below) joined the Inner Palisade. From this junction point the eastern section of the Inner Palisade went eastward, toward Korean border, and eventually southward, ending near the mouth of the Yalu River
Yalu River
The Yalu River or the Amnok River is a river on the border between North Korea and the People's Republic of China....
.
With an exception of the northernmost segment (north of Kaiyuan
Kaiyuan
Kaiyuan may refer to:Places* Kaiyuan, Liaoning , a county-level city in Liaoning, China* Kaiyuan, Yunnan , a county-level city in Yunnan* Kaiyuan Subdistrict, Xiamen , a subdistrict in Siming District, Xiamen, Fujian...
), both eastern and western sections of the Inner Palisade ran either outside of the old Liaodong Wall (the defensive wall built by the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
in the 15th century to protect the agricultural heartland of Liaoning from incursions by Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
and Jianzhou Jurchens
Jianzhou Jurchens
The Jianzhou Jurchens were a grouping of the Jurchens as identified by the Chinese of the Ming Dynasty. They were the southernmost group of the Jurchen people The Jianzhou Jurchens (Chinese:建州女真) were a grouping of the Jurchens as identified by the Chinese of the Ming Dynasty. They were the...
), or, in places, reused parts of the old wall.
The Manchu area was separated from modern-day Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
by the Outer Willow Palisade, which kept the Manchu and the Mongols in the area separate. This Outer Palisade, often also described as the northern section of the palisade system, started at the junction point of the three sections (north of Kaiyuan) and ran to the north-east, ending soon after crossing the Sungari River north of Jilin City
Jilin City
Jilin City is the second largest city of Jilin province in Northeast China. At the 2010 census, 4,414,681 people resided within its administrative area of and 1,975,803 in its built up area...
, near the town of Fate
Fate, Shulan
Fate is a town within the county-level city of Shulan, in the north of Jilin Province in Northeast China. It is located on the right bank of the Songhua River, west of downtown Shulan, and north of the prefectural capital of Jilin City....
(法特, within Shulan
Shulan
Shulan is a city in northern Jilin province, Northeast China. It falls under the administration of Jilin City, to the south-southwest.-History:...
County-level city, at 44°29′N 126°31′E)
Design
While the design of different parts of the palisade varied greatly, and changed with time, the palisades, according to the research of the modern geographer R.L. Edmonds, typically consisted of two parallel earthen levees 3 chi (just over 1 meter) high and wide, separated by a trenchMoat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
that was about 1 zhang (3.5 m) deep and 1 zhang wide. Rows of willow trees were planted on top of the levees, each tree's branches being tied to those of its neighbors. Certain sections of the palisades system coincided with the old (Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
) Liaodong Wall - the extension of the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
meant to protect the Ming Liaoning
Liaoning
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
from the Manchus - and there no willows needed to be planted.
The palisades system gradually deteriorated with time, so that by the late Qing it was mostly composed of only one levee with willows on top and a moat on the outer side of it.
There were a number of gates in all three sections of the Willow Palisade, each one garrisoned by a few tens of soldiers. The locations of the gates changed sometimes, but their total number stayed at 20 or 21 during most of the Qing era,
History
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
to the Qing Manchus, and to have been completed before the end of the Shunzhi Emperor
Shunzhi Emperor
The Shunzhi Emperor was the third emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China, which he did from 1644 to 1661. "Shunzhi" was the name of his reign period...
era (1644–62). The first gate officers were appointed in 1651-54. An expansion program, using convict labor, was undertaken in 1676-79, moving sections of the palisades 20-30 li (12–18 km) west, into the Mongol area.
The construction of the eastern section of the system (the "Inner Willow Palisade" between Liaoning and the Manchus' Jilin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
) is thought to have started even before the Manchus' conquest of China proper, possibly as early as 1638, and was probably completed by 1672.
The northern section, between the Manchu and Mongol lands, was constructed ca. 1681, and therefore known as Xinbian ("The New Palisade").
Originally, the eastern section of the system was meant to prevent the movement of Han Chinese from Liaoning (where they usually were tolerated, and sometimes even were encouraged to settle) into the Manchu lands of Jilin, to pick ginseng
Ginseng
Ginseng is any one of eleven species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae....
, poach in the imperial hunting preserves, or even to settle permanently. As the palisade curved south at its eastern end, toward the mouth of the Yalu River
Yalu River
The Yalu River or the Amnok River is a river on the border between North Korea and the People's Republic of China....
, it was also meant to keep settlers from the Yalu River valley, which the early Qing government intended to maintain as an unpopulated "no man's land" along the Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n border.
Similarly, the western section would keep potential Chinese settlers from occupying Yangximu pasture lands on the Mongol side of the palisade.
The mid-18th century saw a gradual decline of the palisades system. Often, troops only guarded sections near the gates, while away from the gates one could find sections where the willows were gone, and the dikes eroded. In 1745, for example, a government censor (御史, yushi) named He Qizhong reported his concern that illegal migrants and ginseng smugglers may be crossing the palisade all too easily. By the late 18th and early 19th century the migration-control function of the palisade further diminished because of the introduction of legal migration schemes enabling Chinese peasants to settle on certain Manchu or Mongol lands beyond both the western and eastern sections of the palisade, some of which were sponsored by Manchu and Mongol landlords interested in attracting Chinese tenant farmers on their properties.
Between 1820 and 1860, the strip of today's Liaoning province between the easternmost section of the Palisade and the Yalu River was populated by Chinese settlers as well, eliminating the unpopulated area between the Chinese and Korean Empires.
Thus during the 19th and early 20th century the main significance of the Palisades remained in collecting taxes on the ginseng and other goods that passed through the gates, and regulating cutting of lumber beyond the palisades, although smuggling remained a problem.
As attested by a number of travelers in the region in the first decade of the 20th century, the trenches were mostly gone, and only remainders of the dikes remained, mostly in the western section of the system. According to the Japanese traveler Inaba Iwakichi, who went through Weiyuanbao gate (in the eastern section of the system, near its junction with the other two sections near Kaiyuan
Kaiyuan
Kaiyuan may refer to:Places* Kaiyuan, Liaoning , a county-level city in Liaoning, China* Kaiyuan, Yunnan , a county-level city in Yunnan* Kaiyuan Subdistrict, Xiamen , a subdistrict in Siming District, Xiamen, Fujian...
) in 1907, and then again several years later through a gate in the Outer Palisade near Shibeiling (south of Changchun
Changchun
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
), there was nothing for him to see but a few old tree stumps. As he was told by an old gate guard, the willows had been cut by Russian and Japanese troops during the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
of 1904-05. The remaining gates were falling apart, even if still staffed with tax collectors. The last troops were removed from the gates of the Palisades in 1920.