Mohe people

The Mohe (or Malgal, Mogher) were a Tungusic people in ancient Manchuria. They are sometimes considered the ancestors of the Jurchens, modern-day Manchus and other Tungusic peoples. According to some records, they originally dwelt near the Liao River and later migrated southward. They were involved in the ancient history of Korea: the records of the southern Korean Kingdoms of Baekje and Silla during the 1st century and 2nd century AD include numerous battles against the Mohe. Later, they became subject to the northern Korean kingdom of Goguryeo and its successor state, Balhae.

The Book of Sui records that Guanqiu Jian led a punitive expedition to Goguryeo, leading to the Goguryeo–Wei wars. He defeated the Goguryeo army led by King Dongcheon near the Tongjia River and then occupied the capital Hwando. During the follow-up campaign in the next year, he occupied the capital again and forced Dongcheon to flee to the southeast. A subsection of the army reached the eastern coast of the peninsula and another reached northern Manchuria, but soon retreated.^{[citation needed]}

The Mohe were divided into various tribes; among these were the Sumo Mohe, which were eventually conquered by the Goguryeo, and some other Mohe tribes, which were conquered by the Sui Dynasty of China. Many Mohe moved back toward their northern homeland in this period. The "Mohe" section of the "Beidi Zhuan" (北狄傳, Communications of the Northern "Di" Barbarians) of the "Jiu Tang Shu" (舊唐書, Old Book of Tang) states: "Their country is all (or "roughly") composed of some tens of 'bu' (roughly "tribes," but also just generally meaning "divisions"), each having a chief, some of whom are attached to the Goguryeo, and some of whom serve as common people (i.e., vassals) to the Tujue."

The Mohe also participated in the kingdom of Balhae, 698-926. The founder of Balhae, Dae Jo-yeong was possibly a former Goguryeo general of Sumo Mohe stock, although the Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk Yusa) written by Koreans several hundred years later states that he was of Goguryeo stock.^[1] After the fall of Balhae, few historical traces of the Mohe can be found, though they are considered to be the main ethnic group that became the Jurchen.

The name of the Mohe also appears as "Maka" in "Shin-Maka" (Japanese 新靺鞨, しんまか) or "New Mohe," the name of a dance and the musical piece that accompanies it, which was introduced to the Japanese court during the Nara Period or around the beginning of the Heian Period from the Balhae Kingdom. In modern Japanese historical texts, the name of the Mohe is annotated with the "kana" reading Makkatsu (まっかつ), which is probably a reading pronunciation based on the standard Sino-Japanese readings of the Chinese characters used to transcribe the ethnonym of the Mohe.

The ethnonym of the Mohe bears a notable resemblance to that of the later historically attested *Motgit (in Middle Chinese. Chinese characters: 勿吉, pinyin: Mòjí, Korean: 물길 [Mulgil], Japanese: もつきつ [Motsukitsu]), as well as to that of the medieval Merkits, who opposed the rise of the Mongols led by Genghis Khan.

One of the tribes of the Mohe, the Heishui Mohe, eventually became the ancestors of the Jurchens, from whom the Manchu originated.^[2]

Tribe name

The Chinese exonym Mohe 靺鞨 is a graphic pejorative written with mo 靺 "socks; stockings" and he 鞨 "shoes". Mo, Mal (靺) is adjective, has meaning like barbarian or Xiongnu, that name is just customary expression. He (鞨) is Gal, Gat in Middle Chinese, 'Gal' meaning is Stone by Mohe/Malgal, Jie/Gal language.^{[citation needed]} hanja Shi (石) has meaning as Stone, thus Jie people ruler Shi Le (石勒) get surname Shi (石) from 'Gal' because Gal is Stone. by book of Jin sha (金史), Shi Tu Men (石土门) is prince of Jurchen people, first, surname Shi (石) from Jie people, connected to Mohe, Jurchen people.

Mohe Tribes

According to some records, there were seven/eight Mohe tribes :

Notable personalities

Sumo Mohe/Yan Prefecture Mohe chieftains

• Tudiji (突地稽 pinyin: Tūdìjī, Hangul: 돌지계), ca. 580-620
• Li Jinhang (李謹行 pinyin: Lǐ Jǐnháng, Hangul: 이근행), 619-683, Tudiji's son
• Li Duozuo (李多祚 pinyin: Lǐ Duōzuò, Hangul: 이다조)

See also

• Jie people (Gal people)
• Shi Le
• Guanqiu Jian

Footnotes

• Relationship between Mohe aristocratic names, Jurchens and Hungarian names

See also

• History of China
• History of Manchuria
• Balhae