Treaty of Aigun
Encyclopedia
The Treaty of Aigun was a 1858 treaty between the Russian Empire
, and the empire of the Qing Dynasty
, the sinicized-Manchu
rulers of China, that established much of the modern border between the Russian Far East
and Manchuria
(the original homeland of the Manchu people and the Qing Dynasty), which is now known as Northeast China
. Basically, it reversed the Treaty of Nerchinsk
(1689) by transferring the land between the Stanovoy Mountains and the Amur River from China ( Qing Empire
) to the Russian Empire
. Russia received over from China, gaining "the only really livable land in Siberia
".
. It did so by establishing naval outposts near the River Amur watershed, encouraging Russians to go there and settle, and slowly developing a strong military presence in the region. China never really governed the region effectively, and these Russian advances went unnoticed.
By the late 19th century, China was heavily fighting the Taiping Rebellion
, and Governor-General of the Far East Nikolay Muraviev
camped tens of thousands of troops on the borders of Mongolia
and Manchuria
, preparing to make legal Russian de facto
control over the Amur from past settlement. Muraviev seized the opportunity when it was clear that China was losing the Second Opium War
, and threatened China with a war on a second front. The Qing Dynasty agreed to enter negotiations with Russia.
. The Russia
n representative Nikolay Muravyov and the Qing representative Yishan
, both military governors of the area signed the treaty on May 28, 1858, in the town of Aigun
.
The Xianfeng Emperor
considered the treaty a time-saving measure before "dealing with [the Russians] more firmly", but that occasion never arrived. In fact, Russia went back to China in November 1860 and demanded sole ownership of the jointly governed territories, creating Primorsky Krai
, which ended China's access to the Sea of Japan
. China did not recognize this unequal treaty but it was confirmed in the Sino-Russian Convention of Peking
.
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, and the empire of 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....
, the sinicized-Manchu
Manchu
The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...
rulers of China, that established much of the modern border between the Russian Far East
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
and 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...
(the original homeland of the Manchu people and the Qing Dynasty), which is now known as Northeast China
Northeast China
Northeast China, historically known in English as Manchuria, is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The region is sometimes called the Three Northeast Provinces...
. Basically, it reversed the Treaty of Nerchinsk
Treaty of Nerchinsk
The Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689 was the first treaty between Russia and China. The Russians gave up the area north of the Amur River as far as the Stanovoy Mountains and kept the area between the Argun River and Lake Baikal. This border along the Argun River and Stanovoy Mountains lasted until...
(1689) by transferring the land between the Stanovoy Mountains and the Amur River from China ( Qing Empire
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....
) to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Russia received over from China, gaining "the only really livable land in 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...
".
Background
Since the 18th century, Russia had desired to become a naval power in the PacificPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. It did so by establishing naval outposts near the River Amur watershed, encouraging Russians to go there and settle, and slowly developing a strong military presence in the region. China never really governed the region effectively, and these Russian advances went unnoticed.
By the late 19th century, China was heavily fighting the Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
, and Governor-General of the Far East Nikolay Muraviev
Nikolay Muraviev
Nikolay Valerianovich Muraviev or Muravyov was an Imperial Russian politician, nephew of the famed Count Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky, explorer and Governor General of the Russian Far East....
camped tens of thousands of troops on the borders of Mongolia
Mongolia
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...
and 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...
, preparing to make legal Russian de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
control over the Amur from past settlement. Muraviev seized the opportunity when it was clear that China was losing the Second Opium War
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...
, and threatened China with a war on a second front. The Qing Dynasty agreed to enter negotiations with Russia.
Signing
Negotiations were tense and lasted six days, with Russian forces constantly shooting off cannons and threatening the local population with expulsionPopulation transfer
Population transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...
. The Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n representative Nikolay Muravyov and the Qing representative Yishan
Yishan (Manchu official)
Yishan . Manchu official and member of the Qing imperial clan. Yishan belonged to the Bordered Blue Banner in the Eight Banners and was a great-great-grandson of Yinti, who was outmaneuvered by the Yongzheng emperor...
, both military governors of the area signed the treaty on May 28, 1858, in the town of Aigun
Aigun
Aigun was a historic town of China in northern Manchuria, situated on the right bank of the Amur River, some 30 km south from the central urban area of Heihe .The Chinese name of the town, which literally means "Bright Jade", is a transliteration of the original Manchu Aigun was a historic...
.
Effects
The resulting treaty established a border between the Russian and Chinese Empires along the Amur River, further south than the original border. Under the terms of this treaty:- Russia gained the left bank of the Amur River that had been assigned to China as a result of Treaty of NerchinskTreaty of NerchinskThe Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689 was the first treaty between Russia and China. The Russians gave up the area north of the Amur River as far as the Stanovoy Mountains and kept the area between the Argun River and Lake Baikal. This border along the Argun River and Stanovoy Mountains lasted until...
of 1689. (Chinese and Manchu residents of the Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang RiverSixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang RiverThe Sixty-Four Villages East of the River were a group of Manchu-inhabited villages located on the left bank of the Amur River opposite to Heihe, and on the east bank of Zeya River opposite to Blagoveshchensk...
would be allowed to remain, under the jurisdiction of Manchu government.) The Amur, Sungari, and UssuriUssuri RiverThe Usuri ula is a river in the south of the Outer Manchuria and east of Inner Manchuria . It rises in the Sikhote-Alin range, flowing north, forming part of the Sino-Russian border based on the Sino-Russian Convention of Peking in 1860, until it joins the Amur River at Khabarovsk . It is...
rivers were to be open exclusively to both Chinese and Russian ships. The territory bounded on the west by the Ussuri, on the north by the Amur, and on the east and south by the Sea of JapanSea of JapanThe 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...
was to be jointly administered by Russia and China—a "condominium" arrangement similar to that which the British and Americans had agreed upon for the Oregon TerritoryOregon TerritoryThe Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
in the Treaty of 1818Treaty of 1818The Convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, also known as the London Convention, Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Convention of 1818, or simply the Treaty of 1818, was a...
. (Russia gained sole control of this land two years later) Counting also the loss of this land, China effectively lost more than one million square kilometers of territory. - The inhabitants along the Amur, Sungari, and Ussuri rivers were to be allowed to trade with each other.
- The Russians would retain RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and ManchuManchu languageManchu is a Tungusic endangered language spoken in Northeast China; it used to be the language of the Manchu, though now most Manchus speak Mandarin Chinese and there are fewer than 70 native speakers of Manchu out of a total of nearly 10 million ethnic Manchus...
copies of the text, and the Chinese would retain Manchu and MongolianMongolian languageThe Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...
copies of the text. - All restrictions on trade to be lifted along the border.
The Xianfeng Emperor
Xianfeng Emperor
The Xianfeng Emperor , born Aisin-Gioro I Ju, was the ninth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1850 to 1861.-Family and his early years:...
considered the treaty a time-saving measure before "dealing with [the Russians] more firmly", but that occasion never arrived. In fact, Russia went back to China in November 1860 and demanded sole ownership of the jointly governed territories, creating Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai , informally known as Primorye , is a federal subject of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok...
, which ended China's 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...
. China did not recognize this unequal treaty but it was confirmed in the Sino-Russian Convention of Peking
Convention of Peking
The Convention of Peking or the First Convention of Peking is the name used for three different unequal treaties, which were concluded between Qing China and the United Kingdom, France, and Russia.-Background:...
.