Oroqen

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The Oroqen (pronounced: Orotschen, also called "Orotschonen" or "Orontschen" , from Manchurian Oronco, "reindeer keeper"; the horse-breeding "Orontschonen" were called "Solonen" until the 1950s; Chinese  鄂伦春 族 , Pinyin Èlúnchūnzú ). The Oroqen are one of the smaller of the 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities of the People's Republic of China . According to the last census in 2010, they number 8,689 people. They live mainly in the administrative area of ​​the prefecture-level city of Hulun Buir , in the far northeast of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (41.80%) and in Heilongjiang Province (45.38%), in the forest areas of the Great and Small Hinggan Mountains , as well as on the south bank of the upper reaches of the Heilong Jiang and its southern tributaries. The term "Oroqen" (pronounced: Orotscheen ) in China summarizes various northern Tungusian groups that are all of Evenk origin, but have been recognized by the Chinese government as an independent nationality. They may not match the Oroken and oroch people are confused (Orochi), two südtungusischen peoples that are found only in the Russian Federation.

Population and settlement areas

In Heilongjiang a distinction is made between Birar-Oroqen (Birarchen) and Huma-Oroqen (Kumarchen). The Birar-Oroqen live mainly in the administrative areas of the cities of Heihe and Yichun in the forests of the Little Hinggan Mountains :

  • Community Xinxing ( "flowering") , km² of Oroqen 389, 1,440 inhabitants, of which 175 Oroqen; belongs to the district of Xunke von Heihe.
  • Community Xin'e ( "New Oroqen") of Oroqen, 6,660 sq km, 1,844 inhabitants, of which 335 Oroqen; belongs to the district of Xunke von Heihe.
  • Community Xinsheng ( "New Life") of Oroqen, 1,561 sq km, 1,031 inhabitants, of which 164 Oroqen; belongs to the Aihui District of Heihe.
  • a small group in the large village Ulaga the circle Jiayin of Yichun .

The Huma-Oroqen live mainly in the administrative district Great Hinggan Mountains , in the forests of the northern foothills of the Great Hinggan Mountains :

  • Community Baiyinna the Oroqen, 420 sq km, 2,018 inhabitants, of which 242 Oroqen; belongs to Huma County .
  • Community Shibazhan the Oroqen, 2,325 sq km, 4,697 inhabitants, of which 522 Oroqen; belongs to Tahe County .
  • A small group has moved to the Birar-Oroqen of Xinsheng Township.

In the 1982 census, of the 2,002 oroqs in Heilongjiang, over 50% were birar and about 42% were huma oroqs. The rest could not be clearly assigned. In the small group of Oroqen in the municipality Lianxing the circle Nenjiang of Heihe it may be a remnant of the so-called "Mergen-Tungus" that formed beside the Birar- and Kumar-Oroqen a third group, but in war and Civil War was severely decimated. After 1949 the surviving remnants were dispersed and resettled with other groups.

In the administrative area of ​​the city of Hulun Buir in Inner Mongolia , the Oroqen live mainly in the following areas:

  • Oroqenic Autonomous Banner ;
  • Oroqen nationality community Nomhan , 1,580 km², 4,802 inhabitants, of which 125 Oroqen; belongs to the independent city of Zalantun ; Nomhan was founded as a national community of the Oroqen on September 15, 1949, earlier than the PR China (October 1, 1949).

All the groups of the Oroqen traditionally close relations (trade, marriage) with the actual Evenki China and the Daur (Dahur, Daguren), a Mongolian people, during the Qing dynasty of the Manchus was culturally influenced considerably.

Regarding the population development, it can generally be said that the Oroqen, who are increasingly leaving their traditional settlement areas (Xunke, Huma, Oroqenisches Autonomes Banner, Zalantun), are z. T. in the cities ( Qiqihar , Harbin , Hailar , Manjur ), z. Some also settle in forest and grassland areas. In Inner Mongolia, they are increasingly going beyond the boundaries of the city of Hulun Buir. 11.5% (1990) already live in other parts of the autonomous region. The urbanization or dispersion of such a small population as represented by the Oroqen inevitably accelerates their assimilation process.

Distribution of oroqes at provincial level according to the data of the 2010 census (reference date November 1, 2010)

area number proportion of
People's Republic of China 8,689 100.00%
Heilongjiang 3,943 045.38%
Inner Mongolia 3,632 041.80%
Liaoning 0 196 002.26%
Beijing 0 165 001.90%
Hebei 0 142 001.63%
Jilin 0 111 001.28%
Shandong 00 98 001.13%
Shanghai 00 55 000.63%
Guangdong 00 52 000.60%
Jiangsu 00 43 000.49%
Tianjin 00 38 000.44%
VBA 00 30th 000.35%
Guizhou 00 24 000.28%
Zhejiang 00 21st 000.24%
Sichuan 00 18th 000.21%
Henan 00 14th 000.16%
Fujian 00 12 000.14%
Xinjiang 00 12 000.14%
Hubei 00 11 000.13%
Yunnan 00 11 000.13%
Gansu 00 10 000.10%
Guangxi 000 8th 000.09%
Shaanxi 000 8th 000.09%
Anhui 000 7th 000.08%
Ningxia 000 6th 000.07%
Jiangxi 000 5 000.06%
Hunan 000 5 000.06%
Hainan 000 4th 000.046%
Shanxi 000 3 000.035%
Chongqing 000 3 000.035%
Qinghai 000 2 000.023%
Tibet 000 0 000.00%

language

The Oroqen language, like Evenki, belongs to the northern branch of the Manchu-Tungus languages. It is so closely related to Evenk that it could well be called an Evenk dialect. Since the Oroqen are recognized as an independent nationality in China, their language is generally not referred to as a "dialect" for political reasons (similar to: Xibenisch and Manchurian ). But if you compare z. B. the language of the Gankui-Oroqen with the three Evenk dialects of China, the similarity with each of them is quite obvious and the differences are rather smaller than between the Evenk dialects themselves. Internal dialect differences are assessed oppositely by Chinese linguists. The language teaching at hand is based on either the Gankui or the Xunke dialect.

Economy

The traditional economy of the Oroqen is hunting, mostly on horseback. Despite the declining game population, it played an important role until the 1990s . Due to the sable tribute that the Oroqen had to pay during the Qing dynasty, and also due to the contacts with Chinese traders, hunting has not only served for food (deer, elk, roe deer, wild boar, hazel grouse, etc.) for several centuries .) and supply of the own population with raw materials for clothing, tent construction, objects of everyday use (fur, leather and sinews of deer, elk, deer, wild boar, bear, wolf, badger, fox), but also the barter trade (squirrels, wolverines , Lynx, otters, sable as fur animals , deer panties, embryos and penis, bear bile, musk secretion etc. as pharmaceuticals of traditional Chinese medicine). Fishing and the gathering of wild vegetables of all kinds complemented the traditional menu. As early as 1882 the first small group of Oroqen settled down and began agricultural production. This attempt to find a way out of the already noticeable decline in the abundance of game at that time failed due to disputes with Han-Chinese traders and bandits. After a few years, the Oroqen withdrew to the forests. The second attempt at the transition to agriculture was made by the Huma- and Birar-Oroqen in 1915 through a corresponding government policy aimed at promoting sedentarism. Until 1936, when the Oroqen farmers gave up their small farms and went back to hunting, this policy had not managed to get the Oroqen used to agricultural production. In the 1950s all Oroqen groups were settled. Today they grow millet, oats, barley, potatoes and various types of vegetables. In addition to traditional horse breeding, they are increasingly also raising cattle. Hunting is only relevant as a sideline. The preoccupation with the economy of the Oroqen occupies a particularly large space among the Chinese scientists. The reason for this may lie in the hitherto unsolved problem of finding a substitute for hunting production, which has been losing importance since the 1950s and is tending to end, which is accepted by the Oroqen. Among the reindeer Evenks, the way out was to promote the breeding of larger herds of reindeer, and so turn hunters into ranchers, on the basis of the rambling hunt that went hand in hand with keeping reindeer as domestic cattle. The Oroqen, on the other hand, have not had reindeer for several centuries.

Material culture

As far as clothing is concerned, the material culture of the Oroqen is mainly characterized by the use of deer skins and deerskin. The deer fur hat on which the hunters often leave the roebuck's spear antlers is characteristic. The traditional dwelling of the Oroqen in the time when they lived exclusively from hunting was the qôrônzhuu , a simple pole tent that was covered with birch bark in summer and fur in winter. Qôrônzhuu is the name of the pole tent in the Birar-Oroqenic dialect. Xerengzhuu (Gankui dialect) is more common in Chinese literature . The birch bark was an important raw material in traditional culture alongside the fur. It was used to make all kinds of vessels, as well as to make cradles and boats. With regard to the reindeer Evenks , Oroqen and Hezhen , who have this use of birch bark in common, one speaks in China of a birch bark culture.

literature

  • Ingo Nentwig : Umnataan - a shamanic festival ceremony with the Birar-Oroqen in the PR China . In: Yearbook of the Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig, Vol. XL. Münster, Hamburg 1994. pp. 89-121.
  • Bruno J. Richtsfeld: The shamanism of the Tungus and Daghurs in China excluding the Manchu. (Völkerkundliche Arbeit Volume 5) Bonn 1996; ISBN 9783926216649 .

See also

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