Dongbei
/ˈtʊŋ.peɪ/noun
A Mandarin Chinese term for northeastern China, especially the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.
Did you know?Dongbei cuisine and folklore preserve influences from Han Chinese, Manchu, Mongol, Korean, and Russian cultural worlds, reflecting the region’s position at the crossroads of northeastern Asia.
Etymological Timeline
Old Chinese, 1st millennium BCE
Old Chinese
東 *tˤoŋ
“East; the character traditionally depicts the sun caught in or rising through a tree, though this graphic explanation is not the word’s proven etymology.”
Old Chinese, 1st millennium BCE
Old Chinese
北 *pˤək
“North; originally associated with the back or turning away, later becoming the standard word for the northern direction.”
Middle Chinese, 7th–10th centuries
Middle Chinese
東北 *tung-pok
“The northeastern direction, formed by combining ‘east’ and ‘north.’”
Modern Mandarin
Mandarin
東北 / 东北 dōngběi
“Northeast; northeastern China, particularly the region historically known in English as Manchuria.”
20th–21st centuries
English
dongbei
“An English transliteration and loanword referring to northeastern China and its regional culture.”