Jurchen
/ˈdʒɜːr.tʃən/noun
A Tungusic people who founded the Jin dynasty in northern China.
Did you know?The Jurchen created the Jin dynasty, and their elite script was deliberately modeled on Chinese writing, turning conquest into a tool of statecraft.
Etymological Timeline
10th–12th Century
Jurchen
jušen / jurchen
“The ethnonym used for the people later known in English as the Jurchen.”
12th Century
Chinese
女真 (Nǚzhēn)
“Chinese transcription of the Jurchen people’s name.”
12th–13th Century
Chinese
金 (Jīn)
“The name of the dynasty founded by the Jurchen; literally “gold.””
16th–17th Century
Manchu
jušen
“The older ethnonym replaced by Manchu after the group’s political reorganization.”
17th Century
English
Jurchen
“English borrowed the historical ethnonym from scholarly and travel writing.”