Map Introduction

I. Establishment Background and Institutional Nature

The Nurgan Regional Military Commission was a military-administrative institution established by the Ming dynasty on its northeastern frontier. Its name derives from the combination of the Jurchen word "Nurgan" (meaning "landscape painting") and the Chinese "Duzhihuishi Si" (Regional Military Commission). This institution was not a traditional administrative division but primarily a military management body exercising hegemonic/jimi (loose-rein) control, achieved by conferring official titles (such as Regional Military Commissioner, Battalion Commander, etc.) on the leaders of various Jurchen tribes. Established in 1411 (the 9th year of the Yongle era) by the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, its headquarters were located at Tyr (now Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, Russia) on the lower reaches of the Amur River.

II. Territorial Scope and Methods of Rule

Its jurisdiction extended east to Sakhalin Island, north to the Stanovoy Range (Outer Khingan Mountains), west to the Onon River, and south to the Liaodong Regional Military Commission, covering an area of approximately 1.3 million square kilometers. The Ming dynasty maintained control through the following methods:

• Military Deterrence: Establishing a shipyard on the Songhua River (in present-day Jilin City) as a naval base for regular border patrols.
• Economic Inducement (Hegemony): Distributing cloth, salt, and iron to tribal leaders under the guise of "bestowments" or "rewards," in exchange for tribute items like sable pelts and horses.
• Religious Accommodation: Building the Yongning Temple at Tyr (1413) and erecting a stele inscribed in Chinese, Jurchen, Mongolian, and Tibetan scripts to proclaim the "Vast Grace of the Emperor."

III. Heyday and Decline

The period from the Yongle to the Xuande reigns (1411–1435) marked its peak, during which the Ming court dispatched eunuchs like Isiha for multiple inspection tours and established 384 guard stations (wei-suo). However, after 1435 (the 10th year of Xuande), due to fiscal pressures and a strategic shift of focus southward, the Nurgan Regional Military Commission was abolished, retaining only the military control exercised by the Liaodong Regional Military Commission. This decision contributed to the rise of the Jianzhou Jurchens, laying the groundwork for the Later Jin's eventual penetration south of the Great Wall.

IV. Historical Significance

This institution serves as evidence that the Amur River basin has been Chinese territory since the Liao and Jin dynasties. Its Yongning Temple Stele (now housed in Russia) is concrete proof of the Ming dynasty's administration of the Northeast. Its rise and decline also reflects the shift in the Ming dynasty's frontier policy from proactive expansion to contraction and conservatism.