Mohe people

The Mohe, Malgal, Mogher, or Mojie were historical groups of people that once occupied parts of what is now Northeast Asia during late antiquity. The two most well known Mohe groups were known as the Heishui Mohe, located along the Amur River, and the Sumo Mohe, named after the Songhua River. They have been traditionally defined by the approximate use of what would have been Tungusic languages. The Heishui Mohe are commonly thought as being direct ancestors to the 12th century Jurchens. The Tang documented the Mohe as inhabiting the land of Sushen, to the northeast of the Tang, east of the Turks, and north of Goguryeo.
The Mohe constituted a major part of the population in the kingdom of Balhae in northeast Asia, which lasted from the late 7th century to early 10th century. After the fall of Balhae, few historical traces of the Mohe can be found, though they are considered to be the primary ethnic group from whom the Jurchen people descended. The Heishui Mohe in particular are considered to be the direct ancestors of the Jurchens, from whom the 17th century Manchu people and Qing dynasty founders originated. The Mohe practiced a sedentary agrarian lifestyle and were predominantly farmers who grew soybean, wheat, millet, and rice, supplemented by pig raising and hunting for meat. The Mohe were also known to have worn pig and dog skin coats.

Name

The Chinese exonym Mohe is a graphic pejorative written with mo 靺 "socks; stockings" and he 鞨 "shoes". Mo is an adjective, a customary expression meaning "barbarian" or Xiongnu. Before the Five dynasties period, it was recorded as "靺羯", such as on the Honglujing Stele.
He 鞨 is gal, meaning "stone" by Mohe/Malgal, Jie/Gal language. The Jie ruler Shi Le takes the surname shi from gal. According to the History of Jin, Shi Tumen is the prince of the Jurchen people, whose surname shi hints to a connection with the Mohe and Jie.
The ethnonym of the Mohe bears a notable resemblance to that of the later historically attested *Motgit in Middle Chinese.
The name of the Mohe also appears as "Maka" in "Shin-Maka" or "New Mohe," which is the name of a dance and the musical piece that accompanies it; the dance and song were introduced to the Japanese court during the Nara period or around the beginning of the Heian period from the Balhae kingdom. In modern Japanese historical texts, the name of the Mohe is annotated with the "kana" reading Makkatsu, which is probably a transliteration based on the standard Sino-Japanese readings of the Chinese characters used to transcribe the ethnonym of the Mohe.

Tribes

According to some records, there were seven or maybe eight Mohe tribes :

Moji/Merjie/Wuji/Matgat	Mohe/Mogher/Malgal/Muthot	Modern location	Settlements
Sumo tribe 粟末部 속말부	Sumo tribe 粟末部 속말부	near Songhua River
Baishan tribe 白山部 백산부	Baishan tribe 白山部 백산부	near Paektu Mountain
Yulou tribe 虞婁 우루	Yulou tribe 虞婁 우루	on the Suifun River Basin
Boduo tribe 伯咄部 백돌부	Boduo tribe 伯咄部 백돌부	near the Lalin River
Funie tribe 拂涅部 불열	Funie tribe 拂涅部 불열	near the Mudan River on the Khanka Basin	dwelled in Jixi and Mudanjiang
Anchegu tribe 安車骨部/安车骨部 안차골부	Tieli tribe 鐵利 철리	near the Songhwa River	dwelled in Harbin
Haoshi tribe 號室部/号室部 호실부	Yuexi tribe 越喜 월희		dwelled in Dalnerechensk
Heishui tribe 黑水部 흑수부	Heishui tribe 黑水部 흑수부	low banks of Amur River	dwelled in Hegang, Jiamusi, Shuangyashan, Khabarovsk, Birobidzhan, Yichun

Notable personalities

Prefecture Mohe chieftains

Sumo Mohe
* Tudiji, ca. 580-620
* Li Jinhang, 619-683, Tudiji's son
* Dae Joyeong, ?-719
Baishan Mohe
* Geolsa Biu
Heisui Mohe
* A Tou
* Tou Fu
* Su Wugai
* Gao Zhimen
* Wusukemeng
* Nisuliji
Funie Mohe
* Shiyimeng
* Li Duozuo
Yuexi Mohe
* Wushikemeng