🏰 “The Fate of the Double Mongolia” – The Division of the Grasslands with a Secret Story

“Neither Mongolia nor China” The ironic name ‘Inner Mongolia’—it is Chinese territory, but people sometimes call it the Mongolian version. Then why was it separated from Mongolia and remained as part of China, not Outer Mongolia? Let’s follow the interesting history of how the border of that civilization was drawn.

1. ‘Southern Mongolia’ that started 3,000 years ago

In the 3rd century BC, after the Qin Dynasty unified China, the Huns, Xianbei, and Gokturks continued to live on the grasslands beyond the Great Wall. This means that the sphere of influence of Chinese rule had already reached the north of the Yellow River, the current Inner Mongolia region. The Great Wall blocked them, but the administration and culture of this land had already been incorporated into China for a long time.

2. Late Qing Dynasty: Mongolia Divided by Manchuria

In the 17th century, the Qing Dynasty, founded by the Manchus, also strategically controlled this ‘Southern Mongolia’. Inner Mongolia: Close to Manchuria, close to the Yellow River, directly ruled

Outer Mongolia: Beyond the Gobi Desert, relatively autonomous

In particular, after 1635, the major tribes of Inner Mongolia were oppressed, and in 1691, when the Outer Mongolian Kaluga were subjugated to the Qing, the complete unification of the Mongolian Plateau into the Qing Dynasty was achieved.

3. Qing's Rule: Politics of Boundaries and Division

The Qing strictly distinguished Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia, and implemented the following policies for Inner Mongolia:

Divided several leagues and banners and used them as political control mechanisms

Encouraging Han Chinese migration: Since the 18th century, Han Chinese peasant migration has been active in northern Inner Mongolia

Regulation of Movement: Mongolians restricted movement between periods, and prevented the formation of solidarity among nomads

As a result, Inner Mongolia was early subject to the Hanization policy, and the spread of Mongolian ethnic identity was limited by migration and boundary setting.

4. The Revolution of 1911 and the Crossroads of the Two Mongolians

In 1911, with the Xinhai Revolution, Outer Mongolia declared independence centered around Bogd Khan and continued as Outer Mongolia (present Mongolia) until 1912.

However, Inner Mongolia fell into a complicated bloodbath:

Some of the Mongolian leaders of Inner Mongolia supported Outer Mongolia's independence,

but the majority of the Hanchon clan were incorporated into the unified state plan of the Chinese Nationalist Government (ROC) after the Chinese Revolution.

Japan, which still sought vested interests, was entangled with the Eastern Mongolian forces and failed to achieve complete independence like Outer Mongolia.

In the end, Outer Mongolia became independent by relying on Russian forces, but Inner Mongolia remained within China for population, geography, and political reasons.

5. Nationalist Period: Strengthening Local Character

After the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, the Nationalist government reorganized Inner Mongolia into provincial units, but the Mongolians' demands for autonomy were repeatedly suppressed:

1912-1930s: Inner Mongolia was divided into Xiyuan, Chahar, Liebei, and eastern Liaoning

1930s: Japan established a puppet state called "Mengjiang" in connection with **Manchukuo**, and some of Inner Mongolia went over to the Japanese side

Even after the return of the Nationalist government in 1945, the central government was wary of demands for independence and strengthened social control.

6. Communist Party Takes Power and Establishes "Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region"

In 1947, the Chinese Communist Party declared the establishment of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the Inner Mongolia region and appointed Mongolian leader Ulanhu as its leader to promote unification. Since the 1950s, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has gradually expanded to its current scope:

The vast historical Mongolian territory has been integrated, strengthening administrative power

Han migration, linguistic and cultural assimilation have been strengthened

In the process, Inner Mongolia has been absorbed into the central Chinese administration, and Mongolian identity has gradually been diluted.

7. The Cultural Revolution and Large-Scale Human Rights Suppression

During the Cultural Revolution that began in 1966, Inner Mongolia was branded as a “counterrevolutionary” and underwent large-scale purges:

About 160,000 people died, and hundreds of thousands were arrested and tortured

Mongolian culture and autonomy collapsed, and the central government’s Hanization policy was imposed on the Mongolians

This event is recorded as a symbolic event that firmly incorporated Inner Mongolia under Chinese political power again.

8. Modern Times: Assimilation Policy and Resistance

Since the 1990s, with the opening of the economy:

Han economic migration and development of large cities: Natural resource mining boom in Ordos, Hulunbuir, etc.

2020s: Large-scale student protests erupt when local governments attempt to reduce Mongolian language education in middle and high schools

In this way, Inner Mongolia is struggling with its identity amid tensions between autonomy and assimilation pressures within China.

9. Why ‘Part of China’ — Concluding Factors

The key factors that led to Inner Mongolia in China being completely separated from Outer Mongolia and remaining part of China are as follows:

Early control during the Qing Dynasty: Inner Mongolia had already been incorporated into China through administrative development and migration policies since the 17th century

Strategic significance during the Nationalist period: Attempts at complete independence like Outer Mongolia were frustrated by population, location, and policy limitations

Establishment of autonomous regions and incorporation into the Communist system after liberation: Control of internal affairs through the formation of autonomous regions including ethnic leaders

The Cultural Revolution and continued pressure to Hanize: Rapid weakening of Mongolian culture and language

Economic development and population flow: Expansion of multiculturalism and non-nationalism due to Han migration

All of these are the backgrounds for Inner Mongolia to establish itself as an **‘administrative region with a claim to autonomy’** within China.

10. Modern Inner Mongolia: Legacy of Boundaries and Identity

Today, Inner Mongolia is a vast area, but the Mongolian ethnic identity is a minority and cultural resistance is weakened:

There have been many protests and conflicts over language use and education rights

The Chinese government maintains an autonomous region, but continues to control it by turning it into a Chinese region

The economy has grown through the exploitation of underground resources, but environmental damage and ethnic inequality have deepened

Nevertheless, Mongolian traditional culture, funerals, religion, and rituals are preserved sporadically, while maintaining an ambiguous separatist identity amid China’s multicultural and multiethnic policies.

✅ Conclusion

Inner Mongolia in China was the ‘brother’ of Outer Mongolia, but chose to remain an autonomous region in the flow of history.

Unlike Outer Mongolia, which declared itself the ‘Land of the Mongolians’ on the grasslands, Inner Mongolia was integrated into China while retaining traces of the grasslands.

The decision was purely a historical necessity, a combination of the power of the Qing Empire, the policies of the Nationalist government, the Communist system, and the migration of Han Chinese, and Inner Mongolia today remains in some kind of limbo as a result.