China's Manchu ethnicity has made great contributions to the historic development and the civilization of China and the rest of the world, a Chinese scholar said at an ongoing seminar held in the capital city of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Yan Chongnian, a research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, outlined 10 contributions Manchus made over the past 360 years at an international seminar on the culture of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The Manchu, a minority people in China, established the Qing Dynasty in 1644 and brought the country into a period of great prosperity in the reign of Emperor Kangxi.

They laid a foundation of modern Chinese territory. In the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, China's territory covered 12.5 million square kilometers.

The Manchu rulers unified various ethnic groups in China during the Qing Dynasty.

They created the Manchu language and compiled important books and dictionaries which have been handed down for generations.

The group produced the most politicians, strategists, artists, linguists and scientists among the 55 ethnic groups in any period in China's history.

Thanks to an active population expanding policy, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty succeeded in making China the most populous nation in the world.

Emperors of the Qing Dynasty built numerous imperial gardens and summer resorts, creating a unique "horticulture culture" for their descendants, Yan said.
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2004)