Treaty of Aigun — 1858 treaty between Russian Empire and Manchu Chinese Empire
Transferred over 600,000 km² of Manchuria from Qing China to Russia, establishing much of the modern Sino-Russian border.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 28 May 1858
- Territory transferred to Russia
- Over 600,000 square kilometers km²
- Region ceded
- Outer Manchuria (between Stanovoy Range and Amur River)
- Treaty reversed
- Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689)
- Affirmed by
- Sino-Russian Convention of Peking, 1860
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
China was engaged in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion when Russian Governor-General Nikolay Muraviev threatened to open a second front against the Qing dynasty. This military pressure, exploiting China's weakened position, compelled Qing official Yishan to enter negotiations with the Russian Empire over the disputed territories of Manchuria along the Amur River.
Signed on 28 May 1858 at Aigun, the treaty transferred the land between the Stanovoy Range and the Amur River from the Qing dynasty to the Russian Empire. This reversed the earlier Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689, ceding more than 600,000 square kilometers of what became known as Outer Manchuria to Russia and establishing a new border between the Russian Far East and China.
The Qing government initially refused to recognize the treaty's validity, but Russian territorial gains were ultimately affirmed by the 1860 Sino-Russian Convention of Peking. The treaty permanently altered the geopolitical boundary of northeastern Asia, depriving China of the Manchu ancestral homeland of Outer Manchuria and cementing Russian expansion into the Far East.
Political Outcome
Russia gained over 600,000 km² of Outer Manchuria; the modern Sino-Russian border along the Amur River was established.
Manchuria north of the Amur River held by the Qing dynasty under the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689)
Outer Manchuria ceded to the Russian Empire, expanding Russian territory in the Far East