Banners of Inner Mongolia
A banner (Chinese: 旗; pinyin: qí, "khoshun" in Mongolian) is an administrative division of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China, equivalent to a county-level administrative division.
| Banner | |
|---|---|
| Manchu: | Gūsa (romanized) |
| Classical Mongolian: ᠬᠣᠰᠢᠭᠤ ᠪᠣᠱᠤᠬᠤ | qosiγu bošuγu hôxûû bôxig (romanized) |
| Chinese: | 旗 (character) qí (Pinyin romanization) |
| Cyrillic Mongolian: | Хошуу (cyrillized) khoshuu (romanized) |
| Mongolian script: | ᠬᠣᠰᠢᠭᠤ Hôxûû or Hûxûû |
Banners were first used during the Qing dynasty, which organized the Mongols into banners, except those who belonged to the Eight Banners. Each banner had sums as nominal subdivisions. In Inner Mongolia, several banners made up a league. In the rest, including Outer Mongolia, northern Xinjiang, and Qinghai, Aimag (Аймаг) was the largest administrative division. While it restricted the Mongols from crossing banner borders, the dynasty protected Mongolia from population pressure from China proper. After the Mongolian People's Revolution, the banners of Outer Mongolia were abolished in 1923.
There were 49 banners and 24 tribes in Inner Mongolia during the Republic of China.
Today, banners are a county-level division in the Chinese administrative hierarchy. There are 52 in total, including 3 autonomous banners.