“Tu” Tablet

The “Tu” Tablet is located at the China–Russia border in Fangchuan. It was re-erected in 1886 during the resurvey of the eastern section of the Hunchun border between China and Russia. Originally, Hunchun was a coastal area along the Sea of Japan. In the 50th year of the Kangxi Emperor’s reign (1714), the Hunchun Vice-Commandant was established, governing an area generally north of the Tumen River, south of the Ussuri River, west to the Halba Ridge, and east…

“Tu” Tablet

The “Tu” Tablet

The “Tu” Tablet is located at the China–Russia border in Fangchuan. It was re-erected in 1886 during the resurvey of the eastern section of the Hunchun border between China and Russia. Originally, Hunchun was a coastal area along the Sea of Japan. In the 50th year of the Kangxi Emperor’s reign (1714), the Hunchun Vice-Commandant was established, governing an area broadly north of the Tumen River, south of the Ussuri River, west to the Halba Ridge, and east to the Sea of Japan. At that time, it only shared a border with Korea and not with Russia.

In 1860, taking advantage of the British and French allied invasion during the Opium Wars, Tsarist Russia forced the Qing government to sign the unequal Sino-Russian Beijing Treaty, which ceded a vast area east of the Ussuri River. Over two-thirds of Hunchun’s territory was seized, causing the region to lose its coastal areas and begin bordering Russia. From then on, Hunchun had a shared border with Russia and completely lost its access to the sea, becoming a “landlocked place that once overlooked the sea.”

In 1861, the Qing court appointed Cangchang Hubu Shilang (Ministry of Revenue official) Cheng Qi as an imperial envoy, alongside Jilin General Jing Chun, to represent China. They arrived at Lake Khanka to conduct border negotiations with the Russian plenipotentiary Kozakevich and his deputy Budogoski. Both parties signed and exchanged the “Sino-Russian Record of the Border from the Ussuri River to the Sea,” which was entirely drafted by the Russian side. This record stipulated the installation of eight boundary tablets labeled “Ye,” “Yi,” “Ka,” “La,” “Na,” “Wo,” “Pa,” and “Tu,” starting from the Tumen River estuary to the Ussuri River mouth. The “Tu” Tablet was originally to be placed 20 li from the Tumen River estuary. However, due to the incompetence and irresponsibility of the Qing representatives, and the greed of the Russians, the “Tu” Tablet was treacherously installed 46 li away instead.

From the Tumen River estuary. Not satisfied with this, Tsarist Russia continued its underhanded schemes such as “secretly shifting the markers” and “transporting boundary tablets by horse.” Later, Russia even openly set up outposts and military camps in Heidingzi, occupying the vast riverside areas north of Shacaofeng. Faced with Russia’s continuous encroachment on Chinese territory, in 1885 the Qing court dispatched Wu Dacheng and Zhan Shichun to lead a mission for border negotiations. In July 1886, they signed the Sino-Russian Hunchun Eastern Border Agreement with Russia. Thanks to Wu Dacheng’s firm stance and dedication, not only were the previously misplaced boundary markers properly reinstalled, but the location of the “Tu” Tablet was also corrected. It was moved to a new position 27 li from the Sea of Japan and 20 li from the Tumen River estuary, restoring China’s rightful coastline. The “Tu” Tablet is 1.44 meters tall, 0.5 meters wide, and 0.22 meters thick, made of granite. The Chinese side features the three large characters “Tu Zi Pai” (Tu Tablet) vertically inscribed, with eight smaller characters “Erected in the 12th Year of Guangxu, 4th Month” inscribed to the left. The Russian side bears the Russian letter “T.” The tablet is intact, with clear inscriptions.

In 1960, to protect this historically significant and intact territorial marker from being washed away by the river, the Chinese government built a riverside embankment ranging from 6 to 8 meters in height and stretching 1,860 meters in length. Currently, during the China–Russia border redemarcation, new boundary markers have been erected. The “Tu” Tablet is no longer a border marker between the two countries but is now a national first-class cultural relic. It also serves as a provincial-level patriotic education base and national defense education base. The newly established boundary marker is numbered 423.