Argun (Amur)

For other uses, see Argun (disambiguation).

Argun
Chinese name
Chinese	额尔古纳河
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin É'ěrgǔnà hé
Mongolian name
Mongolian Cyrillic	[  Ergüne gol Эргүнэ мөрөн Ergüne mörön] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Manchu name
Manchu script	Ergune bira
Russian name
Russian	Аргу́нь

Ergune or Argun (Mongolian:  , Ergüne gol; Manchu: Ergune bira; Chinese: 额尔古纳河; Russian: Аргунь) is the river which is a part of the Russia–China border. Its upper reaches are known as Hailar River (海拉尔河, Haila'er He) in China. Its length is 1,007 mi (1,620 km). The Ergune marks the border between Russia and China for about 944 km, until it meets the Amur River since It was established by the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689.

The river flows from the Western slope of the Greater Khingan Range in Inner Mongolia. Its confluence with Shilka River at Ust-Strelka forms the Amur River.

Kherlen-Ergune-Amur

In years with high precipitation, the normally exitless Hulun Lake may overflow at its northern shore, and the water will meet the Ergune after about 30 km. The system Kherlen-Ergune-Amur has a total length of 5,052 km.

Ergune in The Secret History of the Mongols

In The Secret History of the Mongols, speaks legend related the Ergune-Khun Mongol ancestry. In this, the Mongols prevailed other tribes and carried such slaughter among them, that in living remained no more than two men and two women. These two families in fear the enemy fled to the inaccessible terrain, the terms of which were only mountains and forests and to which neither the one hand there was the road. Among those mountains was the abundant grass and healthy climate steppe. Then legend tells that in Ergune-Khun Mongols multiplied and become masters of iron smelting and blacksmithing. According to legend, is the art of melting iron has helped them escape from the mountain gorges on scope of the current Mongolian steppes, to Kherlen River and Onon River.