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15 May 2020, Volume 0 Issue 3 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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The Issue of “Jušen” Status in the Qing Dynasty DU Jiaji 2020, 0(3): 1-16.  Abstract ( )   PDF (12873KB) ( )   “Jušen” was a subordinate class of the Manchus in the Qing Dynasty. They had a masterservant relationship within the hierarchical social structure, but jušen status had broad and narrow senses. In the broad sense, jušen included bondservant, banner-men and normal banner-men under the banner-based company. While jušen in the narrow sense only referred to banner-men under the bannerbased company. Many of them were “both servants and masters” as well as “exploiters.” In the past, the scholars have used the narrow sense of jušen as the exploited class in the Manchu society prior to 1644 and concluded that the society was “feudal”. This conclusion is not only biased, but also contradictory. When facing the emperor, Eight Banner officials as jušen were self-proclaimed “servants”. In the Manchu language, the term is Aha, which is the same word used with bondservant and family servant. But jušen were not “servants” as family slaves, because they were the majority of banner officials. Their “servant” status was only inferior to the emperor. Many jušen were in the high-level social class. Eight banner enfeoffment system continued to be implemented in the lower five banners after 1644. Only later did Emperor Daoguang limit the number of the banner-based companies of the lower five banner princes. In addition, the officials who possessed the higher rank needed to dismiss their servant relationship with their masters. However, some remained in the status until the end of Qing Dynasty. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Chuanguo Imperial Seal and the Legality of Qing Dynasty TSAI Ming-che 2020, 0(3): 109-118.  Abstract ( )   PDF (8758KB) ( )   As Chuanguo imperial seal, the “Zhi gao zhi bao” imperial seal played a crucial role in early seventeenth-century China. Hong Taiji and his ministers considered the seal to be the imperial seal from Qing dynasty, which meant that Hong Taiji had inherited the mandate of heaven from all previous Chinese dynasties. When the news of that the dynasty had obtained the seal spread everywhere, some people viewed the seal as a mark of religious authority, and the Qing ministers did not deny this statement. After the conquest, the Qing government debased the value of the seal. The Qianlong emperor declared that the Qing dynasty was legitimate because of their ancestor’s respectable morality, not because of the seal. Meanwhile, the Qianlong emperor ordered the seal destroyed. However, the emperor noticed that without the seal his statements would be ineffective, so after several years he ordered a counterfeit seal. When a Mongolian prince offered another “Zhi gao zhi bao,” the emperor intended to employ the seal to prove his superiority in Mongolia. We can observe the flexibility and the influence of Qing discourse of legitimacy in different classes, eras, and cultures. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Inheritance and Fracture: The Huitui System for Selecting Senior Officials in the Early Qing Dynasty and the Strengthening of Autocratic Emperorship ZHENG Dan 2020, 0(3): 119-137.  Abstract ( )   PDF (14958KB) ( )   After 1644, the Qing Dynasty inherited the systems of the Ming Dynasty, including the Huitui system for selecting senior officials. However, this system gradually declined during the reign of Kangxi. The methods of “listing” (kailie) and “recommending” (baoju) were successively added to the Huitui system, allowing the emperor to strengthen his control over system and, to some extent, guaranteeing the quality of selections. However, problems such as inefficiency and favoritism had also arisen, and led to poor results in the selection of officials. During the reign of Kangxi, officials were less motivated to participate in Huitui and were unwilling to assume the responsibility of recommending. When making decisions, Emperor Kangxi often discussed with the secretaries of the Grand Council and more and more frequently appointed officials directly. As a result, Mingzhu and other powerful officials took the opportunity to collude for selfish interests. The strengthening of autocratic emperorship under the Huitui system of Ming and Qing dynasties was not only the manifestation of the emperors’ personal will, but also the result of the comprehensive effects of political situation and political culture. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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On the Origin of Manchu: An Examination of Original Manchu Records ZHAO Zhiqiang 2020, 0(3): 17-24.  Abstract ( )   PDF (6530KB) ( )   Going through the relevant records in the Original Manchu Records, it can be asserted that manju, as a tribe belonged to the ethnic group jušen. which already existed in the period of Nurhaci. After the Qing dynasty was established the name Manju was usually used as the title of the state in place of Jin. By the ninth year of Tiancong (1635), Taizong Hong Taiji renamed the ethnic group. Hong Taiji substituted jušen with manju, which soon became widely known. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Qingdai junjichu manwen aochadang and the Qinghai Study CHIA Ning 2020, 0(3): 25-41.  Abstract ( )   PDF (14480KB) ( )   The existing studies of Qingdai junjichu manwen aochadang (The Grand Council Archive of the Zunghar pilgrimage to Tibet) have mainly focused on the relationship between the Qing court, the Zunghar and Tibet. A close read of this Archive with attention to the Qinghai history leads to the conscious that all of the three Zunghar pilgrimage journeys to Tibet had Qinghai as the critical outpost inside the Qing territory. How the pilgrims proceeded here decided the success, or not, of the whole pilgrimage process. If we agree with the argument that the three Zunghar pilgrimage events during the Qianlong reign fundamentally affected the final formation of the Qing fanbu system (the non-Chinese administrative system in frontier regions), Xining as the Qing center of the pilgrimage management and Qinghai as the receiving hub of the pilgrims were crucial to this formation. The Aocha Archive has thus enhanced our knowledge of Qinghai as a unique region in the Qing frontier affairs. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Construction of “Ili Nine Cities” in Xinjiang in the Qing Dynasty：The Origin of “Manchu Cities” Formation HAO Yuanlin 2020, 0(3): 42-53.  Abstract ( )   PDF (15203KB) ( )   Relying on a wealth of literature and ancient city maps, the construction of “Ili Nine Cities” can be studied in detail. “Ili Nine Cities” includes different types of cities such as Manchu Cities, Hant Cities, and Hui Cities. In terms of site selection, urban structure, and urban architecture, there were many common features and different characteristics. Through the investigation of the construction of Manchu cities, the structure of Manchu Cities can be traced back to the Wei-Suo city in the Ming Dynasty, which can be confirmed by the shape of the ancient city and its internal architecture. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the continuity of the shape of the northern Xinjiang city site was directly determined by the fact that the ancient cities were all built by Green Standard Army. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Study on the Dissemination of the Manchu Language and Script among the Daur People during the Qing Dynasty JIN Xin 2020, 0(3): 54-62.  Abstract ( )   PDF (7835KB) ( )   As early as the establishment of the tributary relationship toward the Later Jin Dynasty (Qing), clan chieftains of the Daur people began to learn the Manchu language. By the beginning of Kangxi era, as a result of the formation of the Butha hunting tribe, knowledge of the Manchu language and script became a basic skill for Daur officials. In the middle of the Kangxi reign, promoted by the policy of Manjurification, Manchu language and script were popularized in military families of Daur which belonged to the Heilongjiang Eight banner garrisons. Influenced by the Butha hunting tribe, was put under the jurisdiction of the military governor of Heilongjiang, and then recombined as Eight banner garrisons of Hulun buir and Butha, the Manchu language spread throughout the Daur people by the middle of the Qianlong reign. By the late Qing, Manchu language and script were declining throughout China, but the language remained in vogue among the Daur people. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A Preliminary Discussion of the Offering and Receiving Captive Ritual in the Qing Dynasty HUANG Shaohai 2020, 0(3): 63-76.  Abstract ( )   PDF (11587KB) ( )   The offering captive ritual was an important part of the traditional military rituals, which referred to a ceremonial activity of presenting captives or their heads to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Altar of Land and Grain or to the emperor, after an army triumph. In the early and middle period of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial government achieved great military accomplishments, the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors inherited the traditional system and continuously improved the offering captive ritual. They added this system into the Huidian and held the ritual many times. In 1828, after the suppression of the Jihangir rebellion, the Emperor Daoguang held the offering and receiving captive ritual for the last time in the Qing Dynasty. The offering and receiving captive ritual, which had the function of publicizing national prestige and deterring vassal states. It not only embodied the inheritance of the traditional Chinese ritual system by the Qing Dynasty and the political implication of the dynasty’s legitimacy, but also witnessed the brilliance and hardship of the emperors in practicing the cause of the great unification to the border ethnic groups. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Adjustment of Criminal Exile Areas During the Jiaqing Reign YIN Ziyu 2020, 0(3): 77-91.  Abstract ( )   PDF (12986KB) ( )   After the establishment of the exile to the frontier, the exile areas for criminals was adjusted continuously and a pattern of exile was gradually formed, which was sending the criminals to the northeast, northwest and interior areas. The change of the exile areas during the Jiaqing period showed different characteristics from the past. The demand to relieve the pressure of management problem became the direct motivation and leading factor for the change. A new exile pattern focusing on Xinjiang and the interior areas was formed, and the function of the northeast region declined significantly. During this period, although the adjustment maintained the social order in the northeastern region, it increased the management pressure in Xinjiang and the interior areas. It also carried a foreshadowing of the decline of the exile system in the Qing dynasty. The institutional bottleneck of the exile to the frontier and the increase of the influence in the Jiaqing dynasty may have existed behind it. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Institutional Establishment and Ideological Tension: A Discussion of “Obstruction” in the Jiaqing and Daoguang Reigns SUN Ming 2020, 0(3): 92-108.  Abstract ( )   PDF (14052KB) ( )   From the perspective of institutional development process rather than static, the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns was the period when the system of communication channels was finalized. The great changes of the information system from the title book to the memorial, and the center from the cabinet to the Grand Council determined the marginal position of the communication channels in the political system. From this point of view, the intelligentsia criticized the problem of “obstruction” and the system of communication channels, insisting on the structural function of communication channels in the political system, while the emperor blamed the problem on the private interests of the bureaucrats. The system and its ideology were integrated together. From the perspective of the ideology, there was tension and contradiction between the “former generation’s legal meaning” and “this dynasty’s legal meaning”, forming the characteristics of the communication channels. References | Related Articles | Metrics