Oriental Studies (Apr 2018)
On Some Features of Qing Multilingual Sources on the History of the Oirats (“Fanglue”, “Zòuzhé”)
Abstract
The Corpus of Eastern Sources on the Oirats’ history and the study of Qing multilingual texts is the primary focus of the present article. Focusing on Chinese “Fanglue” and Manchu version of “Bodogon-i bithe”, the author presents to Russian scholars the earlier unknown results of overseas research in Orats studies, comparing multilingual texts of the same source. It is stated that the Manchu text proves to be more complete, whereas the Chinese one contains errors, omissions and deliberate corrections. The Manchu “Zòuzhé” texts are valuable for their being the primary source in multilingual collections, and, since many of them were not included in the “Fanglue” and even forbidden from being translated into Chinese, the valuable information was preserved only in Manchu. “Zòuzhé” is a collection of confidential reports from the local Qing trustees to the Emperor about the facts on the ground. The reports were sent to the Emperor directly, bypassing any intermediate instances. Every day the Emperor received 50-60 “Zòuzhé”. Twice a day reports, reviewed personally by the Emperor, would go to the Great Council (Junjuchu軍機處) to be copied (wai ji 外纪) twice and sent to the archive and a person in charge. The original of the document with the resolution of the Emperor (Zhupi Zòuzhé 硃批奏摺) was sent to the reporter to review and returned them back; the violation of this rule was punishable by death. Written in the Manchu language “Zòuzhé” of that period often listed intelligence reports to the Emperor marked in Chinese “not for translation”. They contained confidential information on the situation along the Qing army’s proposed route, reports about Galdan and Tsewang-Rabdan, etc. “Zòuzhé” texts are now available for studies by Oirats researchers without a need to visit the archives of China or Taiwan for searching and selecting relevant documents. Multi-volume collection of “Zòuzhé” was published in the Chinese language by the National Palace Museum in Taiwan and then by the First Historic Archive in Beijing. Russian researchers are taking their first steps introducing valuable sources in Manchu on the history of Oirats in the scholarly practice of Mongolian studies.
