Study On Manchu Translation Of Confucian Classics Since Middle Period Of Qing Dynasty

During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor in Qing dynasty,the great unification of China mostly took shape and the prosperity of all languages reached its peak.During this period,the Confucian Classics were retranslated,followed by the spontaneous Manchu translation of these Classics.As a result,Confucianism deeply affected the Manchu society with the help of Manchu language and literature.Manchu translation of the Confucian Classics not only brought balance between the Manchu traditions and the respect for Confucianism and Taoism,but more importantly,it has resulted in the Sinicization of Manchu people by means of Confucianization.The body of this thesis contains five chapters in addition to Introduction and Conclusion.Chapter One traced the roots of this process by examining the Manchu translation of the Confucian Classics and some related topics before Qianlong period.It first reviewed the creation and reform of Manchu script,which was the premise of translation,and suggested that it was the optimal choice to use Mongolian as a template to create the old Manchu script.The reform of the old Manchu script was a process of continuous exploration,and the promotion of the new Manchu script could not be completed overnight.Then,this chapter sorted out the changes in the translation organization.The Chinese-Manchu translation was first given to the civil servants by command,and then translation was conducted alternately between the Imperial Academy and the Inner State History Academy.In the tenth year of Kangxi(1671),the problem of translating by different organizations was addressed by the establishment of the Inner Translation Bureau.Finally,this chapter summarized the translation of the Confucian Classics during the periods of Shunzhi,Kangxi,and Yongzheng.The translation projects established before Manchu people entering Beijing was completed,the newly translated Confucian Classics was commanded by the emperors,and spontaneous Manchu translation of these Classics were on the topics of self-cultivation and family-management,norms,and educational reading materials.Chapter Two focused on the retranslation of the Confucian Classics and the achievements made during Qianlong period.The chapter first explained the formation and development of the great unification and the prosperity of all languages,suggesting that they were mutually inclusive and kept growing.Moreover,this chapter discussed the limitations of the previously translated Confucian Classics,including misunderstanding of the original Chinese texts,improper selection of Manchu words in translation,failure to reflect the stylistic characteristics of the original texts,and excessive use of transliterated words and failure to determine proper nouns as well as the underlying reasons.Then,it examined the process of the retranslation project of the Confucian Classics commanded by Qianlong,which began with the twice finalization of the Manchu translation of the “Four Books”.This revealed his purpose of declaring the power of translating the classics and promoting the superiority of the national Manchu language.Also,this chapter pointed out that the retranslation of Confucian Classics,which was an important part of the cultural project of the “tongwen”(the coexistence of languages)during Qianlong period,realized the standardization of Manchu language and strengthened the power of translating the classics.Chapter Three made discussion on the spontaneous Manchu translation of the Confucian Classics by scholar groups.By combing the timeline of the emergence of the scholar groups carrying out the translation of the Confucian Classics and analysing the cases of the most representative translators at different times through comparing their works regarding the basic information,the process of translating,the review of content,and the intended readers,it found that except for Fuqa Gunglu,all the Manchu scholar group translators who spontaneously performed Manchu translations of the Confucian Classics were active since Qianlong period.Among them,half were active since Qianlong and Jiaqing periods,and the remainder was active since Daoguang period.Sixty percent of the translators belonged to Manchu Eight Banners,thirty percent belonged to Mongolian Eight Banners,and ten percent to the Han Eight Banners.The majority of the translators were the bannermen located in Beijing.Finally,this chapter examined the more representative translator of Meng Bao,pointing out that his translation career was closely related to the ups and downs of his official career,which was also reflected in other translators.Chapter Four discussed the influence of Manchu translation of the Confucian Classics on Manchu society.The translated Confucian Classics were used as the textbooks or reference books for the national Manchu language in both public and private schools.In addition,in Qing dynasty the translated Confucian Classics were the main proposition scope for various translation examinations,which was an important way for bannermen to achieve official career promotion.Finally,the existing corpus of “talking notes”(the texts of Manchu conversations)indicated that Confucianism had entered the community level of the Manchu society through the translated Confucian Classics and had become the moral standards of the society,which affected the values of the Manchu people at that time.Chapter Five,taking the example of Daur the New Manchu,discussed the role that the translated Confucian Classics played in their Manchuization and Confucianization.Since there is little difference between the languages of Manchu and Daur,it was less difficult for Daur the New Manchu to learn Manchu language.Moreover,the Manchuization of Daur people would be realized by means of education.Yet,because Daur language had no script at that time,Manchu language and words naturally has become the carrier for Daur education.Thirdly,the education received by Daur people was part of the bannermen education;thus the educational contents was in essence Confucianism carried by Manchu language.Finally,this chapter showed that the Manchu translation of the Confucius Classics served the dual function of the Manchuization and Confucianization of Daur.To sum up,this thesis argues that the maintenance of the Manchu customs and traditions in the Qing dynasty was realized by the specific means of the “national language and riding and shooting”.Respecting Confucianism and Taoism meant to accept the thoughts and political tradition of the Central Plains,that is,to accept the Chinese culture.These two respects seemed to be contradictory;yet the Qing emperors successfully separated “Hua”(China)from “Han”(ethnic Han people)through the continuous translation and promotion of the Confucian Classics.The realization of respecting Confucianism and Taoism was made through the translation of Confucian Classics and accepting the excellent Chinese culture,resulting in the self-Confucianization and self-Sinicization of Manchu people.Through the persistence of education with the carrier of Manchu language and the contents of Confucianism,maintaining Manchu customs and traditions and respecting Confucianism and Taoism harmoniously coexisted in the old and new Manchu.This objectively helped integrate the old and the new Manchu into China at the ideological level and realized the harmonious but different pluralistic coexistence under the great unification,which was an important part of the construction of a unified multi-ethnic country.