II 1 I U 'l Jgj g'^ TRAJN^SLATIONS FROM TltK MxViNOHU, WITU THE OIUGLVJL TEXTS, y V 11 E F \ i: 1^ D l{ v A]^ ESSAY ON TJBL LAlsauAGE. # THOMAS TAYLOR MEAjlOiWS IJSTERPRETER TO H. 6, M.'s CONSULATE p D V ^[^ >:' tV^TVUi^XKrtr ■—■ii«.m 1 r* '•i 'v «-■ 1^ 1 u V i <$ become laws ; and I know of no way in which the mind can be so thoroughly iml)\ied with a sense of the spirit of Chinese legislation, of the general principles of Chinese government, as by the perusal of a number of them. The few translated here havinjr been selected chielly on account of their exclusive relation to the Manchus, must not be regarded as specimens of the best of these documents. The " Sacred Edict" is one of the sixteen state sermons or exhorta- tions, the composition of the Emperor Yungcheng appointed to be read periodically by the mandarins to the people. At the literary examinations in China, the only paper each student is allowed to take into the Examination Hall, is a long sheet furnished by the government, on a fixed portion of which he makes his draft, and on the other portion writes the fair copy of his essay. The last of the documents given here is taken from the examplar sheet sent by the Ritual Board at Peking to all the stations of MancJui garrisons on the establishment of the examinations noticed at page "2'). The eximplar sheet itself is 1:3 inches high and '20 feet long, folded like a screen into breadths of 4J inches. That portion allotted for the fair copv is ruled with red lines. With a view to the assistance of the student, the translations have been made as literal as the difterent structure of the two languages permitted, without doing positive violence to the English idiom. The short account in the Essay of the origin and progress of the Manchu as a written language, is, where other authority is not men- tioned, based on the few meagre notices to be found in the history rf the present dynasty, entitled Tung (iica/i Lii." T. T. M. Canton, 'Ah October, l!?4y. NATURE OF THE MAxNCHU LANGUAGE The Mdiicliu language graniriiatically considered liolds a middle place between the Chinese and the languages of modern Europe, but has, on the whole, a greater similarity to the latter than to the former. All the words in the language are composed of six vowels, o, e, i, 6, u, and o ; and nineteen consonants, n, ng, k\ k, gh, p, j/, s, sh, t', t, I, m, ch\ ch, y, r, f, and w. Most of these letters have three forms, all of them two ; which are used according as the letter stands at the commencement, the middle, or the end of a word; and the k\ k, gh, f, and /, have each two sets of forms, the use of which depends on the kind of vowel that follows.* The Manchu has therefore its alphabet, though somewhat more complicated in form than those of European languages. And though the people have, it is true, not exhausted its capaljilities, still the reflections contained in the following para- graph of Langles are certainly not correct. "What * There are a tew more cousonantss inveiit(*ii soloh to express the strange sounds in words adopted from the Chinese. They are very rarely used. 1 4 NATURE OF THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. was my astonishment," he says, " on opening the pamphlet (cahier) which father Amyot has called a Manchu Alphabet, to find a syllabary (syllahaire)y coniposed of more than fourteen hundred groups. Such is, in fact, the only alphabet which the Manchus know, and which their children learn singing (chantant), and often I believe crying." The Manchu children, when learning the pronunciation of the syllables by repeating them in a singing tone, do nothing but what English children do daily. Most of us have some remem- brance of the weariness and loathing with which we hummed and thumbed over our syllabary, with its ba^ be, bo, bu ; fa, fe, fo, fu, &c., &.c. And when we take into calculation such syllables as dread, friend, bring, spring, fringe, plunge, fraught, blight, plump, &.C., all of which the English boy must learn orally be- fore he can read his own language, I am inchned to think that our syllabary will be found to contain still more groups of letters than that of the Manchus. The Manchu " Twelve Classes of syllables," which Langles refers to, is in short, a spelling-book, which it is not necessary for grown foreigners to go through, for the same reason that it is unnecessary for us to go through a French spelling-book on learning that language : we have already in learning our own language acquir- ed a knowledge of the powers of consonants when joined to vowels. Consonants have of themselves strictly speaking no sound ; and if an English boy after learning the names of the letters in the alphabet, were shown the simple word for, and told to pronounce the letters " all together," his best effort would probably result in effoar. It is not the case that the Manchus are, as Langles affirms, ignorant of the division of their syllables into letters : the first chapter of the Manchu-Chinese Gram- NATURE OF THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. J mar called Ching-wdn Chi-mung, proves the contrary ; but they have certainly not employed it to the full extent of its capabilities for the purpose of transcribing foreign words; and Manchu boys when learning, instead of say- ing /, a — la ; I, o — lo ; &c., are taught at once to say la, lo, &c. Many more syllables than are contained in their syllabary might be formed with their letters, but they are not accustomed to arrange them other- wise than as they there stand. Tliey make, for instance, no such use of the consonants /, m, n, and r, as we do when we call them liquid ; hence if the Manchu letters 5, m, a, r, t, be joined in that order as ^^zrl a Manchu is not able to pronounce them as we do the word srnart. The Manchus in writing begin, like Europeans, at the top of the page and at the left corner, but the columns run, as in the Chinese, perpendicularly down the page instead of horizontally across it. Formerly it seems the Manchus were in the habit of occasionally u.^ing a pen made of a piece of small bamboo, much as we make our's of goose quills, but at present they almost always employ a hair pencil which they fill with Chinese (Indian) ink rubbed up on a small pallet or inkstone of slate, precisely as the Chinese do. The Manchus, like the Chinese, print by means of wooden blocks, the surfaces of which are first made per- fectly level and smooth, and then cut away to the depth of about a quarter of an inch, with the exception of the words to be printed, which are thus made to stand out in rehef. Their printed character does not differ from the written more than our italic type does from our run- ning-hand. In addresses to the Emperor, the copyists imitate the printed character as closely as possible ; in all other kinds of correspondence, official or private, the running-hand is used.. 4 NATUllK or THE MANCHU I.A.NfJl' ACT. The Manchu is a harsh sounding language, owing to the very frequent occurrence of the guttural gh, of r, and of the aspirated consonants k\ t\ and ch\* Orthographically considered, the Manchu stands therefore, as already stated, between the languages of Western Europe and the Chinese. The same ap- pears the case wlien we consider it etymologically. The definite article is wanting, but all other parts of speech comprised within the English language arc to be found in some shape in the Manchu. The cases of substantives are formed, like those of the En- glish and Chinese, by means of particles, which are however invariably placed after the words they affect. A Manchu says " man to,^^ ^^ place at ;" not " to the man,'''' " at the placed One decided superiority that tlie Manchu has over the English is the possession of a particle, pe, which shows that the substantive which precedes it is in the accusative case. It has plural ter- minations equivalent to our 5, but they are only used after nouns denoting living beings. The plural of words denoting inanimate objects is either expressed by words resembling our all, every, &,c., or it must be gathered from the context tliat they are in the plural. * In fixing on leUers of our alphabet to represent those of the Manchu, I have been guided by the pronunciation given in the Impe- rial Dictionary. This is indeed not a perfect authority, because the paucity of sounds in the Chinese makes it impossible to give the pronunciation of foreign words correctly. But it is sanctioned by the grammar of Gerbillon as translated by Amyot, both of whom had ample opportunity of hearing the correct pronunciation, and were perfectly able to give it in writing ; and it is corroborated by the Peking Mapchus whom I have met here. Having once fixed on an English letter to represent a Manchu one, 1 have invariably employed it even when the word is not pronounced as it is written. When we transcribe the Gfrman word JHrf)rfl'f, "e write Mehrn( , not Mayrerih. NATURE OF THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. O There is nothing to attract attention in the personal pronouns, the cases of which are formed with the same particles used for substantives ; unless it be that the fact of our possessing the accusatives me, thee, him, us, and them, is the cause of a greater analogy between the Manchu and English personal pronouns, than between most of the other parts of speech in the two languages. There is also nothing characteristic in the Manchu cardinal numbers, from which their ordinals are formed by the addition of ch'i, equivalent to our th, and the French erne: thus suncha, five, becomes sunchacK i, fifth. There is a coincidence worthy of remark about the for- mation of the first two ordinals : it is irregular as in French and English. The cardinals one and two, are in Manchu emu and chuice ; the ordinals j^Vsi and seco7idj are in Manchu uchu and chai. With respect to the conjunctions, to those parts of speech which we call prepositions, to adverbs, and to interjections, there is likewise nothing particular to re- mark on, except that the j9r(?-positions are j^os^positions in Manchu, that the number of conjunctions is small, and that the conjunction and, so much used in our languages, is wanting in the Manchu. The most characteristic part of the language, etymolo- gically considered, is formed by the verbs and their modify- ing particles, whether of tense or mood. The only other pecuharity of much importance lies in the construction of sentences. To acquire a knowledge of the true na- ture and uses of the particles employed to modify verbs, and of the order in which the words of a sentence stand in relation to each other, is the most difficult task to be- mastered by the student of Mai^phuv The simplest part of the Manchu verbs is, as in our languages, that which commands a person addrjpssed to-. 6 NATURE OF THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. do what is expressed by the verb, in other words the im- perative of the second person. According to the vowel in wliich the simplest form ends, the Manchu verbs are ar- ranged under four conjugations, the differences between which are, however, merely a matter of orthography and easily mastered. In order to express the different relations of time and mood, the Manchu has (exclusive of the adverbs of time) a number of affixes and of se- parate particles, analogous in their uses to our ed, ingy have, had, .shall, will, was, can, might, could, &c.; such as mpi, pighe, gha, ghapi, ra, ch'i, mpime, ki, kini, Ji, me, ome, te, &c. But though they are analogous collectively considered, individually taken, it is scarcely possible to single out one exactly parallel in its uses to any one of those existing in English ; while the most when affixed to the root of the verb modify its signification in a v/ay very different from that which the name given by the French grammarians to the particular form leads us to expect. Thus, they say that the present is formed by adding mpi to the root; as fnwampi, from fmca, inspect; and the future by the addition oi' ra as t'uwara, ivill in-, sped, from the same root. But this present form very often expresses future time, while the future form, though constantly occurring, scarcely ever indicates future time. Gabelentz in his Grammar draws attention especially to this circumstance, nevertheless that portion of his very valuable work which treats of verbs appears the part most susceptible of improvement. It seems to me that the subject might be handled in a way more congenial to the true nature of the Manchu verbs, and consequently less embarrassing and obscure to the student.* * I can not help suspecting that the first Europeans who treated of M;inchu gramin tr, Frenchmen, were misled by Uif similarity which NATURE OF THE AlAiXCHlj LANGUAGE. 7 The Manchus have a number of particles which affixed to the roots of verbs alter their sense ; thus, na atlds to the signification of the words to which it is joined the idea ongoing; as from alampi, to inform^ is made alanampi, go to inform ; ch'e adds the idea of aggregation to the ori- ginal, as horn inche?npi, to laugh, is formed inchedi empi, to laugh together, &:c. The reader will however per- ceive that these are not particles of tense or mood, but that they are analogous to our prefixes dis, mis, re, un, &:c., which with the verbs inherit, apprehend, enter, and deceive, form disinherit, misapprehend, reenter, and unde- ceive. They form entirely new verbs conveying mean- ings different, and sometimes opposite, to those of the original words. The particles alluded to, na, cUe &:c., can not therefore be regarded as pecuhar to the language ; though the regularity with which each is joined to, and changes the meaning of the same root, may be noticed as one of its characteristic features. Of the strictly grammatical particles affixed to verbs, there are two which from the frequency of their occur- rence deserve special notice. These are ^ and me. The first shows that the action expressed by the verb either causes or precedes that expressed in the next following sentence : it denotes either causation or antecedence. The second is used in all but the last of two or more simple sentences standing together, whose verbs are in the same time and mood, the last alone containing the particles which show the tense and mood of the verb in eacli. Now as the verb in Manchu always stands after its sub- ject and object, with its particles of time and mood after the form of the Manchu verb that ends in r& hns to the French future, so as to call that i\\e future which would have been better designated by some different name. 8 NATI III", OF THK MA.NCHi: r.A.NGUAGlr:. it ajijuiii, it Tollows tJiat the language is highly periodic in its structure, and in so far energetic, 'f'he sense ot" a sentence remains suspended till its very end. Em- ployment for the memory without any for the mind — words without ideas are tirst given ; till at length by the utterance of two or three syllables sudden life is infused into all that has preceded. This is well known to be an important element of energy in language. Ideas, instead of being dealt out piecemeal with tedious con- tinuity, are communicated com{)lete by instantaneous Hashes ; the different effects of which two methods on the mind resemble those produced by two men, of whom one constantly speaks but seldom says anything, the other speaks little but says much. The Manchu is a pure tongue, not like the English made up of words taken from the languages of at least six different nations. In this respect it resembles the German, and like the German it possesses in con- sequence the powers for tlie formation of new homo- geneous words in a higher degree than any composite language possibly can. Its borrowings are chiefly from the Chinese, but, when we consider the circumstances under which the two people have so long stood with respect to each other, we can not but pronounce them extremely few. ORIGrN AND PROGRESS OF THE MANCHU WRITTEN LANGUAGE When tlie family vvliicli now reigns in China had from being merely the chiefs of a clan in the eastern ex- tremity of Asia conquered so many of the tribes around them as to come into contact with the Mongol princes and with the Chinese, they at first used the languages of tliese people in their correspondence, the Manchu being as yet merely an oral tongue. At length, how- ever, a desire arose in the mind of the sovereign known as Tienming, that his own language should be reduced to writing, and accordingly in the 36th year of the cycle in which he reigned, a. d. 1599, he gave orders to Erteni and Kakai, two scholars* learned in the Mongolian, to form characters for the Manchu, taking those used for the Mongolian as their basis. They urged difficulties, but the emperor, who seems to have been a man of ori- gmal mind, declared that there was no difficulty ; that they had only to use the Mongolian syllables to gave the Man- chu sounds, which joined together would form words and sentences whose meaning would of course be apparent to Manchus from their sound. This was accordingly done, and the new written language thus invented published for the mformation of all Manchus. The • In the Chinese they are entitled £ )l^ j-|" lui-ko-shi, which is a transcription of (he Mongolian word bVffAO bakshi, teacher, or doc- tor. See Schmidt's Mongol, German and Russian Dictionsfry, pnge 99. 10 ORIGIN OF THE MAiNCHU LANGUAGE. writing as then used was however not so perfect an in- strunnent for the representation of sounds as that at present employed. It labored under a disadvantage to this day incident to the Mongolian : vowel and consonantal sounds, quite different, and which it was therefore highly expedient to distinguish on paper, were written in exactly the same manner. Thus tlie sounds a, e, and n were all represented by t ; the sounds k\ k, and gh by i ; just as in the Mongohan to this day the sounds e and a are rep- resented by ^ ; and w by cj ; and k and ^ by "'^ ; so that long practice is necessary in order to enable the learner to pronounce correctly words in that language which he sees written. I have in my possession a Manchu coin which cor- roborates what the historians say on this j)oint. The following is a representation of its obverse; the reverse is the same without the inscription. It is a copper coin with a square hole in the middle, like that known as a " cash " in China, but having only Manchu characters on it. These are now written apkud fulingka ghan chigha^ L e. Coin of the Emperor Heavenly Destiny (or Lot);* the second word having * In Chinese, Ti^nuiing. The lerni in both languages implies that the person referred to is specially favored by heaven. A? 1626 was tliehist year of Ti^nming, this coin is now upwards of 2"-23 years old. ORIGIN OF THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. 11 two points, the tliird and fourth each a small circle not attached to the corresponding words on the coin. As they stand on the latter, a Manchu would at present probahly read them Apk'ai folingha kHm chik'a (or cfiinaii); unless his previous education enabled him to detect and supply the deficiencies. It was not until 1632 that the Emperor Tientsung directed the bakshi, or doctor Taghai, who had alreaev3etzt worden." 12 ORIGIN OF THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. the invention of new terms still goes on. In the au- tumn of 1848, a report made to the Emperor by the Ordnance Department in Peking respecting the fkbri- cation by them of percussion caps, was published in the Gazette, in which His Majesty was requested to give a Manchu name to the percussion guns, a species of weapon previously unknown to his countrymen.* The exclusive policy of the later Manchu sovereigns, and their fear of the spread of the Christian religion among their subjects, has led them to take earnest steps for preventing foreigners from acquiring their language. An edict issued on this subject in the 10th year of of Chiacheng (1805) is given at length in the 868th chapter of the " Collected Statutes of the Chinese Em- pire." The Emperor there states that he had repeat- edly issued edicts prohibiting intercourse between the Manchus and the western foreigners at Peking, and the publication of the doctrines of the latter by means of books in Manchu. He then proceeds to comment on several passages of these books, two of which particularly ex- cite his indignation. The first runs, " To obey the commands of parents in opposition to the commands of God is most impious. The holy virgin Barbara having refused obedience to the rebellious commands of iier unrighteous father, he slew her with his own hand, upon which God in his just anger struck him dead with fierce lightning. Let parents, relatives, and friends who hinder men from serving the Lord take this as a warn- * In Europe, under such circumstances, we generally adopt the name the new article bears in ihe country trom which it is introduc- ed. Thus the French, since the introduction of railways into their country, have adopted the English word waggon. The plan of the Manchus has the advantage of preventing the increase of strange ■ounds in their tono[ue. ORIGIN OF THE MAXCHU LANGUAGE. 13 ing." The doctrine inculcated in this extract is totally at variance with the precepts of Confucius on filial obe- dience which have obtained such universal authority in China, and the Emperor accordingly calls it " tlie mad baying of dogs." The second most objectionable passage quoted runs : " At that time there was a peiise (prince) who passed all his days in doing wickedness. His fuchin (the princess, his wife) admonished him with all her strength, but he would not listen to her. On a certain day a troop of devils dragged the peiise down to hell ; and God reveal- ed to his fuchin, -tkat-because of her virtuous acts,*^her husband would undergo eternal sufferings in a sea of fire : a proof that those who will not listen to virtuous admonitions will not escape the everlasting punishment of God." The Manchu word peiise means the fourth male descendant, or great-great-grandson of an Empe- ror, of which princes there is a considerable number in Peking ; and Chiacheng seems to have been much dis- gusted at the insult to these personages contained in the above extract. After remarking that foreigners could only learn such titles as peiise and fuchin through con- versation with Manchus, he adds with grave earnestness, that " what is said about a peiise having been dragged into hell by devils is a baseless fabrication, without a shadow of foundation." His Majesty's subjects must not believe that peiise are dealt with so unceremoniously ! * This seems a strange reason to allege, but it is that given in the original. USEFULNESS OF THE MANCHU. The following is the testimony on tins point of father Amyot, author of the Manchu-French Dictionary, as it is given in the preface to his translation of Chienlung's Eulogy of Mukten : " The knowledge of this language gives free access to the Chinese literature of every age. There is no good Chinese book which has not been translated into Manchu ; these translations have been made by learned academies, by order and under the auspices of the sovereigns from Shunchi to Chienlung, they have been revised and corrected by other academies not less learned, the members of which were perfectly acquainted both with the Chinese language and the language of the Manchus. What a difference between such translations and the translations made by foreigners, who can only have but a very imperfect knowledge of the language with w hich they occupy themselves ! For myself I confess that if I only had my knowledge of Chinese, I should not have been able to get through what I had undertaken. The Manchu language is in the style of our European lan- guages ; it has its customs and its rules ; in a word, one sees clearly in it." Langles, the Parisian editor of Amyot's Dictionary, and writer of an " Alphabet Mandchou," quotes these opinions of Amyot in several places. He states, further, that the French missionaries at Peking " never speak but with dread of the discouraging dithculties which the Study of the Chinese presents, while all congratulate USEFULNESS 01" THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. 15 themselves, on the contrary, on the extreme fiicility with which they have learned the Manchu. Father Mailla confesses that the Manchu version of the Tung chien Kang-mu* has been of great service to Imn in translating this great history into French." These views of Langles and Amyot are severely censured by the Russian Leontiew in his " Letters on the Manchu literature." He calls them false, ridicu- lous, and without foundation. He denies that " there is no ijood Chinese work which has not been translated into Manchu," and that " the language is in the style of our European languages ;" further he maintains " that it is a very difficult language to learn." Now Leontiew certainly seems to have possessed a sound, practical knowledge both of the Chinese and of the Manchu ; but his Letters, &c., is merely a bitter cri- tique of the labors of Langles, called forth by the osten- tatious manner, coupled with the scanty real knowledge of the latter, and a dispassionate view oftlie subject leads us to the conclusion that the spirit of antagonism has carried him too far. Amyot's language is indeed apt to make us hope for more advantages from a knowledge of Manchu than it really affords, but it is equally certain that Leontiew has underrated those advantages. The latter himself says that as " China is now under the domination of the Manchus, it is evident that the know- ledge of the language of this [)eoplc can not but be very useful to those who occupy then)selvcs with Chinese literature;" and while pointing out many Chinese books not (then) translated into INlanchu, he indicates a number of very important works of which Manchu ver- sions exist. * The (^hinese title ol' a General History of China which Mailla translated. 14 USEFULNESS OF THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. Reinusat has, I believe, also passed an imfavorable judgment on the value of the Manchu, in so far as the translations into it serve to explain obscure passages of the Chinese originals. Many of these are made in so slavish a manner that the vague expressions of the Chi- nese are rendered by others equally vague in the Man- chu. But Leontiew admits that this obscurity exists only in books written in a somewliat elevated style, and that the fault is less remarked in historical works. He might have added (what is of more importance for the practical man, and especially for the official translator) that it is little observed in the translations of the Chinese Imperial codes and edicts, which alone form several hun- dreds of volumes. When the opinions I have just quoted were put forth, an accurate knowledge of the Chinese was of little practical use. So long as the exact meaning of phrases or words in that language was merely a matter of dispute between literary men in Europe, the British government and Enghshmen generally could afford to disregard the subject. The discussions, though niteresting and in their ultimate results highly useful, had no immediate practical bearing. But this state of things began to alter on the abolition of the East India Company's monopoly in China, and during the subsequent discussions with the mandarins that led to the late Chinese war. It altoge- ther ceased to exist when the Chinese version of the Nanking Treaty was being prepared, and from that time to the present day an accurate knowledge of the exact meaning and force of Chinese words has been a matter of constantly increasing importance. An ambiguous expression, or an error in a public document, may, by its influence on commerce, be ahnost directly productive of grave consequences to the private fortunes of a large USEFULNESS OK THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. 17 portion of our countrymen. Should anything be neglected that will tend in future to obviate errors and ambiguities so mischievous? 1 need hardly dwell on the ease with which disputes arise out of misapprehensiorL The whole Knglish peo- ple, by attaching the meaning of" quarrel " to the word " misunderstanding," has distinctly declared the almost unavoidable connection between the two things. Now, some years back, the Chinese were compelled to give way in disputes by the dread of the bayonet, which appeared to be constantly in readiness to force us a passage through difficulties, however created ; but the mandarins have since learned that we are not always at liberty to fix it for that purpose, and it accordingly behoves us, for our own sakes, to give no occasion for the detrimental " misunderstandings " alluded to. On the above grounds alone, the study of tlie Manchu becomes of some importance ; for a comparison of tlie Manchu and Chinese versions of the Imperial codes, or- dinances, and edicts, certainly does throw hght on many of the characteristic obscurities of the latter of these lan- guages. By this means we learn the true force of several frequently recurring Chinese idioms, and ac- quire the habit of correctly supplying words frequently omitted in Chinese sentences, but absolutely necessary in the corresponding sentences of other languages ; by this means we learn to know which one of the verbs in each complex sentence is to be regarded as the chief; whether words that often occur in couplets are to be rendered separately or form compounds ; under what circumstances nouns are to be taken m the accusative or dative cases ; when they are to be rendered in the plural, when in the sliigalar number-. The earnest student of CMiinese wiii consider tliese facts alone a 1.8 USEFULNESS OF THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. Strong recommendation of the Manchu. The richness and flexibility of the Chinese is indeed amply adequate, and its grammatical particles sufficiently numerous, to enable it to express most of these things ; but this the genius of the language does not demand, even in the most diftuse style, while in the more elevated composi- tions it is not permissible. The extraordinary, I believe it may be said, the un- exampled richness of the Chinese is one of the great difficulties in the way of mastering it. Where there are two ideas nearly identical, yet distinctly differing by a shade, the possession of two words (the synonyms of our synonymous dictionaries) to express them, necessarily renders a language more expressive. In this respect the Chinese stands very high, the Manchu rather low. But of words expressing precisely the same idea (or perfect synonyms), the Chinese contains probably more than any other language, ancient or modern; a circum- stance easily comprehended, when we consider that no otlier language has been spoken and written for so many ages, over so great an extent of country, by a race so nu- merous. Now apart from the consideration of the long course of reading it requires before the student has passed even the more common of these synonyms in review, and imprinted them on his memory, it is to be borne in mind that no little time is required to ascertain whether any two of the kind of words under discussion are perfect synonyms, or merely such as are popularly so called. Unimpeachable translations into a compa- ratively poorer language, like the translations into the Manchu made by the Imperial government, afford con- siderable assistance with reference to this point also. It may not be superfluous to direct attention to the fact that all tlie above enumerated advantages to be USEFULNESS OF THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. \9 derived from a careful comparison of Manchu and Chi- nese texts are not available merely for these documents, of which versions in both languages are procurable : the great benefit is, that by such comparison, the student will gradually acquire a stock of information, an ap- titude and an accuracy of judgment, otherwise scarce- ly attainable, and always applicable, for the right comprehension and translation of Chinese documents of which no Manchu versions exist. So much for the utility of the Manchu, in so far as it throws light on the Chinese ; in which respect it for the present more immediately concerns us. It must how- ever not be forgotton that it is itself no dead language, but that of the dominant race in Central and Eastern Asia, by whom it is diUgently cultivated. Proclamations are issued in it to the Manchu garrisons, stationed in most of the provincial capitals of China Proper, as also in those of Ele and Turkestan ; and the addresses from generals of these garrisons to the Emperor, as well as their dispatches to the Military Board in Peking, with its answers, are almost entirely in Manchu. It would indeed have been impossible for a competent knowledge of the language to have been kept up among these here- ditary garrisons of Manchus, settled as they have mostly been, in the midst of Chinese for five or six generations, had it not been for the fostering care of the Manchu Emperors. But all these, in their edicts, have constantly held up the knowledge of the Manchu as second in importance to their race, only to archery and horseman- ship ; the principle thus continually enunciated has been made the basis of many laws and regulations ; and the study has latterly received a great impulse from the present Emperor Tttukvvang. In the 2Sd year of his reign (ItiUi), an ordinance was issued whercbv the U- 20 LSEFULNESS OF THE MaNCHU LANGUAUE. young Manchus of the garrisons in China, who are desirous of holding civil offices in the Empire, must pass examinations as interpreters of the Manchu and Chinese, instead of the usual ones in Chinese hterature as they had previously done. The consequence of this is that the number of students of Manchu literature has greatly increased, and that the Four Books of Confucius are now committed to memory by them in that language. Further, it must be considered that Manchuria, where this language is the motlier tongue, though now closed to foreigners, will, in all human probability, be opened at no distant period to tlie mercantile enterprise of foreigners. The Chinese has indeed made consider- able encroachments on the native language in the larger towns, particularly in those of the southern part of Man- churia, which lies along the gulf of Chili. These inroads are cauted it seems by the influx of Chinese traders, and by the constant personal intercourse with Peking kept up by the mandarins. Their extent I have found it im- possible to ascertain with any degree of exactness. The known facts bearing on the point are indeed so very few that I scarcely dare to make an inference. I am however inclined to believe that in the cities and towns alluded to, while the mandarins speak both the Manchu and the Chi- nese in purity, and the Chinese settlers use tlieir own lan- guage only, the inhabitants generally speak a Manchu intermingled with a very great number of Chinese words, tlie whole forming a jargon analogous to the Frenchified German spoken over Germany by the upper classes from the lime of Louis the Fourteenth until after the great French revolution ; when a return to a pure language \vas effected. In the central and northern parts of Man- churia, as also in the more remote districts of the south- ern portion, I am inclined to believe the language of the USEFULNESS OK Till. MAX HI lANGUAGE. 21 people to be Manchu, somewhat varied perhaps as to dialects, but unadulterated by any intermixture of the Chinese.* I have in the above considered the subject, as the heading of the section required, from a strictly utilitarian point of view ; but I may be allowed to add, that to the Christian philanthropists who are zealously pushing their operations to the remotest corners of the earth, the lan- guage of a country 7(''0,000 square miles in extent, yet still a terra incognita, should cease to be a matter of neglect ; and the man of philosophic tastes may be re- minded that it is scarcely possible to learn any language without having disclosed to us some hitherto hidden phase of the human mind. * The Russians are careful to cultivate a knowledge of the Man- chu. The treaty now in force between Russia and China was drawn up in the Manchu, Russian and Latin languages; and from many passages in the "Travels" of Timkowski, who accompanied the Russian mission to Peking in 1820, we see that constant use is made of the Manchu in the intercourse between the officials of the two nations. FACILITIES FOR THE ACQUISITION OF THE MANCHU LANGUAGE. Exclusive of Manchu texts, the facilities for the acqui- sition of the language consist, of course, of grammars and dictionaries. I subjoin a description of those I have been able to procure ; the list includes all that are ge- nerally available either in China or Europe. I. The Ching-wan Chi mung, j^ "i] fit ^ Grammar of the Manchu language. This work is in the Chinese language. It was pub- lishe(l in the beginning of the 8th year of Yungcheng, corresponding to the end of a. d. 1729; and after a lapse of 120 years, remains unaltered, the standard, if not the only, work on the subject possessed by the Manchus in China. It is divided into four chapters. The first treats of the letters and syllables, by combin- ing which all the words m the language are com- posed ; of their pronounciation ; and of the manner of writing them : in other words of the orthography, and a portion of the prosody of the language. The second chapter consists entirely of dialogues in the Manchu, interlined with a literal Chinese rendering. The third chapter treats of the particles appended to verbs and nouns to form tenses, moods and cases, of the auxihary verbs, the most common prepositions (post-po- sitions), conjunctions, adverbs, &c.; it forms, in {-hjrt, an imperfect treatise on the etymology and syntax of the Manchu language. FACILITIES FOR LEARNING MAiNCHU. 23 The fourth chapter contains first, a Hst of words in couplets, reserabhng each other orthogryphically, ^. e, either in appearance or in sound, but having totally different meanings ; secondly, a list of such as have re- semblance in meaning without being exactly synonymous. It will be seen from the above description, that the subjects treated of in the 2d and 4th chapters do not, strictly speaking, form any part of grammar ; and hence that the 1st and 3d chapters only must be considered as referred to when the work is spoken of as a Grammar of the Manchu. Its characteristic feature, as compared with the grammars of European languages, especially those of late years, is the very unscientific treatment of the subject. It consists of a great collection of special rules, with hardly a single general principle. The memories of those who learn the language through it must in consequence be severely taxed. Let the reader imagine to himself an elementary work on tlie English language intended to take the place of a grammar, but making no mention whatever of the different kinds of words, as nouns, verbs, conjunctions, &:c.; and con- sisting merely of a collection of grammatical words and particles, with a notice, usually rather vague and imperfect, of its uses appended to each, and a few examples following the most important ; let him ima- gine these words and particles standing in the work in no particular order, alphabetical or otherwise, render- ing reference exceedingly difficult; and he will have fijrmed a tolerably correct notion of the C'hing-wan Chi mung. By " grammaticid words and particles," I me an the most common prepositions, conjunctions and adverbs ; the auxiliary verbs, have, he, may, shall, &c.; the particles ing and ed, used to form participles ; the particle ly used to form adverbs ; the particles mcnt and 24 FACIl.mES FOR LEARNING MANCIIU. tion used to form verbal nouns ; and the particles abj in, &-C., prefixed to verbs to make new words of difle- rent meanings. In order to form some idea of the vagueness of the definitions in the Ching-wan Chi mung, the reader has only to imagine an Englishman sitting down to explain the infliuence and uses of the words and particles just cited, after having been prohibited from employing the terms verb, noun, adverb, &;c., &c.; the nomenclature of a classification totally unknown to the Manchus and Chinese. It is, however, a work of great value to the student, in spite of its many hnperfec- tions when considered as a " Grammar." The examples serve to eke out the deficiencies of the rules ; and so far as it goes its authority is unimpeachable. II. Mirror of the Manchu language by the Emperor, pub- lished with additions under Imperial svperintendencc. ip -M i'^ Ir ift * liS i Ghan i aragha nong^kime V okt' opugha Manchu kisun i p ulehu pitghe. This is the title of a dictionary published at Peking in the end of the 36th year of Chienhmg, which corres- ponds with the beginning of 1772. It was based on an earher, much less perfect work published in the 47th year of Kanghsi (1708), under the title of " Mirror of the Manchu language, by the Emperor." Ghan i aragha Manchu kisun i pulehu pitghe* • The title of Chicnluny " [)u!)li>hi'(l v?illi ;;d litioiis; under .1 m|)eri:d superiiiteMfh'iire." * 1 huvc (Ici-iiied il uscrnl l(. I c -. miMvJial iiiimilc in iIm (IcscTipiion 4 28' FACILITIES FOR LEARNING MANCHU. In the Imperial Dictionary, the words are arranged in 292 ghachin^ or classes, all in each class having relation to one common idea. Thus the first class consists of astronomical terms, the second of those relating to times and seasons, the third of geographical terms; other classes are severally composed of legislative and admi- nistrative terms, of judicial and forensic terms, of terms relating to the punishments of criminals, of those relat- ing to enmity, to friendship, to fear, to joy, to the dif- ferent kinds of trades, to natural philoso})hy. Sec, &lc. This arrangement helps to define the words more ex- actly, carrying with it the advantage obtained in some of our European dictionaries by references to a number- ed list of all the arts, sciences, professions, trades, &:c., but it derogates very much from the value of the work in its quality of a book of reference. The Manchu words can, indeed, be found out by means of the index^ but as the student when he succeeds in finding a word there is referred, not to a chapter and page, but to a class extending on an average over six pages, the whole operation of search is very tedious. As for the Chinese words, it is scarcely possible to find them, tlie student having no other plan than to look through all those classes in which, from the meaning of the word sought for, it was most likely to have been placed. In this work, the synonymous Manchu and Chinese words, in large characters, face each other, the Manchu on the left, the Chinese on the right; on the left of the Manchu word is its pronunciation in small Chinese cha- racters, on the right of the Chinese word its pronuncia- tion in small Manchu letters ; underneath these four columns, follows the explanation in Manchu alone and in of this work, because the copies which find their way from Peking into the provinces are irorjuently defective. FACILiriES FOR LEARNING MANCHU. 27 a small type. Though none of the verbal nouns or par- ticiples are given, the work contains upwards of 1 8,800 explained words and phrases, and forms tlie standard authority for the Manchu language ; but it must be add- ed that it unfortunately (after the fashion of the French dictionary of I'Academie Frau<^aise) excludes as vulgar ^many useful and expressive words to be found in books not published under Imperial superintendence, and used orally in Manchuria. III. Collection of the Manchu. '/W ^ ft S" '^'^ -y^rQriJ CVS'-S^^^ Manchu isapugha pitghe. This is a Manchu-Chinese dictionary, in which the words are arranged in the order of the Manchu syllables ; it was pubhshed at Peking, and is divided into twelve chapters. The author, named Le Lingchi, states in his preface, dated in the 13th year of Chienlung, a. d. 1750, that he compiled it from the Imperial Manchu-Chinese Dictionary published under the superintendence of Kang- hsi. It is therefore incomplete, as all the words subse- quently collected by Chienlung, and published in his edition of the Imperial Dictionary, are wanting. In the *' Collection of the Manchu," the Manchu word stands first, followed by the definition in the Chinese language alone, and usually in that style which may be called the familiar — that in which novels and plays are written. No attempt is made to give the pronunciation of the Manchu word in Chinese characters. The work has this advantage over the Imperial Dictionary, that besides giving the synonymous Chinese word, it generally shows, when this latter has two or three different senses, in whhh of the sense.^ if is the svnonvm of the Manchu ^8 FVClJ.ITir.S FOR f,n\R.MNG ,M\XClltT. word defuiotl. This is of great service to the student who has not made siitficient progress to be able to read the Ptlanchii definitions in the Imperial Dictionary. The " Collection of the Manchu " has one defect which it is necessary those who use it should bear in mind : a number of words are gene|;-ally found at the end of each section, which according to the order of the Manchu alphabet, ougiit to have been inserted at different places in the body of it. Thus in Chap. I, leaf 9, at the end of the very first section, that under the vowel «, there are nine words and phrases which ought to have been inserted in difierent places of the preceding eight leaves. Not finding them in their proper positions, the beginner is apt to conclude that they are not given at all. IV. Supplemental Collertlon of the Manchu. in % \\\\ R •Wt^ 0%^^ £K >^J^^/ -^^Vr^M G^OT^»» Manchu kisun pe niyeckeme isapugha pitghe. This is a supplement to the work last described, and its arrangement is similar. The author was E-hsing, also called E-kwei-pu, a member of the imperial family, and a vice-j)resident of one of the Boards. In his pre- face, dated in the 51st year of Chienlang, a. d. 1786, he states that his " Supplemental Collection" contains upwards of 7900 words, not in the original " Collec- tion ;" all of which additional words are either taken from Chienlung's edition of the Imperial Dictionary, particularly the four Supplemental chapters, or from books published under Imperial superintendence. The authority is always given according to a plan explained in the bei>innini> of the work. FACIMTIES FOR LF-ARNlNC, MANCHU. 29 I have been fortunate enough to obtain a more recent edition of tlie " Supplemental Collection" by Fakching- ka, a son-in-law of E-hsing, published at Peking in the 7th year of Chiaching, a. d. 1802. It contains the new words in the two Additional Supplements to the Impe- rial Dictionary of Chienlung, besides a few more words which had escaped the notice of previous collectors. One of these forms a striking illustration of the difficulty at- tendant on making a complete collection of the words in a language. This is "^^'7>^ '^' k ^ '^C V weiile arampi, " to punish crime," a very common term constantly occurring in the earliest edicts of the Manchu dynasty, but which had been overlooked by all the previous lexicographers, and that notwithstanding the care which the desire of pleasing their sovereigns must have impelled them to expend on their task. V. Dictionnaire Tartare-Mantchou Francois, par M. Amyot. This work, published in Paris in three quarto volumes in 1789-1790, contains the Manchu words and phrases of the "Collection of the Manchu," with a translation of the Chinese exphcations into French. No attempt was made by the translator M. Amyot, or the Parisian editor Langles, to improve on the original, either by a rear- rangement of the Manchu words, or by the introduction of such as are wanting. It has therefore the defect 1 pointed out in describing the original work : a number of words are to be found at the end of almost every sec- tion which ought to have been entered at different places in the body of it. A much more serious defect, which it has in common with the original, is the absence of all the 7900 words and phrases contained in the " Supplemental Collection," some of which are to be found in almost evoi^ leaf of Manchu books. Hence, 30 FACILITIES FOR LEARNING MaNCHU. even if the French explications had been faithful coun- terparts of the Chinese, this dictionary, unfortunately the only one in a European language, would have been but a poor help to the acquisition of the Manchu. But a great number of the French explications are by no means correct renderings of the originals. Amyot him- self says in his preface : " I had no other object in un- dertaking this laborious work than to place myself in position to dispense with the assistance of learned Chi- nese in order to read and understand their books ; be- cause these books, or nearly all of them, are translated into Manchu. Without therefore, pausing long to find the French word corresponding to the Manchu word, I contented myself with translating the Chinese explica- tion, when I was ignorant of the proper word, or when such word did not at once occur to me." From this we may draw the conclusion that Amyot knew but httle of the Chinese when he made the translation, a conclusion fully corroborated by a comparison of the original with his work. I found in the latter so many inaccuracies that I have never opened it for purposes of study since I got a copy of the former. He who proposes learning the Manchu through Am- yot's dictionary, without the assistance of the Chinese, would, consequently, do well to make himself thorough- ly master of all the Manchu texts of which translations exist in European languages,* before proceding to others. After that a long course of reading, and the collation of different passages will enable him to discover the * Apart from those in the present volume, a number of translated texts will be found in the " Chrestomathie Mandchou" of Klaproth ; in addition to which may be mentioned Remusat's translation of I' In- variable Milieu." FACILITIES FOR LEARNING MANCHU. 31 meaning of unexplained words and supply the deficien- cies left by Amyot and Langles. This task will be very much Ughtened, if he is able to get the use of a copy of the Imperial Dictionary, the Manchu definitions in which he will, after no great length of time, be able to comprehend. VI. Grammaire Tartare-Mandchou, par M. Amyot. This is, according to Langles, Gabelentz, and others^ merely a translation of a grammar in Latin by P. Ger- billon, pubhshed in Paris in 1696, no copy of which has come under my observation. The French version was published in Paris in 1787. This grammar is evidently the work of a person who had a good knowledge of the Manchu, but who wrote hastily, neither stopping to find the most concise and comprehensive language for his rules, nor to arrange his rules methodically. The publication of Gabelentz's Grammar has rendered this no longer absolutely necessary to the student; still, he with- in whose reach it is, would do well to give it a perusal, as it throws light on one or two points, on which Gabelentz has either not been sufficiently explicit, or which he has left altogether unnoticed. VII. Elemens de la Grammaire Mandchoue^ par H. Conon de la Gabelentz. Altenbourg, 1832. This work has been written with great care, and is scientific both in its definitions and its arrangement. The author says in his preface, that it was not in his power to make use of the Ching-wdn Chi mung, the Man- chu grammar written in Chinese ; which accounts for certain points being left unnoticed, that might have been touched on with advantage to the student. It seems to mc, too, that the various forms under which the verbs 32 FACILITIES FOR LEARMNG M\NCHU. appear, might have been handled in a way more consonant to their real nature. Of the necessity for some different treatment, the author himself appears to have been aware ; for, after observing, that in Manchu " the verbs differ essentially from the idea that we form of them by the study of European languages," he spe- cially warns the student against attaching the ordinary signification to the terms present, future or infinitive ; of which, he says, he only availed himself in the absence of other more suitable expressions. But in absence of suit- able terms, it would surely have been best to have adopt- ed entirely new ones, accurately corresponding with those relations of time and mood really embraced by the respective forms. For, to learn, and remember the signification of such new terms, would certainly require much less mental eflfort on the part of the student, than he is obliged to exercise in order to keep constantly forgetting, that the word present means ' present time,' the woxdi future, ' future time.' These are, however, no very serious defects in a work unusually complete in its kind, and which ought to be in the hands of every stu- dent of the Manchu — those not excepted who are able to study it through the Chinese. TRANSLATIONS. IMPERIAL EDICTS. I. Edict encovraging Memorials to the Throne. On the 29th day of the 6th month of the 1st year of Yungcheng, the following Imperial edict was issued : Those Bannermen,* who act ad provincial officers are constantly oppressed by the commanders and lieu- tenants of their respective Banners, who, on the ap- proach of the appointment of officers, extort from them, from the superintendants of finance, criminal judges, and intendants, down to the district magistrates, a large amount of property before they will issue the letters of recommendation, and send them to the [proper] Board ; and after they have got vacancies, send people to the places where the offices are situated, who either allege protection given at ordinary times,! and ask for • The Manchus in China are not under the authority of the officers and courts by whom the Chinese people are governed, but under that of the chief officers of the Eight Banners under which they are enrolled. The colors of four of these Banners are yellow, white, red, and blue ; those of the other four, the same colors with a border of white or red. Three of the Banners, the yellow, the bordered yellow, and the white, are more immediately under the control of the Em- peror, the other five under that of the princes and dukes appointed by hira. The general name bannerman, which I have adopted, is a literal translation of the Manchu and Chinese terms. t This refers to protection given by the commanders and lien- tenants to the interests of the officers at times prior to their appoint- ment to tlif p<>>(s thpy hold u'lien the dcmarids are made on tliein. SB IMPERIAL EDICTS. recompense ; or state that family aflfairs of a joyful or sorrowful nature* have occurred, and ask for assistance in the exigence ; or lay hold of secret affairs of former days, and make extortions by intimidation. As to the princesf in charge of tlie Five Banners, they have no consideration for the circumstances of those below them, but make excessive extortions, or let die high officers of their establishments make greedy de- mands at their pleasure. The enumeration of their ex- tortions of every description would be endless. This state of things has led to the officers under their control exhausting their means to send in gifts, and rendered them unable to keep themselves pure and good ; and from tliis the cashiering of officers on account of their • This refers to births, deaths, marriages, &lc., on which occasions the Manchus and Chinese usually go to expenses, according to our notions, quite out of proportion to their incomes. t The word in the original is wang, being the sound of the Chinese word ^P which the Manchus have adopted. It has not unfrequently been rendered by king; but this is a much less appropriate transla- tion, especially when a dignitary of the present day is referred to, than the other rendering, prince, followed here. Wang is a title given commonly by tlie Chinese to the brothers and fraternal nephews of the Emperors, to the liereditary heads of some branch- es of the Imperial house, wliich were of importance at the time of the conquest of Cliina, and to the rulers of some of the Mongol tribes ; even the latter of which three classes have not the slightest pre- tension to that independent sovereignty implied by the word King, It is true that of the Chinese invariably apply it (unless when conver- sintr wi^h a foreigner wlio chooses to check them) to the sovereigns of the European kingdoms, in common with those of Siam, Cochin, china, Corea, &-c ; but this is only a consequence of the Chinese idea as to the supremacy of their sovereign over all other potentates; who may possibly, some of them, refuse to admit this supremacy, but are tlien really rebels against the authority of their legitimate superior, iiowovt.T mIiIc iliey may be to .support thoir pretension?; by arms. rMPEniAi. r.DiCTS. 37 having fallen into the crime of embezzUng the national revenue, has all arisen. Henceforth, if such abuses as arbitrary extortion continue to exist, let any officer concerned inclose a memorial based on the facts, and communicate it se- cretly to the Governor-general, or Governor, of the province, that he may memorialize me on his behalf; and let the Governor-general, or Governor, immediately make a secret memorial based on his statement. Should the Governor-general and Governor connive at and conceal the offense, let the officer send his memorial inclosed to the Board of Censors, that they may secretly memoriahze in his behalf; and if some of its members will not memorialize and bring the matter to my notice for him, let any of the Censors make a secret memorial based on the letter which is sent in exposing the facts. [In every case] let the circumstances of those below not fail to be made known, and the old standing abuse to be eradicated. Bannermen holding offices in the provinces need not endure it from dread. I will cer- tainly not punish them for the crime of self-accusation [in cases] of offenses committed against superiors. An especial edict. II. Edict requiring OJicers to be examined. On the 21st day of the 3d month of the 5th year of Yungcheng, the following Imperial edict was issued to the Civil-official, Military, and Criminal Boards : The morality of the mandarins of Miikten is at a low standard ; they search out secrets with the view of in- triguing, and, forming combinations, gain possession of the property of others. This is most disreputable. Al- 38 iMPF;ni\i. r.nicT??. thougli they have been again and again admonished, still there is no alteration. All this is the result of those who have sutlered punishment* in consequence of having violated the laws, and after having been denounced and cashiered, continuing to live tliere ; where they constant- ly create troubles, cause injury to the country, seduce people to do evil, and proceed to every extreme [in their bad course]. If these depraved people are not im- mediately removed, I shall not succeed in my wish to renovate the pubhc manners. Henceforth, of the Manchu, Mongol, and naturalized Manchu,t civil and mihtary officers dwelling at Mukten, those who are punished in consequence of having fallen into errors in pubhc affairs, shall be made to dwell there as before ; but as to those who have been degraded or cashiered in consequence of having committed crimes, such as embezzlement or defalcation of the revenue, avaricious intriguing, or extortion by intimidation ; the circumstances of tlie crimes committed by them will be taken into consideration, and they will either be caused to come to Peking, and return to the locality of their Banner,! or will be settled at tlie stations of the Manchu garrisons in the provinces. As the depraved will [then] gradually become few, the bad morals of Mukten may be eradicated. You three Boards, henceforth, whenever cases of • " Punishment" as an iincfficial person. This must be preceded by cashiering in the case of a mandarin, who, as such, can not be subjected to it, t The "naturalized" Manchus are composed of the descendants of those Chinese who joined the Manchus, and assisted them in the Conquest of China. They are enrolled under eight " Banners," and are governed by the same laws as the rest of the Bannermen. J Each of the Eight Binners has a quarter specially allotted to it in Peking, in the ItnuT (or northern city). IMI'ERlAl- KDR'TS. 39 crime committed by Mukten mandarins may occur, pass sentence in accordance herewith. Further, find out tliose Banner officers at Mukten who have been cash- iered in former cases of crimes, such as embezzlement of the revenue, avaricious intriguing, and extortion by intimidation, and report them to me. III. Edict ill Relation to the Study of Manchu. In the 10th month of the 26th year of Chienhmg, the following Imperial edict was issued : Four of the officers of the Board of Dependencies,* who introduced [those who appeared] at the audience of to-day, were not only all little versed in the speaking of Manchu, but there were even some of them totally un- able to speak it. These are all Manchu officers, and the business they manage consists of cases in the Manchu language. Will it then do if they are totally unable to speak Manchu ? How wiU they in such cases manage their business? When I consider this, I am inchned to apprehend that those officers of other Boards and YamunSjt who are unable to speak Manchu are still more numerous. • Lit. " Board which governs the outer provinces." In Chinese it is called " Li Fan Yu6n," and is the Board through which the Chinese dependencies in Central Asia are governed. It is sometimes entitled " Foreign Office," because it is the medium of official intercourse with Russia, and with the states to the west and south of the Chinese territories. + From this and several other examples in these papers it will be observed that the Manchus have adopted the Chmese word ^j f^ ya-mun, the use of which in the English language I have recommend- ed in another work. The Manchus use it to express the Chinese ^ yuin also. 10 TMI'IUUVL CDICT?. To spoak tlic iVlaiicliu JuiigUiige k an old rule of the Bannermon. Hence they ought to regard it as most important, to give it the first place, and exert themselves strenuously to learn it. If they do not exert themselves strenuously to learn it, they will become unfamiliar with it: which will assuredly not suit. All this is the result of the superior officers not re- garding it as an important atTair. Now, formerly, the officers of the Boards and Yamuns, when speaking to their superiors, all spoke Manchu ; at present they have, by the gradual course of affairs, altogether ceased speaking it. If the superior officers would really be careful to examine their subordinates ; if they would induce those who are good at speaking the Manchu to exert themselves to become still better at it ; if they would admonish those who are, on the other hand, little versed in it ; if they would cause them to practice speaking it, and prevent them from forsaking the old rule : why should they be unable to attain to excellence ? Let this matter be handed over to the superior officers of the Boards and Yamuns, who will in future be very careful to act in accordance herewith ; in addition to which, on the examination of the officers of the capital next year, those who are recommended to tlie first class nmst be perfect in the Manchu language as well as good at the transaction of business. If there are such as can not speak Manchu, although said to be good at the tran- saction of every kind of business, they must not be enter- ed among the number. If they do not thus reconnnend them, and on the arri- val of the time of audience, there are still some who can not speak Manchu, I will hold the respective superior officers alone answerable. IMPERIAL EDlCrS, 41 IV. Ediit requiring uniUd Investigation. Oil the 2kh day of the 9th month of the 33d year of Chienlung, the following Imperial edict was issued: The Cabinet-council have, after examination, present- ed their report on the investigation made by the De- partment* in the Board of Civil Office for the Scrutiny of Services, into the law on the punishment of the pro- vincial literary chancellors ; in which report they have stated, that " when aftairs are investigated, the Manchu officers of the Department take no part in the business." This shows that hitherto the transaction of business has been faulty. When the Boards and Yamuns undertake the manage- ment of affairs, the Manchu and Chinese officers of the Departments jointly discuss them, attach their signatures to tlie documents, and cause the resolutions to be acted on. But if in the investigation of old cases recorded in Chinese, the Manchu officers do not take part in the business; by fully following out this rule, the Chinese officers will certainly also learn to evade the cases re- corded in the Manchu langiiage. And if a distinction is made between the two parlies, and the Manchu^and Chinese officers each sepaJ-a'tely manage their own cases, the evils of partial connivance and patronage will grow up in these matters. The beginning of this must not be left unguarded against. Now as it was only because I issued an edict, and inquired into this case of the Board of Civil Office that I came aware of the bad custom of their fullowins * The six Boards at Peking ore subdivided into a number of de- partments or offices (in t-'hiue^c pj ii) each hnvin;^ special charge of a part of the busiae^>s of tlic Board to which it is ?uboi-dinate; ^ (> 4S IMPERIAL EDICTS. one in the track of the other, I fear that in the various Boards and Yamuns there are not a few who are si- milar. Henceforth, whether the cases of the different Boards and Yamuns are recorded in Manchu or in Chi- nese, let in each case a Manchu and a Chinese officer of the Ddepartment be specially appointed jointly to inves- tigate and manage it. Let this be made law. V. Edict prohihit'ing Inferiors visiting their Superior Officers. On the 27th day of the 10th month of the 34th year of Chienlung, the following Imperial edict was issued : Those Bannermen under the control of the princes and dukes who are mandarins in Peking, have hitherto, when annual festivals and birthdays have occurred, gone and prostrated themselves (performed the kotow) at the establishments of their superiors. So far this is proper, and within the duties of their stations. But when they have once obtained a provincial post, each has public business in such post ; and since, under these circumstances suspicions easily arise, every one ought to be on his guard. Some time back, in consequence of the princes and dukes constantly extorting money from the officers un- der their control who held provincial posts, an Imperial edict was issued in which they were rigorously ad- monished and the practice prohibited. And during these few years the princes and dukes have all manifest- ed obedience to the laws, and due regard for themselves : they have been afraid, and have not violated the law. But of those officers who come to Peking on public business, there are still many who go as formerly to make visits, and pay their respects; and though at pre- sent, there may be no intimate connection or dancing of attendance, yet after the practice has continued for a IMPERIAL EDICTS. 43^ long period, perhaps the princes and dukes, ceasing to feel dread of the consequences, will not only cause them, to pay visits, but will certainly beg them to procure things [for themselves]; and will not only cause them to procure things, but will certainly take the opportunity to engage them secretly to discuss affairs. And when they, proceeding still further than this, have lost sight of the pubhc good to attend to their private interests, and the abuse has become established, the consequences to the rules of official conduct, and to the principles of the Imperial House, will be most serious. For this reason a distinct warning is given, that gradual encroachments may be put a stop to, and the first small inroads guard- ed against ; which is precisely what insures perfect se- curity in advance. A short time ago when I summoned to an audience at my traveling camp, the river intendant of Yung- ting, Mampoo, he reported to me that he was a subor- dinate of the fourth Imperial prince, and ought to go to make his prostrations before him. Now it seems to me that laws begin with the near ; and that one case should be made prominent in order to be a rule for the rest. Henceforth, of the subordinates of the princes and dukes, those who are Peking mandarins, are, as heretofore, not prohibited from frequenting the establish- ments of their superiors ; but all those mandarins hold- ing provincial posts, who, having business, come to Peking, are prohibited from going to pay their respects, and make prostrations to the princes and dukes their superiors, in order to purify the sources of evil. Let this be law. Should there be such as will still not be- come alive to a feeling of dread and repentance, and who perhaps, in the course of time, again act as of old ; as soon as tlic matter comes to li^uht, I will, besides se- 44 IMPERIAL EDICTS. verely punishing the officers in question, also punish in hke manner the princes and dukes concerned. I will certainly not show the least lenity. Let this be generally proclaimed. ^ SACRED EDICT. fVarning against concealment of deserters, as a pre- ventive of implication in 'punishment. In nourishing and governing the myriads of people, I, uniting all in the empire, make them as one house, and, collecting the myriads of families, make them as one body ; people at the seat of government, and people of the provinces, Bannermen and Chinese, there is in fact no difference in regarding them. By the laws fixed at the establishment of our dynasty, the officers and men of the Eight Banners, if they are at the seat of government protect the capital, if they are at a dis- tance form the garrisons in the provinces. If there be such as do not serve our house, but go secretly to other places, then they become deserters, and by the law their crime is rigorously punished. If at the place to which the deserters repair, the public of the locality, military and people, make no investigation, but themselves allow them to remain, they will suffer punishment with them. If we examine into the malpractices attendant on the concealment of deserters, we find that generally speaking they are embraced by two classes. In the minds, man- ners, and language of all deserters, there is constantly much that is cunning and specious ; and people, either being taken with their impositions and lies, and unable to distinguish that they are deserters, negligently allow them to remain ; or else, being taken with their wealth, they, though distinctly knowing them to be deserters, combine with and conceal them, 46 SACRED EDICT. Between the master and the slave, stands as a bond of union, the great principle of jfidelity. The deserter is therefore a man who, having been guilty of ingratitude to his master, has turned his back on fidelity ; and those who have harbored him, have sheltered the faithless and slighted the laws of the state. And since deserters rely only on the houses which conceal them as quiet resting-places for their persons, how is it possible for the law to be lenient ! Hence by the law made in the 5th year of Sliunchi, the man who harbored a deserter was sentenced to decapitation, his property was confiscated, and the neighboring overseers of ten houses were all transported to places on the distant borders. On fixing the laws in the 1 5th year of Kanghsi, it was enacted that all principals who have harbored deserters should be transported for life, and that the neighboring overseers of ten houses on both sides, should suffer a punishment not exceeding bambooing with temporary transporta- tion ; which proceeded from the tender love of Our sacred Progenitor the Emperor Benevolent* to the un- discerning people, and from his desire to deal hghtly with doubted guilt, having caused him to alter tlie law so as to be lenient. Again, of late years, in the Imperial edicts proclaiming grace, the crimes in deserter's cases have been entirely pardoned. This display, by the Court, of benevolence beyond the law, and this making lenient of the statutes on the search and apprehension of offenders, proceeds from the desire that you, the mihtary and people, may, after changing your evil dis- positions, and turning towards uprightness — forsaking the bad and drawing near to the good — every one at- tend to the duties of his poor station, live in content- * The posthuiiioiis title : 4^ 1 P ^tl H r u mm mm »i > iiiiMaiiii if- pll^i^«€4t^ 5 o y t> 1:^ ^ i' i I 1 7 J" 3> 'H .^' v< :i i J" I ^ i-a i 1 1 1 1 Hi t h. ti 3; Ji s % ^ 1 J>" I. Jo J O ^^ J). J »""^«.afHl, miti i I ? 9 l> V f [^ mmBm^^mmmn mmmmmimmmmmmi j ■«' " ' i :i ii o 1 k I ^J-^' ^ C 1 ^ ii C c c '>y -Hi V tf>s 4)> j^ ■.J"' C^:' r mamMmmamm / <: £ ') A ^'^^ ? 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