Studies in Qing History

Reading Jinshenlu and the Variety of Qing Personages

KAN Hongliu

2018, 0(4): 1-9.

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Compared to other works, such as compendiums of dynastic laws or tables of government offce holders, Jinshenlu was somewhat different. In particular, jinshenlu laid greater emphasis on the actual workings and the latest developments in the bureaucratic system, in order to reveal the situation of each offcial in the bureaucratic system. The publication appeared in offcial and popular block print editions and it had a wide readership throughout society.Jinshenlu is a valuable source for the study of Qing politics, society, culture and the lives of Qing offcials.

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The Transition of Banner and Imperial Lineage Officials During the Late Qing Reform Period:Evidence from the Qing Jinshenlu Database

CHEN Bijia et al.

2018, 0(4): 10-20.

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This article uses the Qing Jinshenlu Database to track the career transitions of Banner officials during the late Qing reform period. The institution reform pushed forward by the Qing government in 1906 was their first attempt of modernization. In the existing literature, however, the personnel transition and changes during the reform was understudied. This study tries to apply quantitative method using longitudinal micro-level data to analyze the career changes during the transition period, with a focus on the discussion of the conqueror Manchu officials. We also took the Ministry of Revenue as an example to illustrate the career mobilities of banner officials. By providing the analyzing results, we hope to shed light on the tension between Manchu and Han officials, and also provide a new perspective for the study of late Qing reform in the central government.

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“New Policies” and the Manchu-Han Ratio among Judicial Officials in the Capital at the End of the Qing Dynasty (1901-1912): A Study Based on the Jinshenlu Database

HU Xiangyu

2018, 0(4): 21-35.

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The Manchu-Han ratio among judicial officials in Beijing changed because of the“ New Policies” (xinzheng) at the end of the Qing dynasty. Before 1906 when the Qing court reformed its administration, Manchu（ or bannermen) always outnumbered Han (or civilians) among the statutory officials of the Three High Courts (sanfasi). Furthermore, Manchus nearly monopolized the lower ranks of judicial officials (bottom three grades). After 1906, the number of judicial officials increased. Even though the number of Manchus officials grew, Han officials proliferated more rapidly. The number of Han officials gradually expanded and eventually exceeded Manchus in the Ministry of Justice (fabu). The majority of officials at the Council of Judicial Review (daliyuan), metropolitan courts and prosecutor’s offices in each level were Han. Thus, it can be concluded that the policy of eradicating “boundaries between Manchus and Han” was in effect in the appointment of metropolitan judicial officials.

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An Evaluation of the Historical Value of the Jinshenlu :The Example of Data for Scholars Who Passed the Provincial Exam

ZHANG Ruilong

2018, 0(4): 36-47.

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There were two methods for compiling the number of scholars who passed the provincial examination in Jinshenlu. One method followed from the middle period of Qianlong reign until 1858 used data from the Baomingtang which was published in 1764. This method utilized data for the provincial examination from each province between the years1750 to 1762. The second method used data compiled in the publication Ronglutang in the 1885 for provincial examinations in each province in 1882. This system was widely adopted in different editions of Jinshenlu available in the street stalls and it continued until abolition of the imperial examination system. Although there were many changes in number of degree holders in several provinces, the figures still did not reflect the real situation. There were acute fluctuations in the number of the provincial degrees after the Qing government implemented the policy of increasing the quota of provincial degrees available for sale. Therefore, the quota for degrees in each province not only had nothing to do with actual number of scholars in the provincial examinations, but also occasionally was arbitrary and untypical of reality. Researchers should be aware of the historical value and the limitations of various categories of information recorded in Jinshenlu.

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The Activities of Chechen Chorji and Daichin Chorji on their Mission as the First Envoys of the Tibetan Gelug Sects to the Qing Dynasty

2018, 0(4): 48-60.

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Chechen Chorji and Daichin Chorji, the high lamas of Gelug sects, were very famous in the early relationship between the Qing dynasty and Tibet, because they came to Qing as envoys, and opened the mutual envoy relationship between the Gelug sects and the Qing. Because both lamas were the disciples of Echige Lama, and both had the title of“ Ilagsun” (the messenger of the Buddha), scholars have confused their activities for some time. Chechen Chorji was an Ordos Mongolian, who was enshrined and worshiped successively by the nobility of Ordos, Jasagt Khan of Khalkha and Jungar of Oirat. In 1637, he sent the envoy, Kuluge to Shengjing, and Kuluge took a letter from Huangtaiji to Tsangpa Khan. In 1640 Chechen Chorji took the trip to the Qing court as the envoy of the fourth Panchen Lama and the fifth Dalai Lama, and arrived in Shengjing in 1642. In 1643, he returned to the west and arrived in Lhasa in 1644, and he passed away in Khalkha in 1646. Daichin Chorji had a common name called Jinbajiacuo, he was a Tibetan who born near by the Nitang Monastery, perhaps near the platform of Kumbum Monastery. In the 1638, he dispatched the envoy to Qing, and he went to the Qing court with Chechen Chorji as the representatives of Guush Khan in 1640. After Chechen Chorji went back to Tibet, Daichin Chorji stayed in Qing court, and became the“ State Preceptor”of Huangtaiji and Fulin successively. Daichin Chorji went back to Tibet in 1647, and soon after he built the Hongshan Monastery in Bazhou, the hometown of Echige Lama. Daichin Chorji passed away in the 1655. This article also examines the reincarnation of Chechen Chorji and Daichin Chorji, and corrects the mistake of previous scholars who confused the reincarnations of the two lamas.

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A Study of Missionaries Works of Missions Étrangères de Paris in Early Qing Dynasty (1684-1732): Based on Land Deeds for Various Locations around China in 1700, 1733, and 1734

TANG Kaijian et. al

2018, 0(4): 61-86.

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This work introduces the early history of Missions Étrangères de Paris(M.E.P) in China, and illustrates their missionaries, missionary work and real estate transactions in the early Qing Dynasty. The research is based on Chinese and Western documents, especially on three invaluable archives which held land deeds for church properties around China in 1700, 1733 and 1734. Through the above analysis, it can be concluded that rapid development, localization, and an aggressive style characterized the early M.E.P missionary work in China.

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The Formation and Variation of the “Ruling Together” Discourse in Central Politics n the Late Qing

GAO Bo

2018, 0(4): 87-101.

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After the 1861 Coup, in order to justify the prince’s regency and the empress dowagers’“ reign behind the curtain,” which violated laws handed down from forefathers of the Qing dynasty, Prince Gong and both empress dowagers, following the example of the“ Shunzhi” emperor, chose“ ruling together” as the reign title to establish their own legitimacy. The key figure in the “ruling together” discourse was Prince Gong, who was regarded as the contemporary Prince Dorgon. However, after the middle of the“ ruling together” period, as the authority of the two empress dowagers (pecially Cixi) was increasing and the“ Clear Stream” faction was rising in Beijing, a new explanation of legitimacy began to appear. Hoping to establish a new pattern in which the inner court ruled with the bureaucracy, the“ Clear Stream” faction followed the example of Yuanyou” in the Song dynasty, regarding the two empress dowagers as the queen mother of emperor Shenzong of Song, and themselves as the“ wise men of Yuanyou.” This discourse provided legitimacy for the two empress dowagers and the“ Clear Stream” faction that exceeded the norms handed down from forefathers of the Qing dynasty, however, after the 1880s, as emperor Guangxu grew older, and new scholarship, such as Gongyang Studies, became popular among the political elites in Beijing, the new generation of the“ Clear Stream” faction began to hold a more positive attitude toward the Xifeng Reform of the Song emperor Shenzong. The“ Clear Stream” faction expected to“ rule together” with emperor Guangxu, like Wang Anshi with the Song emperor Shenzong. Therefore, their relationship with Cixi became increasingly tense, which eventually led to the termination of the 100 Days Reform by Cixi, meaning that“ ruling together” based on limited cooperation among political elites in Beijing since 1861 had failed. Since then, discourses such as“ ruling together” and“ Yuanyou” became increasingly formalized and hollowed out in the actual political processes, and alternative discourses such as civil rights and constitution began to emerge.

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From “Recitation” to “Lecture”?: “Lesenrevolution” in Late Qing China

LU Yin

2018, 0(4): 102-122.

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Borrowing the term “Lesenrevolution”from the Western historical studies of reading, the present work portrays the transformation from “recitation” to “lecture” in elementary education during the period of late Qing and early Republic and discloses the post hoc perspective implicated in the “transformation” itself. First, the paper locates the discipline of recitation in the classical reading conventions by revisiting the actual reading scenes in the late Qing period. A closer investigation into the field of discourse on the education reform at the turn of the century follows to reveal how the dogma of “recitation” was stigmatized under the influence of scientific educational concepts. “Chinese recitation” was degraded as the opposite of the “Western lecture”, taking the blame for the corruption of the traditional Chinese scholarship as a whole. Accompanying the importation of the modern disciplinary institution, the division of subjects and the phased teaching method, the new “pedagogy” and new teaching space casted a huge impact on reading ctivities. The mechanism of such an impact will be examined last. The transformation from “recitation” to “lecture” may well be a “construction” conjured up by the progressives who were inspired by the “foreign eyes.” The affirmation of the new established relations between “recitation” and “lecture” severely simplified and reduced the sophisticated conditions of the classical Chinese education and the Western modern education. However, the reformist voice instigated the implementation of the new disciplinary institution and the publication of new textbooks and pedagogy, which solidified the transformation as an irreversible trend in modern China.

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