Article
Authors: Katja Pessl (University of Göttingen) , Julia C. Schneider (University College Cork)
This paper contributes to understanding bilingual Manchu-Chinese textbooks and scrutinizes the motives of authors and translators, and of editors and publishers, to produce such books for the education of Manchu bannermen in government schools. Our analysis of an eight-volume late Qing textbook compilation, New Edition of the “Manchu Phrasebook” and Other Books (1899), offers insights into the syllabi and the educational curricula on morality and discipline in banner schools. With a content analysis of the prefaces and postscripts of the compilation’s volumes as well as a case study, including complete translation and transcription, of the fourth volume, “Warnings about Gambling” (1899 [1798]), we shed light on the agenda for banner education over the course of the Qing dynasty. Among other things, our analysis shows that, in 1899, Qing officials considered the continuity of banner education to be just as crucial as in the decades and centuries before, following established pedagogies and values.
盤龍之癖必嚴改:滿漢合璧敎學書籍攷證
哥廷根大學東亞研究系 白雪
科克大學亞洲研究系 舍尤莉 著
摘要:
本篇論文旨在加深讀者對滿漢雙語合璧敎學書籍的瞭解,並對寫作、翻譯、編輯、出版者創作並在官學內使用這些書籍背後的理由進行推測。本文對晚清叢書《重刊清文接字等書》(1899年,共八卷)中的每一卷之前言、後記做出內容分析,更以叢書中的第四卷《戒賭十條》爲對象展開詳細的案例研究(乃至轉寫並英譯該卷全文),從而探索八旗官學機構的營業動機,並對官學內關乎道德與紀律的課業內容及其編排提供新的見解。本文指出,1899年時,清朝官辦學堂仍延用着之前數十甚至數百年的敎學傳統及價値觀,視旗人的敎育爲至關重要、不可懈怠的大業。
Keywords:
How to Cite: Pessl, K. & Schneider, J. C. (2023) “Curing the Vices of Gambling: Bilingual Manchu-Chinese Textbooks for Banner Education”, Saksaha: A Journal of Manchu Studies. 19(0). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/saksaha.4212
This paper explores the New Edition of the “Manchu Phrasebook” and Other Books (Chongkan Qingwen jiezi deng shu 重刊清文接字等書, 1899),1 a compilation of eight textbooks for “government schools for bannermen” (Ma. jakun gūsai alban tacikū, Ch. baqi guanxue 八旗官學).2 The compilation includes bilingual Manchu-Chinese language textbooks and ethical-military treatises, all of which are reprints.3 It is held by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (State Library of Berlin, SBB).4
Our approach is twofold. Firstly, by analyzing the accompanying texts in the compilation—altogether eight prefaces and postscripts—we shed light on the men who originally authored and translated, and edited and published, the volumes in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, as well as on the motives for recompiling and reprinting these books in 1899. By scrutinizing the motives behind individual volumes, as well as the whole compilation, we present insights into the agenda for banner education over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The second part of this paper consists of a case study of the fourth volume of the compilation, “Warnings about Gambling” (Jiha efire be targabure juwan hacin | Jiedu shi tiao 戒賭十條, 1899 [1798]),5 which serves to shed light on the issue of gambling addiction and its prevention as a moral and educational concern of officials in government schools. We embed our analysis of “Warnings about Gambling” into an analysis of gambling-related Qing laws, particularly for bannermen, and of banner education in general. A complete translation and transcription of the book can be found at the end of this paper (Appendix 1).
We will first give an overview of the compilation, including various forewords and postscripts. This is followed by a general introduction to banner education in the Qing period which links our subsequent analysis of the compilation’s accompanying texts to the broader context of Qing education. Finally, we present a detailed textual and topical analysis of “Warnings about Gambling” and discuss the degree to which that book reflects Qing education policy.
The preface to the compilation New Edition of the “Manchu Phrasebook” and Other Books is dated 1899.6 The compilation was therefore published in this year or slightly later. The publishing house was probably the “Capital Translation Bookstore” (Jingdu fanyi shufang 京都翻譯書坊).7 In the preface, the eight books are listed in the following order:8
“Manchu Phrasebook” (Cing wen jiye dz bithe | Qingwen jiezi 清文接字),9 by Sung Lo Fung | Song Luofeng 嵩洛峰 (died before 1867), 4 + 5 + 45 double folios.10 It contains:
A preface dated 1899, by Sunghui | Songhui 松匯 (n.d.). This is the preface to the whole compilation.
A preface dated 1864, by Wanggiyan Cungši | Wanyan Chongshi 完顏崇實 (1820–1876, jinshi 1850, style name Bu šan | Pushan 樸山) of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner.11
An addendum, not dated (the year 1867 is mentioned in the text), by the author’s son, Song Yuzhang 嵩裕彰. It is monolingual in Chinese.12
A postscript dated 1866 by Tiekui 鐵魁 (n.d.). The postscript is monolingual in Chinese.13
“A Bridge [lit. ford] for Beginning Learners” (Tuktan tacire dogon fakū | Chuxue jinliang 初學津梁),14 by Sithūngga | Xitehonga 希特洪阿 (n.d., courtesy name Sioi Ji | Zuizhi 最之), 32 double folios.15 It contains:
“Bilingual Manchu-Chinese Laws and Statutes for Soldiers” (Manju nikan hergen i kamciha araha cooha yabure fafun kooli | Man-Han hebi xingjun jilü 滿漢合璧行軍紀律),18 anonymous compiler, first published in 1832, 21 double folios.19 The book contains military orders by the Qianlong emperor from 1784.20
“Warnings about Gambling” (Jiha efire be targabure juwan hacin | Jiedu shi tiao 戒賭十條), translated by Gionai | Jiunai 九鼐, 3 + 14 double folios. It contains:
A preface, dated 1798, by the translator.
“Bilingual Manchu-Chinese Warnings to the Eight Banners” (Manju nikan hergen i kamcime araha jakūn gūsai targabun | Man-Han hebi baqi zhen 滿漢合璧八旗箴)21, anonymous, original text written in 1808, compilation includes a reprint of an edition first published in 1832, 6 double folios.22
“Forty Bilingual Manchu-Chinese Maxims” (Manju nikan hergen i kamcime araha dehi ujui bithe | Man-Han hebi sishi tou 滿漢合璧四十頭),23 anonymous, first published in 1832, 11 double folios.24 This is a reprint of the second part of the first chapter (juan 卷) of Guide to Qing Writing (Manju bithei jy nan | Qingshu zhinan 清書指南, 1682).25
“Three Character Classic of Filial Piety” (Ilan hergen i hiyoošungga nomun | Sanzi xiaojing 三字孝經),26 translated by Gingge | Jing’e 景額 (dates of life unknown, courtesy name Liyan Ciowan | Lianquan 廉泉), first published in 1878, 3 + 13 double folios.27 The printing blocks were stored in a government school for bannermen.28 It contains:
A preface, dated 1878, by the translator.29
“Military Orders” (Coohai fafun | Junling 軍令),30 proof-read by Yenfecun (n.d.) and Mingda (n.d.) (both names in Manchu only), first published in 1833,31 34 double folios. The book contains military orders by the Yongzheng emperor from 1731.32
The sixth volume, “Forty Bilingual Manchu-Chinese Maxims” (1899 [1682]), is the oldest text in the collection, while volume four, “Warnings about Gambling” (1899 [1798]) is the second oldest. The “Laws and Statutes for Soldiers” in the third volume as well as the “Military Orders” in the eighth volume were originally issued as imperial edicts in the eighteenth century, but both versions stem from the nineteenth century.33 The other four books were written in the nineteenth century. All eight books are bilingual Manchu-Chinese.
Most books included in the compilation are not related to language education. Only two volumes are bilingual phrasebooks, while the other six books are about moral and ethical principles and discipline, both civil and military.34 This choice of books shows that the compilers considered mainly three topics important: ethics, discipline, and language education. The former two had become urgent foci in the second half of the nineteenth century when the helplessness of the bannermen in view of the numerous civil wars made the lack of discipline in the Qing Eight Banner armies apparent, as well as the addiction of many soldiers to opium-smoking and gambling.35 Language education on the other hand had been an important part of bannerman education since the founding of the Qing dynasty.36
Since the establishment of the Qing dynasty in 1636, the education of young bannermen was considered of central importance for the Qing empire’s power structure, which rested on differentiation between the Manchu ruling elite and other strata of society.37 Immediately after the conquest of Beijing in 1644, four government schools for bannermen were founded there. Each school was jointly established by two banners and employed ten teachers. At first, most students were taught in Manchu.38 In 1727, each Manchu banner could send sixty students, of whom half studied Manchu and half Chinese.39 From the early eighteenth century onwards, banner schools were also established in some provincial garrisons.40 When the Qianlong emperor began to emphasize the importance of the Manchu “old way” (Ma. fe doro), he also initiated reforms of banner education.41 From his abdication in 1796 until his death in 1799, Qianlong “devoted himself to implementing plans for a centralized, standardized educational system for the [provincial] garrisons.”42 Pamela Crossley considers these years “a watershed in the development of the programs applied to banner education and the role of the Manchu language in it.”43 The curriculum in the provincial banner schools was the same as in the capital: Manchu, Chinese, astronomy, and mathematics, as well as riding and shooting. Manchu language education was particularly emphasized as it was considered strongly related to the “old way.”44
The New Edition of the “Manchu Phrasebook” and Other Books (1899) shows that apart from Manchu language textbooks, bilingual Manchu-Chinese teaching material not related to genuine language education was produced as well, because morality, ethics, and both military and civil discipline were considered important contents of banner education. The books in the compilation moreover demonstrate the ambivalence of banner education regarding Qianlong’s old way. On the one hand, bannermen were expected to learn how to be a “proper” Manchu, that is, to study the Manchu language and script as well as archery.45 On the other hand, however, army discipline and everyday behavior were regarded with equal importance, and for this part of education, banner schools relied on Chinese Confucian books that were translated into Manchu. It goes beyond the scope of this paper to analyze to what degree the Qianlong emperor and those who continued to stress his idea of a Manchu identity understood Confucian ethics to be part of a Manchu way. Suffice it to say here that, according to Pamela Crossley, attempts to revive the Manchu language as part of a Manchu identity policy and “the policies and institutions created to revive Manchu outside state symbolism failed,”46 among other reasons because textbooks used in government schools for bannermen were mostly Manchu translations of Chinese books, most prominently the “Four Books” (duin bithe | si shu 四書) and the “Five Classics” (sunja ging | wu jing 五經), and not genuinely Manchu literary productions.47 Consequently, these works followed Confucian mores and not a genuine Manchu idea of morality.48
In addition, David Porter has recently challenged the notion that “the [Manchu] language was primarily linked to an ethnically defined ‘Manchu way.’ ”49 According to his findings, not the Manchu, but the Hanjun banners played a significant role in establishing Manchu language schools in Yongzheng and Qianlong times. Porter concludes that the main purpose of these schools was to produce translators for the mass of translations needed for military and other official purposes. It thus needs to be reconsidered whether the Yongzheng emperor reacted to a decline of Manchu language knowledge by “establishing schools and examinations to foster language competency among bannermen.”50 Porter’s findings instead show that the growing numbers of schools and the introduction of translation examinations might have other reasons, such as the steep increase of official documents that needed to be translated in an expanding empire. Ma Zimu also supports the argument that bannermen were needed as skilled and reliable translators for the multilingual administrative system. He concludes that the main reason for the decline of the translation examination after the Jiaqing period is related to a lack of opportunities for social mobility and not the decline of Manchu language within society.51
Manchu language education was therefore not exclusively introduced to teach Manchu bannermen “their” language. The Qing court’s continued use of Manchu as an official language was of course related to the Qianlong emperor’s idea of Manchu identity, but there were moreover practical reasons. The bilingual administration gave work to many bannermen, and in Qing Inner Asia Manchu continued to be a genuine language of communication and sometimes even a “security language.”52 Finally, official translation, particularly in diplomacy, was highly sensitive, and the court found bannermen “particularly well-suited to the task.”53
In order to educate young Manchu bannermen as well as “a multiethnic service elite,”54 bilingual Manchu-Chinese textbooks such as the “Four Books” and “Five Classics”55 as well as the “Three Character Classic”56 were printed by imperial command by the Imperial Printing Office (xiushu chu 修書處) in Wuying Palace (Wuyingdian 武英殿). Moreover, local booksellers and provincial banner schools in Jingzhou 荊州 (Hubei), Chengdu, and Guangzhou also published “teaching material of warning, supplementary, or auxiliary character” (具有鑑誡、補充或輔助性質的教材) for students at banner schools as well as home-schooled pupils.57
The compilation New Edition of the “Manchu Phrasebook” and Other Books seems to have been printed by the “Capital Translation Bookstore” (Jingdu fanyi shufang 京都翻譯書坊) on the initiative of the provincial banner school in Guangzhou.58 The preface to the collection gives information about the compiler and his motives, which are illuminating regarding bannermen education.59 It was written by Sunghui, a “provincial graduate in translation” (Ma. ubaliyambure tukiyesi, Ch. fanyi juren 繙譯舉人).60 Sunghui states that the eight texts were compiled by “General Wuqing of the imperial clan” (Ma. U Cing jiyanggiyūn serengge, han i uksun wesihun enen, Ch. Wuqing jiangjun tianhuang guizhou 午清將軍天潢貴胄).61 General Wuqing must be Aisin Gioro Shou-yin | Aixinjueluo Shouyin 愛新覺羅壽蔭 (1835–1915, courtesy name Wuqing 午清, also午卿) of the Plain Red Banner, member of the imperial clan. Sunghui writes that in the spring of 1899, General Wuqing “received the order to command Guangdong Province.”62 Shou-yin was indeed General-in-Chief of Guangzhou63 from 1898 to 1906.
Guangzhou is significant as a place here, as one of the three famous “Institutes of Translation” (tongwen guan 同文館) was founded there in 1864. The other two were in Beijing and Shanghai. Shou-yin’s predecessor as General-in-Chief of Guangzhou was involved in founding the Guangzhou Institute.64 All three Institutes of Translation recruited young bannermen who had previously learned Manchu at government schools, and thus these two types of educational institutions had close relations to one another.65 Like Beijing and Shanghai, late nineteenth-century Guangzhou was a hub of linguistic education for bannermen, which is further exemplified by the fact that Shou-yin as General-in-Chief of Guangzhou ordered the compilation of textbooks, probably for the government school in Guangzhou that was supposed to produce at least some students for the Guangzhou Institute of Translation.
Information about the men who translated and proofread, and edited and printed, the volumes of the New Edition of the “Manchu Phrasebook” and Other Books (1899) is provided in five books of the compilation. Forewords and postscripts give more details on how the volume came about, and sometimes the names and titles of proofreaders are listed. From this we learn about the backgrounds and connections of men who were involved in the process of textbook production.
One cluster of men revolves around the first volume of the collection, the “Manchu Phrasebook” (1899 [1867]) by Song Luofeng. It is a group of four men, two father-son pairs from the Song and the Wanggiyan families.66 The author, Song Luofeng, had a son, Song Yuzhang, who wrote an “Addendum” for the volume. Song Yuzhang was friends with Wanggiyan Sungšen | Wanyan Songshen 完顏嵩申 (courtesy name Dushan 犢山, 1841–1891, jinshi 1868). Song Yuzhang’s father, the author Song Luofeng, was Wanggiyan Sungšen’s teacher and used his “Manchu Phrasebook” as a textbook in class. Sungšen was so impressed with the book that he suggested to his father Wanggiyan Cungši, who was General-in-Chief of Chengdu at that time, to have it printed.67 He also wrote a preface. The publication of the “Manchu Phrasebook” thus appears to be a cross-generational endeavor of two sets of fathers and sons as well as a teacher and his student.68
The volumes “A Bridge for Beginning Students” (1899 [1881]) and “Three Character Classic of Filial Piety” (1899 [1878]) tell us more about the educational background of men involved in the publication of textbooks for government schools. The translator of the “Three Character Classic,” Gingge, a “provincial graduate in translation” (Ma. ubaliyambure tukiyesi, Ch. fanyi juren 繙譯舉人),69 mentions that Sithūngga, author of “A Bridge for Beginning Learners,” was his colleague at the same school and helped him revise and proof-read his translation.70 Tashangga, author of the first preface of “A Bridge for Beginning Learners,” confirms that Sithūngga worked as a “teacher and lieutenant at a government school” (Ma. alban tacikūi tacibukū funde bošoko, Ch. guanxue jiaoxi xiaoqixiao 官學教習驍騎校).71
The proofreaders and editors of “Military Orders” (1899 [1833]), Yenfecun and Mingda, were also employed in government schools. They were “temporarily managing the affairs of a government school” (alban tacikū baita be aisilame icihiyara), Yenfecun as a “major commander of a company of the provincial Manchu garrisons”72 (nirui janggin), Mingda as a “captain of a platoon of the provincial Manchu garrisons”73 (tuwašara hafan i jergi janggin).74
The fourth volume “Warnings about Gambling” (1899 [1798]) was originally printed in 179875 on the initiative of a Manchu official, Esuri Sabingga | Esuli Sabing’a 額蘇里薩秉阿 (also 薩炳阿, 1758–1832) of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner and from the Chengdu Garrison.76 In 1818, Sabingga, General-in-Chief of Hangzhou, had it reprinted.77 In 1839, another Manchu official, Esuri Sulfangga | Esuli Sulefang’a 額蘇哩蘇勒芳阿 (c. 1767–1839) of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner and from the Chengdu Garrison, commissioned another reprint.78 The translator of the volume, Gionai, was a “banner colonel in charge of the affairs of a government school” (Ma. alban tacikūi baita be kadalara gūsai da, Ch. guanli guanxue shiwu xieling 管理官學事務協領).79 Sulfangga was Gionai’s son.80 He was also Sabingga’s fellow clan member (Esuri), fellow banner member (Manchu Plain Yellow Banner), and from the same garrison in Chengdu. Sabingga’s and Sulfangga’s sons moreover share the generation name Qing 慶. It is therefore likely that Sabingga and Sulfangga were in fact brothers. Their interest in commissioning a print (Sabingga) and reprints (Sabingga and Sulfangga) of “Warnings about Gambling” therefore can be explained by their general interest in banner education but moreover by their filial relation to the translator of the text, a background story that is similar to that of Song Luofeng’s “Manchu Phrasebook.”
From the above we can conclude that translators and authors of school textbooks were not only connected through family ties, but also had similar backgrounds as teachers and other employees of government schools for bannermen. The school textbooks were obviously produced by the same people who used them in the classroom. Moreover, from the fact that the whole compilation as well as its first volume, “Manchu Phrasebook,” were published by order of and financed by Manchu Generals—Shou-yin, General-in-Chief of Guangzhou; and Cungši, General-in-Chief of Chengdu—we can learn that high-ranking Manchu officials had an interest in supporting banner education. Moreover, two books were published or reprinted on behalf of the sons of their author and translator, respectively, which shows that personal and familiar relations played an important role in textbook publication.81
The eight accompanying texts of the compilation mention certain groups of readers for whom the books were intended: students, children, and people in Manchu garrisons in general. It is important to keep in mind, though, that only the “Manchu Phrasebook,” “A Bridge for Beginning Learners,” “Warnings about Gambling,” and “Three Character Classic of Filial Piety” contain accompanying texts that shed light on the intended readership. The other four books do not include such texts.
Sunghui, author of the preface to the compilation, mentions “students” (tacire urse)82 as the main target readers. He writes that Shou-yin, General-in-Chief of Guangzhou, commissioned the “new engraving” (Ma. folobufi, Ch. zaoli 棗梨)83 of the books, and moreover planned to “distribute them to schools” (Ma. tacikūi boo de dendefi, Ch. bu zhu xueshe 布諸學舍).84 Thereby, Shou-yin wanted to “take the worries of hand-copying from poor, lower-class literati” (Ma. yadahūn buya bithei niyalma be ulandume doolara jobocun be akū obuha, Ch. bi han jjun zhi shi mian chuan chao zhi lao 俾寒畯之士免傳鈔之勞).85 Poor students as a special category of target readers are not mentioned anywhere else in the compilation, and it therefore seems to have been a concern particular to Shou-yin.86
In the “Manchu Phrasebook” and “A Bridge for Beginning Learners,” “beginner students” (Ma. tuktan tacire urse, Ch. chuxue 初學) are named as the main target readers.87 The “Manchu Phrasebook” also mentions “junior students” (Ch. houxue 後學) and “prospective fine scholars” or “future talents” (Ma. amaga giltukan urse, Ch. houlai zhi xiu 後來之秀).88 The two prefaces of “A Bridge for Beginning Learners” repeatedly mention “students” in general (Ma. geren tacikūi juse, šabisai emgi, šabisa, geren šabisa, Ch. zhusheng 諸生).89 At one time, the author of the first preface moreover refers to the specific group of “translation students” (Ma. ubaliyambure tacikū i juse, Ch. fanyi zhusheng 繙譯諸生) which is the only time in the compilation that they are mentioned as target readers.90
Children as a subcategory of students are mentioned several times. Particularly the “Three Character Classic” is for “children from the age of three years” (Ma. jui banjifi ilan aniya otolo, Ch. zi sheng san nian 子生三年)91 and “small children” (Ma. buya juse, Ch. xiaozi 小子).92 The accompanying texts of “Manchu Phrasebook,” “A Bridge for Beginning Learners” and “Three Character Classic” moreover describe younger target groups as being particularly ignorant and for this reason in need of education.93
Students of all age groups are of course obvious target readers of school textbooks. However, Gionai mentions another category of target readers in his foreword to “Warnings about Gambling,” which seems to be exceptional:
[. . .] it came to my mind that those of us people in the Manchu garrisons who can read the Manchu script are many, while those who understand Chinese characters are few, therefore, notwithstanding my own learning being narrow and humble, I presumptuously had it [“Warnings against Gambling”] carved and printed after translating it.94
muse manju kūwaran i niyalma, manju bithe bahanarangge labdu, nikan hergen takarangge komso seme gūninafi, tuttu beyei tacihangge cinggiya albatu be bodorakū, balai ubaliyambufi folobufi šuwaselabuha,
因念本滿營習清文者多而識漢字者少是以不揣所學淺陋妄行譯出刊刷
This assessment implies that in 1798, the ability of the bannermen to read Manchu was better than to read Chinese, at least in Gionai’s garrison. If we accept that Sulfangga and Sabinga were Gionai’s sons, the garrison Gionai refers to was Chengdu. This helps us to put our knowledge about bannermen’s abilities to speak Manchu in perspective. Mostly, this ability is thought to have decreased over the course of the Qing Dynasty, and that the Banner Schools were in fact institutionalized in order to stop this decrease.95 Nancy Evans claims that as early as in 1731, Manchu bannermen’s knowledge of Manchu was so limited that “the aim of the translation examination was to encourage bannermen to study Manchu.”96 She refers to the following passage in the Da-Qing huidian shili:
the primary wish for the establishment of the translation examinations was that bannermen learn and study the Qing [Manchu] script.97 (emphasis ours)
繙譯鄉會試之設原欲旗人學習清書
This passage actually leaves the question unanswered as to whether bannermen could not speak Manchu, or if the court wanted to improve their ability to write Manchu. The term “Qing [Manchu] script” (Qingshu 清書) indicates the latter. Moreover, this argument does not explain the role of the Hanjun banners in the establishment of the translation examination. David Porter shows that the Hanjun banners were not only deeply involved in the founding of the first Manchu language schools, but also played a crucial role in the setting-up of the translation examinations.98 The sources implying that Manchu (and Mongol) bannermen were increasingly Sinophone seem to disguise two important points: First, they refer to bannermen in urban regions, often in the capital of Beijing, where Manchu-Chinese cohabitation, daily contact, and collaboration at court must have been very pronounced. Second, though there are no definite numbers, many if not most human beings today are bilingual. They can converse in two languages, not necessarily because they learned a second language at school, but because they need two languages in their everyday life. They might be able to write in one or both languages (or in none). It seems sensible to assume that many human beings have been bilingual for a long time, so that being able to speak Chinese does not automatically mean not being able to speak Manchu, and vice versa. The data situation for the eighteenth century does not allow us to come to a final conclusion regarding the language abilities of Manchu bannermen. Gionai’s argument, however, shows that at least in the late eighteenth century there was a garrison, probably in Chengdu, whose inhabitants could not read Chinese well enough, so that a Manchu translation of the guidebook about gambling was deemed necessary.
Apart from linguistic considerations, Gionai’s main objective in translating “Warnings about Gambling” was that bannermen were in desperate need of the contents of the book, which he describes as being “like a treasure ship to ferry those who have lost the true ford, and like an immortality elixir to cure the sick in the world” (Ma. yargiyan i dogon fambuhangge be doobure boobai ada, jalan i nimekungge be dasabure niktan siktan i gese, Ch. 誠渡迷之寶筏醫世之靈丹).99 To illustrate the positive effect that he expects from the book, Gionai refers to two methods of ultimate salvation, here the Buddhist “treasure boat” (Ma. boobai ada, Ch. baofa 寶筏) that brings one from the “world” (Buddhist Sanskrit sam․sāra) to “perfection” (Buddhist Sanskrit pāramitā), and the Shamanist or Daoist “immortality elixir” (Ma. niktan siktan, Ch. lingdan 靈丹) that cures all ills.100 In Gionai’s opinion, Manchu bannermen were in need of both to fight gambling. In contrast to the other volumes in the compilation, “Warnings about Gambling” was originally not intended for students, whom Gionai in fact does not mention at all, but for a larger stratum within the banner population exposed to the vices of gambling. Its inclusion into the compilation shows that, a century after Gionai translated “Warnings about Gambling,” the late Qing editor Shou-yin still considered gambling a serious issue and found the book a meaningful addition to banner education both in terms of language and script acquisition as well as morality and discipline.
After having analyzed the compilation in general, we now turn to our case-study analysis of “Warnings about Gambling.” It is a moral treatise about the vices of gambling, its effects on society, the gambler and his family, and why to give up gambling.101 The author is unknown. The bilingual Manchu-Chinese version was first published in or around 1798. The anonymous author of “Warnings about Gambling,” probably a scholar-official, addressed the problem of gambling openly and decisively, offering a self-help book for contemporaries and later generations.
The earliest monolingual Chinese version we could locate was included in the “Record of Respect and Faith, Revised and Enlarged [Edition]” (Zengding jingxinlu 增訂敬信錄), a book on morality and ethics from Qing times, containing diverse texts mainly on Daoist topics. We accessed two editions from 1819 and 1824.102 As Gionai translated the text already in the 1790s, there must have been an earlier Chinese edition. The texts collected in the two editions of “Record of Respect and Faith” are not identical, but both contain “Warnings about Gambling.”103 These two editions of “Warnings about Gambling” (1819; 1824) are mostly identical with the bilingual Manchu- Chinese version. Regarding character variations, there are some minor differences.104 Most differences appear between the bilingual edition on the one hand and the two monolingual editions on the other. In two cases, these are merely character variations,105 whereas the other five cases are clearly writing errors in the bilingual edition (see Appendix 2). Gionai probably used a correct monolingual version. The mistaken characters in the bilingual version were probably added by the copyist or carver.
Apart from a preface by the translator and a short introduction by the anonymous author, “Warnings about Gambling” contains ten sections on different aspects of gambling’s vices. The author acknowledges that gambling is harmful to society and an addiction which cannot be stopped by the authorities despite severe legal and official measures and punishments. On that account, he appeals to the readers’ sense of reason and hopes to convince them to recognize their mistakes and quit gambling sooner better than later.
The arguments against gambling mainly revolve around five interlinked categories related to individual, family, and societal aspects: first, gambling harms social order and hierarchical relationships within society (sections two and seven); second, it destroys family values and harms ancestral relationships (sections one, four, five, six, eight); third, it causes financial debt and loss of family property (sections three, six, eight); fourth, it results in punishment by official and spiritual institutions (sections nine and ten); fifth, it harms body and soul and leads to sickness and death (section three). Every section ends with a short statement or rhetorical question that points to the dangers of gambling and offers food for thought.
Translated at the turn of the nineteenth century, “Warnings against Gambling” fits into an era of new educational policies and reforms to revive banner discipline. The date of Gionai’s preface, 1798, coincides with the Qianlong emperor’s increasing engagement with education after his abdication in 1796.106 Accordingly, the translation of “Warnings about Gambling” followed in the wake of the Qianlong emperor’s banner education reforms.
Another reason for the original writing and subsequent translation was that gambling had become a serious problem within Qing society at large and also among Manchu bannermen. The “History of the Eight Banners, first edition” (Baqi tongzhi chuji 八旗通志初集, 1727), compiled under the supervision of Ortai | E’ertai 鄂爾泰 (1680–1745), quotes from a memorial that was presented to the Yongzheng emperor in 1723:
Here, the containment of vices is directly related to banner education. The critique of banner soldiers’ drinking and gambling is consequently followed by an instruction to establish schools for them. This implies that bannermen could be convinced to abandon improper behavior by correct education in Manchu language and training in military techniques like archery.Soldiers residing within the training grounds, apart from their usual tasks, do not study and learn their duties and skills at all. Unworthy men often gather to drink alcohol and gamble together. [We] ask the training grounds’ commandants etc., who are on duty, to teach and drill [the soldiers] frequently and strictly manage inspections and restrictions of the places where [soldiers] drink alcohol and gamble. Again, in every banner training ground, an official school has to be established, where [Manchu] Qing language, [Manchu] Qing script, and mounted archery are taught.107
教塲居住兵丁,當差之外,並不學習分內技藝。不肖之人,往往群聚飲酒、 賭博。請交教塲該班參領等,不時教訓操練。將飲酒、賭博之處,嚴行稽查管束。再各旗教場內,俱應設立官學。教習清語清書騎射等語。
Moreover, the frequency with which gambling was banned, according to the Draft History of the Qing (Qingshigao 清史稿), and the detailed lists of regulations and punishments regarding gambling-related crimes in the Collected Statutes of the Great Qing (Da-Qing huidian 大清會典) show how seriously the emperors took gambling issues.108 The Yongzheng emperor reformed gambling-related laws and further differentiated the severity of punishment. The Jiaqing emperor reformed gambling-related regulations in 1798, the same year as “Warnings about Gambling” was translated.
“Warnings against Gambling” refers to official punishments for gambling-related crimes in section nine “Violating the Law of the State”:
If [the laws] are light, you are flogged one hundred times with the heavy staff and you wear the cangue [jia] for two months […]. If they are heavy, you are sentenced to three years’ corvee and banished to a place 3,000 miles away.109
weihuken oci, tanggū šuwarkiyan šuwarkiyalafi juwe biya selhen […], ujen oci, ilan aniya weilebure, ilan minggan bade falabure weile tuhebume oci,
輕則杖一百枷兩月 […] 重則徒三年流三千
In the Yongzheng period, this “light” punishment was reserved for “Manchu and Chinese officials who offended [the law] by playing mahjong or douhunjiang [a card game], no matter whether they played for money or for drinks and food” (打馬弔、鬭混江,無論賭錢賭飮食之物,滿漢官員犯者).110 During the Jiaqing reign, it was used for “all gamblers, not differentiating between soldiers or civilians” (凡賭博不分兵民).111 The “heavy” punishment was reserved for Chinese civilians.112 According to the Collected Statutes, bannermen were generally not punished by forced labor or banishment for gambling-related crimes.113 In general, punishments for gambling and gambling-related crimes, such as taking percentages of the winnings, housing gamblers, running a gambling hall, or producing and selling gambling cards and jettons, differed for bannermen and civilians. This is not surprising, as a Manchu, no matter whether they were bannerman or civilian, “was subject to a lesser punishment than a Han” Chinese in general and could for example “opt for beating with a whip [bian 鞭] instead of a bamboo rod [zhang 杖], and they could substitute wearing the cangue in place of penal servitude or even military exile.”114
However, the Great Qing Code (Da-Qing lüli 大清律例) from 1740 refers to some particularly heavy punishments for bannermen who were involved in the organization of and profited from the business of gambling. The Code was the legal code, whereas the Collected Statutes have been described as the administrative code.115 The Code stated that bannermen who ran gambling halls and took percentages of the winnings were to be “sent into banishment at the furthest borders and miasmic spheres” (發極邊、煙瘴充軍).116 Civilians found guilty of the same charges, on the other hand, received a milder punishment and were “flogged one hundred times with the heavy staff and sentenced to three years’ corvee” (杖一百、徒三年).117
Over the course of the Qing dynasty, the education of young bannermen became an essential task of the banners, supported by the emperors themselves. Language acquisition, particularly the ability to be fluent in both Manchu and Chinese to enable at least some students to become translators of official documents, as well as the establishment of morality and discipline, were considered crucial. These two educational pathways, one focused on language, one on ethics and discipline, come to the fore in the selection of books for the bilingual Manchu-Chinese textbook compilation New Edition of the “Manchu Phrasebook” and Other Books (1899). The agenda of moral education is particularly exemplified in the volume chosen as a case study here, “Warnings about Gambling” (1899 [1798]). In his foreword, the translator Gionai expresses his wish to help his fellow bannermen to stop gambling or not become addicted in the first place as his main motive for translating the text. That this book was selected a century after its translation to be reprinted as part of a textbook compilation for students at a provincial government school of bannermen shows that it had not lost its importance.
One general motive of Manchu officials who engaged in producing and distributing textbooks was to relieve (poorer) students of the trouble of hand-copying textbooks and a general interest in improving banner education. On the other hand, sons and patrons of authors and translators initiated publications of the books to support their fathers and protégés. Ideological reasons such as the importance for bannermen to be fluent in Manchu in order to strengthen the Manchu identity and the position of the Manchu ruling elite in the Qing empire are not mentioned as motives, although they did play a role in bannermen education in general.
Only in hindsight can we know that in 1899 the decline of the Qing empire was well underway, and with it one of its main institutional pillars, the Eight Banner system, was nearing its end, too. The banner garrisons as the main source of military power had been outpaced by armies that followed Western and Japanese models and were staffed with Chinese troops. School education among the non-banner population, mainly Chinese civilians, was in the process of being reformed according to Western ideas and influences.
The contents of the compilation show that Manchu Qing officials thought of banner education as a continuing project that naturally made use of earlier textbooks about language as well as ethics and morale, utilizing time-honored pedagogies and values. Only in this way can we understand why the ability to translate from Manchu to Chinese and back was an important skill to gain office in the Qing administration and why Confucian ethics were still considered a major source for morality and discipline among bannermen in 1899.
Preface (xu 序)118
When I examined aphoristic sayings of former people during leisure time that I had due to my time away from official duties, I saw the work “Ten Lessons on Avoiding Gambling” in one section. It is indeed like a treasure ship119 to ferry those who have lost the true ford, and like an immortality elixir120 to cure the sick in the world. Since it came to my mind that those of us people in the Manchu garrisons who can read the Manchu script are many, while those who understand Chinese characters are few, therefore, notwithstanding my own learning being narrow and humble, I presumptuously had it carved and printed after translating it. Although I know that I cannot avoid being ridiculed by men of great learning, I hope that it will be a small benefit to rescue those who are drowning. Still, I truly and sincerely hope that highly enlightened people in our time and in future generations will revise [my translation] with care.
Translated by Gionai, banner colonel in charge of the affairs of a government school.121
On an auspicious day in the first month of the third year of Jiaqing 嘉慶 (saicungga fengšen) [February or March, 1798].
p. 1a [xu 序]122 bi kemuni siden ci mariha sula šolo de, nenehe ursei koolingga gisun be ubašatame tuwara de, jiha efire be targabure juwan hacin sere emu meyen be p. 1b sabuha, yargiyan i dogon fambuhangge be doobure boobai ada, jalan i nimekungge be dasabure niktan siktan i gese ojoro jakade, muse manju kūwaran i niyalma, manju bithe bahanarangge labdu, nikan p. 2a hergen takarangge komso seme gūninafi, tuttu beyei tacihangge cinggiya albatu be bodorakū, balai ubaliyambufi folobufi šuwaselabuha, ere esi ambula taciha urse de basubure ci guweme muterakū be p. 2b sacibe, inu damu irubuhangge be aitubure ajige niyececun okini seme ereme gūniha, kemuni ne bisire123, amaga jalan i den genggiyen ursei ni[š]alame tuwancihiyame dasatara be, yargiyan i p. 3a hing seme erehunjehei ba. alban tacikūi baita be kadalara gūsai da Gionai ubaliyambuha,
p. 3b saicungga fengšen i ilaci aniya aniya biyai sain inenggi
[Introduction]
The harm that gambling causes people is even more terrible than flood and fire, robbers and thieves. Families inevitably go bankrupt and are ruined. Furthermore, even though the authorities prohibit it, they are not able to stop it. Even though father and elder brother restrict it, you124 do not listen at all. Having been deluded without even realizing it is utterly pitiful. I now wish to use the sense of reason to warn you, hoping that those of you who know their mistakes and correct their sins quit gambling early and do not let themselves drown and sink in the morass ever again.
p. 1a jiha efire be targabure juwan hacin, jiha efire baita, niyalma de ebderen ojorongge, muke tuwa hūlha holo ci hono nimecuke, boo boigon garcame [= garjame] efujerakūngge akū, uttu bime hafan data fafulaha seme ilibume muterakū, ama ahūn p. 1b kadalaha seme fuhali doncirakū [= donjirakū], jafabume hūlimbu nakū umai ulhirakūngge umesi jilacuka ofi, te geli turgun giyan be jafafi tafulaki, ede waka be safi endebuku be halara ursei erdeken i nakafi, dubentele lifabume irubure de isinarakū be buyembi.
First, your moral values are destroyed
Once you have entered a gambling hall, because you have come to a place where you hunt for profit, you make a hundred kinds of malicious plans with entirely greedy intentions. Wishing to win every time, you come to invent all sorts of evil thoughts. Even if close relatives bet against each other, they inevitably use secret schemes and intrigues. Even if good friends gamble with each other, they are like fierce opponents, only thinking about winning money for themselves and nothing else.
How can you cause the ruin of another person’s household without destroying your moral values?125
p. 2a uju de gūnin mujilen be ebderebumbi, emgeri jiha efire falan de dosika sehede, uthai aisi be butara bade isinaha be dahame, tanggū hacin i argadame bodorongge, yooni doosi gūnin, ishunde eteki sehei hala hacin i ehe p. 2b gūnin deribure de isinambi, ede udu umesi hanci niyaman seme bakcilame meljere de, urunakū dorgideri arga jali be baitalambi, uthai sain gucu seme sasa eficere de, inu šuwe kimun bata i gese ombi, damu beye jiha p. 3a etere be bodoro dabala, weri i boigon garjara be dara aibi, ede gūnin mujilen ambula ebdereburakūn.
Second, your personal conduct is corrupted
All men, noble or petty, high or low, have their assigned positions.126 In the gambling hall, you only calculate the amount of money [one has]. Who distinguishes between whether one is noble or petty? When you sit together, it is not in the correct order, and so servants and serfs become just like your friends and acquaintances. Because you do not consider the correct order of noble and petty, slaves and bondsmen become like your older and younger brothers straightaway.
As you jest and laugh at will and blurt out laudatory cheers, how can this be the way and principle? Is this righteous?
jai de beyei yabun be efunebumbi, yaya niyalmai wesihun fusihūn dele wala de, gemu meni meni teisu bi, jiha efire falan de, p. 3b damu jiha i labdu komso be bodoro dabala, ini wesihun fusihūn be we ilgambi, tejeci [= tececi] jergi ilhi akū ofi, kutule dahalji seme uthai gucu gargan i adali ombi, wesihun fusihūn i teisu be bodorakū ofi, aha dangkan seme šuwe ahūn deo i p. 4a gese ombi, gūnin i cihai yobodome injeceme, anggai ici balai tukiyeme hūlara be dahame, ere ai doro yoso, yabun ai derengge.
Third, your body and life are harmed
After you have won, your excitement increases more and more, and you play day and night. After you have lost, you do not care about starving and freezing, and about risking your life, but you go again. Therefore, when your life essence is harmed, it inevitably results in the loss of your body and life. You make debts and cannot repay them. So, when meeting other people, you feel ashamed inside and are sad all the time, and all kinds of diseases infect your body. When you are at your wits’ end and find yourself in difficult circumstances, only once you have died, the matter comes to an end.
As the road that leads to the “city of suicide deaths”127 is where the visitors of gambling halls end, how can your heart-mind not be ruined?
ilaci de ergen beyebe kokirabumbi, etehe manggi yenden nemebufi genefi šuntuhuni dobonio efimbi, p. 4b gaibuha manggi yuyure beyere be bodorakū, ergen be šeleme geli genembi, ede oori siman [= simen] kokirabufi urunakū ergen beye jocire de isinambi, ememungge bekdun arafi toodame muterakū de, dere acara mangga ofi, dolori yertehei gingkahai hacingga nimeku gemu p. 5a beye de latunjimbi, arga mohofi arbun hafirabuha manggi, damu emgeri bucehe de uthai baita wajiha de obumbi, sui mangga i bucehe ursei hoton de genere jugūn, uthai jiha efire falan i ursei dubere ba kai, gūnin efujerakūn[.]
Fourth, your ancestors and forefathers are disgraced
When you let people take your silver and copper money, then you are derided as a wastrel128 and an idiot. When your household and property have been ruined and destroyed, you will moreover be spoken of as an imbecile129 who committed a crime. You cannot honor your ancestors and forefathers anymore, on the contrary, having driven your family130 into ruin, it is besmirched.
Therefore, because all people of your hometown blame your131 predecessors in their conversations, your ancestors surely despise you beyond death.
p. 5b duici de mafa da be gūtubumbi, niyalma de menggun jiha gaibuha bime, hono mamgiyakū jui beliyen seme basubumbi, sini boo boigon be garjame efujebuhe bime, kemuni menen jui sui araha seme leolebumbi, mafa da be eldembume muterakū p. 6a oso nakū, elemangga duka uce be gūtubume efujere de isinambi, ede gašan falga gemu ini nenehe niyalma be wakašame leolecere be dahame, mafa ama bucehe seme inu urunakū seyembi[.]
Fifth, the family teachings are neglected
Gambling is a matter to which people are very easily lured in. What is seen and heard within the household is of great personal importance. Usually, in the education of a son and younger brother everyone says: “Always follow the good example!” When you watch from the side as father and elder brother gamble in the hall, according to this model they say: “Gamble!” If fathers and sons gamble together, older and younger brothers gamble together, and slaves and servants gamble together,132 then this teaching of gambling becomes the only one. Where are the family teachings? You gamble day and night until the gambling in inner chambers and the habit of playing Mahjong result in dissolute habits.
Because your family teachings are completely destroyed, your heart-mind freezes.
sunjaci de booi tacihiyan be ufarabumbi, p. 6b jiha efire emu hacin, niyalma be yarhūdarangge nokai ja, boo hūwa i dorgi, sara donjirengge umesi hanci, an i ucuri juse deote be tacibure de, gemu sain yabun be alhūda sembime, falan de ama ahūn i efire be dalbakici tuwara de p. 7a geli ere durun i songkoi efi sembi, ama jui ishunde efire, ahūn deo ishunde efire aha dangkan ishunde efire oci, ere efin i tacihiyan oho dabala, booi tacihiyan aba, inenggi šun de efire, šumin dobori de efire p. 7b dorgi boo de efire de, sasukū efire demun de geli dufe i demun deribure de isinambi, booi tacihiyan ambula efulere be dahame, yala gūnin šahūracuka[.]
Sixth, your household property is destroyed
At the beginning, being overconfident, you waste money like dust. At the end, your spirit being under pressure, you throw away your property like trash. Your ancestors and forefathers suffered lifelong hardship and managed to establish a respectable family.133 Because you sons and grandsons squander it in an instant, your family’s reputation is ruined. After you have pawned all your clothes and only your bare body is left, who of your relatives and friends will pity you? After you have sold your land and house completely, and your debts are still not repaid, you have no place to rest, even at the edge of the world.
When one thinks about this, it is truly pitiful.
ningguci de boigon hethe be efujebumbi, p. 8a deribun de sukdun etuhun ofi, menggun be boihon i gese mamgiyambi duben de gūnin hafirabufi, boigon be maktaha jaka i adali waliyabumbi, mafa ama emu jalan jobome suilafi, arkan i duka uce ilibuha bime, juse omosi dartai andande mamgiyame p. 8b fayafi, booi algin be efulembi, etuku adu be yooni damtulafi damu beye teile funcehe manggi, niyaman gucu we simbe hairambi, usin boo be wacihiyame uncafi geli bekdun araha manggi, abkai buten de beye tomoro be baharakū ombi, ubabe gūninaha de, yala jilakan kai[.]
Seventh, calamities occur
When people who go out gambling until dawn and keep the gambling halls open all night do not lock their doors, robbers and thieves take the first opportunity to rob them. When they do not put out the flames of the lamps, their houses often come to burn down. Even worse, worthless youths134 begin to plot and scheme and evil people spy to carry out intrigues. It is like when as soon as the lights are extinguished and someone knocks at the door, one cannot distinguish one from the other. It is like when “chin straps have been pulled off”135 and “shirts have been taken off,”136 men and women come to do indecent things.137
You cannot disregard the reasons for this disaster!
p. 9a nadaci de baita kūbulin tucinjimbi, tucifi geretele jiha efire, dobonio efire falan neire urse, duka uce be yaksirakū de, hūlha holho urui jaka šolo be tuwame hūlhame yabumbime, dengjan i tuwa be mukiyeburakū de, p. 9b boo ūlen kemuni dame deijibure de isinambi, geli dabanafi gusherakū juse ede sirentume yarume arga deribure, ehelinggu urse hiracame tuwame jalingga be yabure, tuwa be mukiyebufi duka toksire baita gese, we ya be ilgabume muterakū, sonokton be p. 10a tataha nei gahari be suhe baita adali, haha hehe dorakū baita yabure de isinambi, jobolon banjinara deribun be bodorakū oci ojorakū kai[.]
Eighth, your kin138 becomes estranged
If men of letters, farmers, craftsmen, and tradesmen139 all work diligently in their positions, fathers, mothers, children, and wives140 rejoice in each other. This is the joy of heavenly principles, and it is a matter of the order of the human world!141 In fact, after you have gone inside a gambling hall, it is as if you have drowned in a sea of bitterness.142 After you have pawned hairclips and hairpins,143 your children and wife [or wives]144 do not dare to speak of the anger in their hearts. After you have sold field and home, your father and mother get widened eyes with knitted brows. However, you act only to find amusement for yourself but do not consider the laments and the regret of everyone in the house at all.
When you search your heart, how can you achieve peace?
jakūci de giranggi yali aldangga ombi, bithei urse, usin i haha, weilere faksi, hūdai p. 10b niyalma, meni meni teisu baita de kiceci, ama eme juse sargan ishunde urgunjedumbi, ere abkai ciktan i sebjen bime, inu niyalma jalan i an i baita kai, dule jiha efire falan de dosika manggi, uthai gosihon namu de iruha gese, caise sifikū be p. 11a damtulafi, juse sargan mujilen i fancahai gelhun akū gisurerakū, usin boo be uncafi, ama eme yasa gedehun i faitan wehesihei [= fehesihei] banjimbi, damu emu beyei sebjelere selara be gaime yabuha gojime, booi gubci gasara korsoro be umai gūnihakūki, mujilen de p. 11b forgošoci, adarame elhe bahambini[.]
Ninth, violating the law of the state
The prohibition of gambling and the establishment of new laws are very strict. If they are light, you are flogged one hundred times with the heavy staff145 and you wear the cangue for two months, so your skin and flesh are wounded. If they are heavy, you are sentenced to three years’ corvee and banished to a place 3,000 miles away, so you leave your village and family clan forever. Even if you are an official or scholar off duty,146 because you have been dismissed according to the law, how can you have the face to meet with people? If you are a yamen official, the punishment is even more severe. So you should continually protect yourself and your family.
Instead of regretting such matters afterwards, how would it be if you avoided them in the first place?
uyuci de gurun i fafun be necimbi, jiha efire be fafulahangge, ice kooli toktobuhangge umesi cira, weihuken oci, tanggū šuwarkiyan šuwarkiyalafi juwe biya selhen etubume ofi sukū yali de p. 12a isitala goro [= koro] bahambi, ujen oci, ilan aniya weilebure, ilan minggan bade falabure weile tuhebume oci, gašan falga ci enteheme aljambi, sula hafan šusai sehe seme kooli songkoi nakabure be dahame, ai dere i niyalma be acambi, uthai p. 12b yamun i urse oci, ele ubui nemebume weile arara be dahame beye boo be karmataci acambi, baitai amala amcame aliyara anggala, baita onggolo targaci antaka[.]
Tenth, committing an offense against Heaven
If you visit houses opened as gambling halls again and again, you often encounter unexpected calamities. People who won money have nevertheless often ended up in extreme poverty. In any case, they all take other people’s money by fraud and are personally corrupted.147 Because you cause others to lament and grieve in order to fulfil your own pleasure and amusement, you provoke the anger of the ghosts and deities. In distributing retribution,148 this will not be forgiven in the slightest. Because it is difficult to achieve rewards149 from the Way of Heaven,150 one after the other, we all reach the empty151 state of being!
After you have read this from beginning to end, what benefit is there [in gambling]?
juwanci de abka de weile bahambi, p. 13a jiha efire falan neihe boo be anan i tuwaci, urui hetu jobolon de tušambime, jiha etehe urse, elemangga encu hacin i yadahūn de isinahangge labdu, eiterecibe ere gemu weri i menggun jiha be argadame gaifi beyede singgebuhe, p. 13b weri be gasara akara de isibufi, beyei urgunjere selara be gaime yabuha ofi, tuttu hutu enduri i jili be necifi, karulan tuhenere de majige hono oncodome gamahakūbi, abkai doro de karu isibure mangga ofi, ishunde gemu untuhun p. 14a ojoro de isinambikai [,] erebe daci dubade isitala tuwaha de [,] geli ai tusa sere ba bini.
Section |
Monolingual edition |
Bilingual edition |
Translation into Manchu |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
yan 儼 (grave, stern) |
yan 嚴 (stern, strict) |
The difference is minor, and Gionai does not translate Ch. yan 儼 / yan 嚴 directly into Manchu anyway, but rather rearranges the whole clause.152 |
2 |
qie 且 (moreover, besides) |
dan 但 (but, however) |
Gionai translates Ch. dan 但 rather than the correct Chinese term Ch. qie 且 as Ma. damu (but, however). |
7 |
xi 熄 (put out [a fire]) |
xi 息 (put a stop to sth.) |
Gionai translates the correct term Ch. bu xi 不熄 as Ma. mukiyeburakū (not put out [the fire]). |
8 |
chai 釵 (hairpin) |
qin 鈙 (hold) |
Gionai translates the correct term Ch. chai 釵 as Ma. sifikū (hairpin). |
9 |
hai 害 (injure) |
yan 言 (speak) |
Gionai translates the correct term Ch. hai 害, which is part of the expression Ch. yan / hai qie jifu 言 / 害切肌膚, as Ma. sukū yali de isitala goro bahambi (until skin and flesh burst). |
⮭[I] often think about the fact [why] the custom of gambling is so popular: If fathers and the elder brothers do it, then sons and younger brothers watch them as bystanders and imitate them. If the head of the household does it, then slaves and servants watch him as bystanders and imitate him. It can even happen that wives and daughters [gamble].
嘗思賭博之風所以盛行者。父兄爲之,子弟在旁見而傚之。家主爲之,奴僕在旁見而傚之。甚至婦人女子。 Qinding Da-Qing huidian shili (1818 edition), 642:22b.
Baqi tongzhi chuji 八旗通志初集. 1739, first published 1727. Compiled by Ortai | E’ertai 鄂爾泰, et al. Qinding siku quanshu 欽定四庫全書 (Beijing: Neifu, 1739). Digitized blockprint held at Harvard Library with the call number 008044354.
Cing wen jiye ze bithe | Xinyu qingwen jiezi 新語清文接字. 1899, first published 1864–1866. Sung Lofung | Song Luofeng 嵩洛峰. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. N.S. 1911–1.
Coohai fafun dehi meyen i bithe | Junling sishi ze 軍令四十則. 1899, first published 1833. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. N.S. 1911–5. In the library catalogue, the title is spelled Coohai fafun tehi meyen i bithe.
Da-Qing huidian 2 大清會典 2. Yongzheng edition, 1732. In Da-Qing wubu huidian 大清五部会典, edited by Zhongguo diyi lishi dang’anguan 中国第一历史档案馆. Beijing: Beijing shutongwen shuzihua jishu youxiangongsi, 2007. Accessed August 18, 2020. https://guji.unihan.com.cn/.https://guji.unihan.com.cn/
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Guanzi ershisi juan 管子二十四卷. Warring States Period, 403–221 BCE. Attributed to Guan Zhong 管仲 (725–645 BCE). Sibu congkan chubian 四部叢刊初編, vol. 344–47.
Hanshu 漢書. 1st century BCE. Ban Gu 班固 (32–92). 12 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962.
Ilan hergen i hiyoošungga nomun | Sanzi xiaojing 三字孝經. 1899, first published 1878. Translated by Gingge | Jing’e景額. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. N.S. 1911–7.
Jiha efire be targabure juwan hacin | Jiedu shi tiao 戒賭十條. 1899, first published 1798. By Gionai | Jiunai 九鼐. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. N.S. 1911–8.
Manju bithei jy nan | Qingshu zhinan 清書指南. 1682. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number 4° 41321 ROA.
Manju nikan hergen i kamciha araha cooha yabure fafun kooli | Man-Han hebi xingjun jilü 滿漢合璧行軍紀律. 1899, first published 1832. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. N.S. 1911–6.
Manju nikan hergen i kamcime araha dehi ujui bithe | Man-Han hebi sishi tou 滿漢合璧四十頭. 1899, first published 1832. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. N.S. 1911–4.
Manju nikan hergen i kamcime araha jakūn gūsai targabun | Man-Han hebi baqi zhen 滿漢合璧八旗箴. 1899, first published 1808. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. N.S. 1911–3.
Qinding Da-Qing huidian shili er 欽定大清會典事例二. Jiaqing edition, 1818. In Da-Qing wubu huidian 大清五部会典, edited by Zhongguo diyi lishi dang’anguan 中国第一历史档案馆. Beijing: Beijing shutongwen shuzihua jishu youxiangongsi, 2007. Accessed August 18, 2020. https://guji.unihan.com.cn/.https://guji.unihan.com.cn/
Qinding Da-Qing huidian shili 欽定大清會典事例. Compiled by Kun-gang 崑岡. Wuyingdian 1899. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number 5 B 30000–798/814.
Tuktan tacire dogon fakū | Chuxue jinliang 初學津梁. 1899, first published 1881. By Sithūngga | Xitehonga希特洪阿. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. N.S. 1911–2.
Yuli chaozhuan jingshi 玉歷鈔傳警世. Guangzhou: Jiuyaofang, Xinguzhai, 1814. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. 612.
Zengding jingxinlu 增訂敬信錄 1797. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. 602.
Zengding jingxinlu 增訂敬信錄. 1819. Compiled by Sun Rong 孫嶸. Digitized blockprint held at Österreichische Nationalbibliothek with the call number Sin 194-B ALT SIN. The book is scanned in reversed page order.
Zengding jingxinlu 增訂敬信錄. 1824. Digitized blockprint held at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin with the call number Libri sin. 341 and at Bibliothèque nationale de France with the call number Cote: Chinois 5677, ancienne cote: Nouveau fonds 215.
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