Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica 中央研究院近代史研究所

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Vol. 127

ISSN：1029-4740

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Abstract：

This issue contains three articles: “Image, Investigation, and Translation: The Auspicious Tree of Mount Changbai and Qing Imperial Legitimacy,” by Lai Yu-chih; “Historical Tradition and Constructing Modernity: “Miao Discourse” in the Late Qing Dynasty’s National Transformation,” by Wu Xin-xuan; “Agricultural Aid and Technical Assistance from the Republic of China to the Republic of Vietnam, 1958 –1975,” by Wang Wenlung; Book Reviews: “Lai Hui-min, The Qianlong Emperor’s Treasure Chest: The Qing Imperial Treasures and Fashion in the Capital City,” by Yun Yan.

Contents

Articles

Image, Investigation, and Translation: The Auspicious Tree of Mount Changbai and Qing Imperial Legitimacy

Lai Yu-chih

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Mount Changbai was considered the birthplace of the ancestors of the Qing dynasty, thus being situated as not only a sacred mountain of the Qing Empire but also a symbol frequently associated with its destiny. In the seventeenth year of his reign (1752), the Qianlong Emperor composed “Song of the Auspicious ree” 瑞樹歌, which extols an extraordinary tree that grows deep within the mountain. Beyond its enormous size, the tree was said to bear up to eight different types of leaves and fruits, as well as having lingzhi mushrooms growing in a ring around its trunk. As such, Qianlong regarded it as symbolizing the everlasting prosperity and boundless territory of the state. The present article focuses on three works created in the Qing court that depict the tree: a monumental hanging scroll titled “Auspicious Tree” 瑞樹圖軸 by Wang Youxue held by the National Palace Museum in Taipei and two collections of paintings that share the same title of Collection of the Auspicious Tree 瑞樹圖冊, one by Yu Sheng and Wang Youxue with the other by Yu Sheng alone, which are both in the possession of the Palace Museum in Beijing. By incorporating materials in both Manchu and Chinese from the imperial archives, this study reconstructs the Qianlong Emperor’s fascination with this auspicious tree and why he dispatched a team to conduct an on-site investigate. Furthermore, it examines the conscious choices made by the investigative team regarding the translation of the names of the eight species of trees from Manchu into Chinese, as well as the deliberate use of different artistic styles and pictorial traditions by court painters. This article ultimately demonstrates how the Qianlong Emperor employed a combination of a European illusionistic style and scientific investigation practices to construct a tangible connection between his Manchu ancestral roots and ruling legitimacy over the Qing.

Keyword：auspicious trees, Mount Changbai, Manchu-Chinese translation, New Manchu language, Qing court painting

Historical Tradition and Constructing Modernity: “Miao Discourse” in the Late Qing Dynasty’s National Transformation

Wu Xin-xuan

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The “Miao,” associated with the Chiyou 蚩尤, Jiuli 九黎, and Sanmiao 三苗 tribes, within Confucian philosophy is oppositional in terms of ethical values with the “Hua” represented by the Yellow Emperor. But the notions of competition between races, nation-building, the Western origins of the Han, and the indigenous status of the Miao, introduced to China from the West (including Japan) in the late Qing dynasty, formed a new set of Miao discourse. The Miao were viewed as being one of the important races in the history of East Asia, but due to “losing” to the Han, they were on the verge of extinction. Moreover, the Han were delineated by excluding the descendants of the Sanmiao from being those of the Yellow Emperor, and Han identity was reshaped by using the Miao as a reference, thereby hoping to restore the Han nation from the Manchu. However, the Qing dynasty had early on established an assimilation policy of “transforming the Miao into Han,” a set of measures to govern the Miao not aimed at establishing an entity with distinct cultural characteristics, territory, autonomous power, or political identity, but rather gradually transforming the Miao into min 民, namely the people or citizens. The concepts of civilizing barbarians and creating citizens aligned with the modern ideas of national imperialism and nationalism accepted by Liang Qichao (1873–1929) and others. The previous expulsion of the Miao by the Han and conquest of the Han by the Manchus constituted a chain of “national revenge.” Therefore, Miao discourse was repeatedly used to oppose the proposition of the “exclusion of the Manchus.” After the Xinhai Revolution, which was first based on “exclusion of the Manchus and restoration of the Han” ideology, China turned to largely accept “five races under one union” 五族共和 (gonghe here also indicating “republic”). In one regard, “Zhonghua” (China) seemingly replaced “Da Qing” (the Great Qing), but in reality, “Zhonghua” was reconfirmed following its reshaping by the latter. The “five races under one union” discourse, by linking the five ethnic groups with five regions, actually promoted ethnic sovereignty to not only the Han but also the Manchu, Mongol, Hui, and Tibetan peoples, then merging the five into one. The Miao, however, are located throughout the eighteen provinces and within imagined ethnic sovereignty were deemed subordinate to the Han.

Keyword：Miao, the Chinese nation, nationalism, concept of race, governance

Agricultural Aid and Technical Assistance from the Republic of China to the Republic of Vietnam, 1958 –1975

Wang Wenlung

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129

Book Reviews

Lai Hui-min, The Qianlong Emperor’s Treasure Chest: The Qing Imperial Treasures and Fashion in the Capital City

Yun Yan

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167