Manchu literature

Manchu literature refers to works written in Manchu which became a literary language after the creation of the Manchu script in 1599.

Hong Taiji sponsored the translations of many Chinese language histories and classics in his newly declared Qing dynasty.

The majority of literary works in Manchu during the Qing dynasty consisted of officially sanctioned translations of Chinese Confucian classics and political works, and later translations of Chinese novels and texts on medicine, history, religion.[1] There were few Manchu archetypal literary works.[2]

The German sinologist Eric Hauer argued that the Manchu translations of Chinese classics and fiction were done by experts familiar with their original meaning and with how best to express it in Manchu. Because Manchu is easy to learn, these translations enable the student to use the Manchu versions of the classics to verify the meaning of the Chinese text, for instance, the Manchu translation of the Peiwen yunfu or the language of difficult Chinese novels, such as Jin Ping Mei. [3]Most original material produced in Manchu were histories and documentary texts relating to military and foreign affairs on the northern frontiers which were handled by the Lifan Yuan, such as campaigns against the Dzungars.

Many Chinese medical texts were translated into Manchu under the Qianlong Emperor.[4]

List of works

Works Translated into Manchu

Classics and Histories

Novels

Plays

Notes

  1. ↑ Norman 2003, pp. 485-6.
  2. ↑ ed. Idema 2007, p. 211.
  3. ↑ Hauer (1930), p. 162-163.
  4. ↑ Hanson 2003, p. 114.

References

Further reading

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