“Shooting, Riding, and Speaking Manchu”: Manchu Language and Identity in Qing Institutions

“Shooting, Riding, and Speaking Manchu”: Manchu Language and Identity in Qing Institutions

Todd Hovey

This article uses the abundant historical research of New Qing History scholars such as Crossley, Rawski, Elliot, and Di Cosmo which concerns the relationship between Manchu identity and Qing Dynasty imperial institutions to explore how these relate to the usage of the Manchu language in the early-mid eras of the Qing rule, focusing mainly on the pre-conquest Jurchen period until the end of the Qianlong reign. This research applies a sociolinguistic lens towards historical sources to understand the role language played in the construction of Manchu ethnic identity in a diachronic way, and to answer by what means and to what ends was the Manchu language related to ethnic identity and imperial institutions. For this purpose, secondary sources surrounding Manchu ethnic identity during the Qing era are mostly employed, though primary sources are referenced whenever possible.  This research concludes that the usage of the Manchu language served as an integral link in the chain which bound Manchu ethnic identity to political institutions, and that this relationship had a profound effect on the perception of Manchu language and the construction of identity among the Manchus themselves.