Expedition of Mt. Changbai and the Imperial Authority in the Early Qing Period

Abstract

This paper analyzes the expedition of Mt. Changbai in 1677 commissioned by the Kangxi emperor, addressing that this project was carried out for the purpose of strengthening the imperial authority in the Qing empire. The imperial commissioner Umene’s journey to Mt. Changbai in 1677 was the very first of a series of examinations of the mountains that the Qing government conducted throughout the late seventeenth to the early eighteenth centuries. Umene’s group began their travel in Bejing and passed through postal stations on the route to Shengjing before reaching Jilin, where they made detailed plans for providing supplies and checking trails for exploration of the mountains. Divided in two groups ? one on the overland route for expedition and the other on watercourse for provision ? they left Jilin and investigated Mt. Changbai via Yehe Neyen. Umene’s group came back to Jilin after finishing the expedition, and further examined Ningguta and Huining before returning Beijing.BR The expedition of Mt. Changbai was part of a larger effort of the Kangxi emperor, who wanted to promote the legitimate status of the Manchu imperial court. He wanted to connect Mt. Changbai with Bukuri Yongson, the alleged ancestor of the Aisin Gioro clan, a project for which the emperor needed more detailed geographic information, therefore, he sent Umene to examine the region around the mountains. In fact, there was earlier attempt at linking Mt. Changbai to Bukuri Yongson, which went back to the time of Hong Taiji in the 1620s and 30s, and this continued for several decades up to the Kangxi region in the 1710s. As a result of such efforts of the Qing emperors, Bukuri Yongson, who the myth of the Hurkas had argued was born in Mt. Bukuri near the Amur River, was now recreated as the ancestor of the Aisin Gioro clan. His birthplace was also accordingly relocated to Mt. Changbai, a thousand kilometer away from Mt. Bukuri. It was largely the early years of the Kangxi era when the Qing court completed the creation of this founding myth of the Aisin Gioro clan and announced Mt. Changbai as the sacred birthplace of the Qing imperial court. The primary motive of all these endeavors ? commissioning Umene’s expedition of Mt. Changbai, connecting Bukuri Yongson with the mountains, and making the genealogy of linking Bukuri Yongson to the Kangxi emperor via Mongke Temur and Nurhaci ? was that Kangxi had to reinforce his imperial power, which was still venerable during the early years of his reign.BR In addition to promoting the imperial authority, the Kangxi emperor attempted to collect geographic information of the border region with the Choson and to defend his empire from the increasing threats from Russia. The Qing effort at clarifying the border with the Choson became more apparent two years after Umene’s preliminary expedition of 1677. The Kangxi emperor realized the geopolitical significance of the southern Manchuria ? the sacred birthplace of the Qing court ? and the area near the Amur River, where conflicts with Russia continued to bother the Qing empire since the Shunzhi era. Along with the expedition of Mt. Changbai, the Kangxi emperor also carried out his first Eastern Tour in 1671, another exertion for both strengthening his imperial power and preparing the Russian threat. Umene’s group examined Ningguta and Huining on their way back from the expedition of Mt. Changbai because they were supposedly ordered to collect geographic and military information in order to prepare pressure from Russia in the north.