Qingchao manmeng lianyin yanjiu (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Qingchao Man-Meng lianyin yanjiu 清朝满蒙联姻研究 (The Manchu-Mongol Intermarriage of the Qing Dynasty) Ning Chia (bio) Du Jiaji (杜家骥). Qingchao Man-Meng lianyin yanjiu 清朝满蒙联姻研究 (The Manchu-Mongol Intermarriage of the Qing Dynasty). Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2003. 702 pp. Paperback ¥.40.00, ISBN 7-01-003869-4. Qingchao Man-Meng lianyin yenjiu was the eighth book that history professor Du Jiaji (Nankai University in Tianjin, China) had published up to 2003, after his extraordinary accomplishment of 90 articles and one edited volume on Qing history and imperial bureaucracy. A volume based on his research from 1983 to 2003, this book thoroughly examines each of the 595 cases of intermarriages between the ruling Manchu family and Mongol noble families, from the first in 1612 to the last in Emperor Guangxu's time. Admirable efforts are made in the systematic investigation of valuable archival and documental resources, including 《玉牒》, 《满文老档》, 《黑图档》, 《内国史院档》, 《清实录》, 《起居注》, and the archives of 宗人府, 理藩部, 军机处, 内务府, and so on. Overcoming the scarcity of recorded information on the life of intermarried women, the author developed this topic research into a lengthy volume of 702 pages. Following on his previously published 19 journal articles and book chapters in the Chinese and Japanese languages, the author's complete coverage of the marriage cases over the longest periord of time and the largest area, and its thoughtfully comprehensive analysis has made this book an outstanding contribution to the field. The preface starts with commenting on the existing publications on the topic. It then introduces the major academic issues to be addressed under 11 subtopics. A section clarifying the definitions in this topic study is very important, elucidating who the "Mongols" in intermarriage were, why Qing intermarriage differed from historical heqin (appeasement) intermarriage during the Han and Tang dynasties, and what the special difficulties regarding Mongolian names are in the various kinds of historical records. The book is well organized into three sections with 25 chapters. The first section (chapters 1-14) presents the history of every Mongol tribe having a marital relationship with the ruling Manchu family. Each marriage case, from the 432 Manchu princesses who married out to Mongol tribes to the 163 Mongolian women who married into the ruling Manchu family, is well elaborated with names, times, reasons, and the start-to-end records. The work demonstrates author's highly skillful textual research. The second section (chapters 15-19) comments on the institution of marriage through the stages of Manchu rule from the first to the last Manchu emperor, Nurhaci to Pu Yi. Each of the crucial components of intermarriage is well discussed, including origins, changes, imperial regulations, wedding rituals and customs, livelihoods of married couples under imperial arrangements, family [End Page 406] (especially husband-wife) relations, funeral ceremonies, legal rules regarding intermarriage, and so on. Through illustrating its institutional formation and its changes over time, this section proves that intermarriage was a crucial part of the Manchu rule. The third section (chapters 20-24) analyzes the effect and influence of intermarriage on Manchu power and the Qing dynasty. Five areas are examined, including the effect of intermarriage on the Manchu-Mongol relationship through a broadly established marriage network, the expansion of Qing political rule through marriage ties, the impact of intermarriage on Mongolian civilization, the life of the numerous descendents of Manchu-Mongol mixed blood, and the effect of close-blood marriage on Qing population issues, especially the decline of the Mongol population. The highly politicized historical events in the Manchu, Mongol, and Qing histories (often in touch with the Han Chinese society) are integrated amazingly through the life stories of individuals who intermarried. The conclusion (chapter 25) presents the author's thoughtful remarks on the trend of intermarriages throughout the dynasty. The early marrying-in trend with more Mongolian women entering the Manchu ruling family was reversed by the marrying-out movement with more Manchu or Manchu-Mongol mixed-blood princesses moving out to Mongol families. Along with this change, the Manchu Mongol relationship was transformed from a political alliance of equals to that with a strong ruler-subject nature. The author states that the Qing fight against the Eleuth/Oriats in the West heavily relied on Mongol sons-in-law from the Khalka Mongols. These...