(Berlin State Library)
Histories of Manchu Literature
68th Annual Meeting of the PIAC, Bangkok 2026
Books written in Manchu were of great interest in Europe from the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, as people wanted to learn from primary sources what the new rulers of the Chinese Empire had in mind and were planning. In contrast to this curiosity, however, there was debate over whether Manchu literature in the strict sense even existed—while there were many 37translations from Chinese literature, ranging from historical, administrative, legal, medical, and linguistic manuals to novellas and novels, could one speak of an independent Manchu literature? Thus, it was not until nearly the end of the dynasty that overviews of Manchu literature appeared, and these took various forms: Most were brief, about 5–10 pages long, listing important works of translated literature and outlining their scope and themes. A few followed the model of European literary histories and went into greater detail. It was not until the 20th century that it became clear that there were indeed a number of original Manchu texts, most of which, however, were not available in print and were therefore rare and had not yet been analyzed; therefore, this did not automatically lead to a significant expansion of literary histories. Rather, this widening of the scope took the form of individual studies, such as those on narrative literature, religious texts, medical treatises, archival material, and recent publications by the Sibe ethnic group in the Ili region. A first and preliminary attempt at a comprehensive overview focusing on the 17th and 18th centuries was undertaken by Tatiana Pang in the form of her PhD dissertation.
The present paper attempts to describe and evaluate the different approaches to Manchu literature by historians.