Precious documents for studying Eight Banners
Archives of the Eight Banners
The Eight Banners, also known as the Banner system, was the core system established by Aisin Gioro Nurhaci for the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). The political, economic, historical, cultural and artistic aspects of Qing society evolved based on this system. It is of high necessity to collect and select documents of the Eight Banners to study the history and culture of the Qing Dynasty. Considering this, Archives of the Eight Banners is a precious reference in the field.
Its contents consist of many valuable documents circulating outside China’s mainland, including those now preserved in the Harvard-Yenching Library of Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo, and the libraries of Waseda University as well as Taiwan University. In addition, the collection covers a rich variety of materials, such as academic monographs and poems. It involves economics, politics, military, culture, art, history, religion and many other aspects of the Eight Banners, reflected in works such as Huai Ting Zai Bi (Notes of the Pagoda Tree Hall, literally), En Fu Tang Bi Ji (Notes of the Blessing Hall), Xu Bai Zhai Shi Ji (Poetry Anthology of the Emptiness Room) and Yi Yuan Lun Hua (Yiyuan’s Views on Painting). All these are precious materials for studying the culture and history of the Eight Banners and the Qing Dynasty.
It’s worth noting that this collection also includes chronicles of the lives of some Eight Banner celebrities and the pedigrees of some notable Eight Banner families, such as genealogies of the families of Niohuru, Heseri and Neyinfuca Hala.
The document collection of Archives of the Eight Banners has comprehensive categories and pays attention to rare texts, and it can serve as a helpful complement to official history records. For example, in terms of biographies in Archives of the Eight Banners, there are 95 people not recorded in the biography section of Ba Qi Lie Zhuan (Records of the Eight Banners), an official compilation of the Qing government, and 70 people not recorded in Qing Shi Lie Zhuan (Biographies of the Qing Dynasty). Documents relating to some major historical events during the time of Emperor Shunzhi (r. 1644–61), Emperor Kangxi (r. 1661–1722) and Emperor Yongzheng (r. 1722–35) are also provided, such as situations involving the suppression of the remaining peasant uprising forces that were led by Li Zicheng, and the repression of the Revolt of the Three Feudatories during the years 1673 to 1681. These provide us with a panoramic view of the Qing Dynasty together with Qing Shi Lu (Records of the Qing Dynasty) and other official compiled historical data. It also presents us with detailed description of promotions, relegations, and rewards and punishments received by some historical figures, a display of the official systems of the Qing Dynasty.
edited by YANG LANLAN