THE SHAMANIC EMPIRE AND THE HEAVENLY ASTUTE KHAN: ANALYSIS OF THE SHAMANIC EMPIRE OF THE EARLY QING, ITS ROLE IN INNER ASIAN HEGEMONY, THE NATURE OF SHAMANIC KHANSHIP, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MANCHU IDENTITY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT MANOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY May 2020 By Stephen Garrett Thesis Committee: Shana Brown, Chairperson Edward Davis Wensheng Wang Keywords: Qing Dynasty, Manchu, Mongol, Inner Asia, Shamanism, Religion and Empire Acknowledgments: I would like to first and foremost show my deepest gratitude to my master’s thesis advisor, Dr. Shana Brown, whose ongoing uplifting support and instrumental advice were central to my academic success, without which I couldn’t have reached the finish line. I would also like to extend deepest thanks to my master’s thesis committee members Dr. Edward Davis and Dr. Wensheng Wang, who freely offered their time, efforts, and expertise to support me during this thesis project. Additionally, I would like to extend thanks to Dr. Mathew Lauzon and Dr. Matthew Romaniello, who both offered a great deal of academic and career advice, for which I am greatly appreciative. Special thanks to my peers: Ryan Fleming, Reed Riggs, Sun Yunhe, Wong Wengpok, and the many other friends and colleagues I have made during my time at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. They have always been a wellspring of academic advice, discussion, and support. While writing my master’s thesis, I have had the pleasure of working with the wonderful professional staff and faculty of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, whose instruction and support were invaluable to my academic success. I would like to gratefully acknowledge several organizations for their financial support in the pursuit of my foreign language training and master’s degree. Firstly, the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s School of Pacific and Asian Studies, which through its FLAS fellowship provided me with financial support for the study of Chinese language throughout my degree. As well as to the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University Bloomington for its FLAS fellowship support of my study of Mongolian language. Secondly, I would like to thank the Eu Tong Sen Memorial fellowship for its financial support of my exchange study at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I am deeply grateful to American Councils, which through its Critical Language Scholarship Program allowed me the opportunity ii to spend a summer immersed in the Chinese language at Dalian University of Technology. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the Taiwan United States Alliance Global Ambassador Scholarship Program for supporting my summer study of Chinese language at National Cheng Kung University. Lastly, I would like to thank the East-West Center for allowing me to present my thesis research at the 19th East-West Center International Graduate Student Conference. In conclusion, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my parents and two sisters for their constant encouragement, motivation, and moral support. During this greatly rewarding but also challenging journey, you were always just a phone call away. iii ABSTRACT The Manchu-ruled Qing dynasty currently exists as one of China’s most successful but simultaneously controversial historical periods. The Qing’s territorial expansion, ethnic diversity, and cultural production have long been lauded by contemporary Chinese scholars. Contemporaneous to these points of pride has been a disagreement over the nature of the Manchu-ruled dynasty. The dominant narrative argues, that the Manchus, even before placing the young Shunzhi emperor on the dragon throne, had succumbed to the siren’s call of thousands of years of Chinese culture and thus were not truly distinct but the latest ethnic minority group to assimilate into the Chinese tradition. This study, however, seeks to problematize this narrative by examining the nature of Manchu rule through the lens of Inner Asian traditions, Manchu Shamanic practices, and Shamanic worldview. This study focusing on the first six Qing rulers argues that within the early dynasty existed a conceptual inner empire through which inherently Shamanic institutions, relationships, and shared concepts of legitimacy not only bound the Manchu emperors with the Bannermen peoples garrisoned throughout the empire but also created the foundation of Manchu sovereignty over the Siberian and Mongol allies. These institutional relationships were established by the dynastic founder Nurhaci (1559-1626) and perfected under the ingenious leadership of Hong Taiji. This study examines the process of unprecedented state centralization which stripped both political and spiritual authority from the Manchu shaman and saw the Manchu rulers become the masters of ritual and the arbiters of heterodoxy. It also counters the tautological Buddhist explanations of Manchu leadership in Inner Asia and proposes a reframing of the issue in order to highlight the sustained significance of Shamanic concepts and institutions in Qing Inner Asia. Ultimately, this study, in conjunction with the paradigms of the New Qing History and utilizing a wide range of primary and secondary sources, restores the Manchu perspective to the study of Qing history. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments: .………………………………………………………………………………ii Abstract:…………………………………………………………………………………………..iv List of Figures:..………………………………………………………………..............................vi List of Abbreviations:……………………………………………………………………………vii INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW: …………………………………………….1 • Methodology and Analysis………………………………………………………………...6 CHAPTER I: THE ROLE OF SHAMANISM IN THE RISE OF THE MANCHU EMPIRE:…11 • Shamanism as Empire?.......................................................................................................11 • Manchu Sovereignty and the Rise of the Heavenly Astute Khan……………………...…17 • Tanistry and Manchu Politics in the Inner Asian Context………………………………..22 • Manchu Shamanism and the Concept of Sacred Khanship………………………………35 • The Role of Shamans in Manchu Khanal Legitimacy…………………………………....40 • Manchu Sovereignty in the Inner Asian Context: The Role of the Shamanic Empire in Manchu Hegemony over the Mongols…………………………………………………....47 CHAPTER II: THE SHAMANIC PRACTICE OF THE MANCHUS:………………………....62 • The Shamanic Sites of the Manchus and the Birth of a Shamanic Empire……………….63 • The Esoteric Tools of the Manchu Shaman………………………………………………71 • The Sacred Craft of the Manchu Shaman……………………………………………...…78 • The Great Purge and the Struggle for the Shamanic Empire……………………………..88 • The Legal Mechanisms of the Persecution of Wild Shamanism………………………..100 CHAPTER III: THE NEW QING RITUAL AND THE SHAMANIC EMPIRE:……………..110 • Shamanic Folklorization as a Mechanism of Empire…………………………………...110 • Clan Shamanism Under the New Qing Ritual…………………………………………..115 • Ritual Form as Empire…………………………………………………………………..118 • The Tangse Rituals:……………………………………………………………………..119 • The Kuninggong Rituals:……………………………………………………………......146 • The Structure of the New Qing Ritual………………………………………………......154 CONCLUSION: THE COLLAPSE OF THE SHAMANIC EMPIRE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR MANCHU IDENTITY…………………………………………………………………...166 • The Fall of Qing Shamanic Authority…………………………………………………...166 • Manchu Sinicization and the Path Forward for Manchu Studies…………………...…...174 BIBLIOGRAPHY:……………………………………………………………………………...182 v List of Figures Fig. 1: Sacrificial altar and implements located within the Tangse.……………………..65 Fig. 2: Diagram of the Tangse grounds.…………………………………………………69 Fig. 3: Photograph of the Beijing Tangse………………………………………………..70 Fig. 4: Photograph of the Kunninggong located in the Forbidden City, Beijing………...71 Fig. 5: Shaman drum and drumstick……………………………………………………..72 Fig. 6: The Spirit Pole known as (somo)………………………………………………....75 Fig. 7: The image of the Nisan Shamaness provides an excellent depiction of Manchu Shamanic garments……………………………………………………………………....76 Fig. 8.1 and 8.2: Two images of Shamanic tools of invocation………………………….78 Fig. 9.1 and 9.2: Two images depicting Manchu shamans engaging in tiaoshen ritual....80 Fig. 10.1 and 10.2: Manchu shamans engaging in ritual dance………………………….86 Fig. 11: The Emperor Greeting the Triumphant Troops Outside of the Capital 1772….137 Fig. 12: The Victory Banquet 1770…………………………………………………….138 Fig. 13: Prisoners Presented to the Emperor 1767–74………………………………….142 Fig. 14.1 and 14.2: Two diagrams of the Praying into Darkness ritual………………...150 Fig. 15.1 and 15.2: Manchu shamans engaging in tiaoshen ritual……………………...156 Fig. 16: Manchu Shamanic sacrifice taking place in village courtyard in 1980s………164 Fig. 17.1 and 17.2: Invocation of eagle spirit and pork offering on Shamanic altar…...165 vi Abbreviations MWLD – Manwen Laodang 滿文老檔 The Old Manchu Chronicles MZJSJTDL- Manzhou jishen jitian dianli 滿洲祭神祭天典禮 Imperially Commissioned Manchu Rites for Sacrifices to the Spirits and to Heaven YZHD - Yongzheng Huidian 雍正会典 vii INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW The Manchu-ruled Qing dynasty (1636-1911) has been subject to a great deal of examination and debate by both Asian and Western scholars. No element of Manchu rule has been contested as hotly as the question of whether the Manchus were in fact “Sinicized” and if so, how did this process come about?1 This debate has spawned several theoretical factions, each purporting a divergent take on the question of Sinicization. The theory of Sinicization stems