Chinese history / Buddhism ELVERSKOG (Continued from front fl ap) OUR GREAT QING “Johan Elverskog has rewritten the political and intellectual history of Th e Mongols, Buddhism and the State in Late Imperial China as representing a single community that Mongolia from the bottom up, telling a convincing story that clarifi es Although it is generally believed that the had been rescued by the gracious Manchu for the fi rst time the revolutions which Mongolian concepts of com- Manchus controlled the Mongols through rulers during the civil wars of the early sev- munity, rule, and religion underwent from 1500 to 1900. His account their patronage of Tibetan Buddhism, enteenth century. A key element fostering of Qing rule in Mongolia doesn’t just tell us what images the Qing em- scant attention has been paid to the Mon- this change was the Qing court’s promo- perors wished to project, but also what images the Mongols accepted gol view of the Qing imperial project. In tion of Gelukpa orthodoxy, which not only themselves, and how these changed over the centuries. In the scope contrast to other accounts of Manchu rule, transformed Mongol historical narratives of time it covers, the originality of the views advanced, and the accu- QING OUR GREAT Our Great Qing focuses not only on what and rituals but also displaced the earlier racy of the scholarship upon which it is based, Our Great Qing seems images the metropole wished to project vernacular Mongolian Buddhism. Finally, destined to mark a watershed in Mongolian studies. It will be essential onto Mongolia, but also on what images Elverskog demonstrates how this eigh- reading for specialists in Mongolian studies and will make an impor- the Mongols themselves acknowledged. teenth-century conception of a Mongol Rather than accepting the Manchu’s use tant contribution and riposte to the ‘new Qing history’ now changing community, ruled by an aristocracy and of Buddhism, Johan Elverskog begins by the face of late imperial Chinese history. Specialists in Tibetan Bud- nourished by a Buddhist emperor, gave questioning the static, unhistorical, and way to a pan-Qing solidarity of all Bud- dhism and Buddhism’s interaction with the political realm will also hegemonic view of political life implicit dhist peoples against Muslims and Chris- fi nd this work challenging and thought-provoking.” in the Buddhist explanation. By stressing tians and to local identities that united for —Christopher Atwood, Indiana University instead the fl uidity of identity and Bud- the fi rst time aristocrats with commoners dhist practice as processes continually in a new Mongol Buddhist identity on the “In a sweeping overview of four centuries of Mongolian history that developing in relation to state formations, eve of the twentieth century. draws on previously untapped sources, Johan Elverskog opens up to- this work explores how Qing policies were tally new perspectives on some of the most urgent questions historians understood by Mongols and how they By providing an intellectual history of have recently raised about the role of Buddhism in the constitution came to see themselves as Qing subjects. Mongol self-representations in late im- of the Qing empire. Th eoretically informed and strongly comparative perial China, Our Great Qing off ers an In his investigation of Mongol society on in approach, Elverskog’s work tells a fascinating and important story insightful analysis of the principal changes the eve of the Manchu conquest, Elverskog that Mongolian concepts of community, that will interest all scholars working at the intersection of religion reveals the distinctive political theory of rule, and religion underwent from 1500 to and politics.” decentralization that fostered the civil war 1900 while off ering new insights into Qing —Mark Elliott, Harvard University among the Mongols. He explains how it and Buddhist history. It will be essential was that the Manchu Great Enterprise was reading for a range of diff erent audiences, Jacket illustration: An offi cial document dated 1832 that describes cases of not to win over “Mongolia” but was instead from those working specifi cally in Sino- insurgency and robbery in Inner Mongolia and requests the help of lamas to create a unifi ed Mongol community of Inner Asian history to those interested in the area in suppressing these violations against law and order. which the disparate preexisting communi- more broadly in the history of empires, Source: Mong. 502 from Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen, Denmark. ties would merely be component parts. To their peripheries, and the role of religion in foster this change, Manchu rulers sought communal and state formations. Jacket design by Santos Barbasa Jr. religious sanction “from above” through the cult of Chinggis Khan and with this UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I PRESS mandate set about to restructure the cult Johan Elverskog is assistant professor Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822-1888 itself and the Mongol aristocrats as mem- in the Department of Religious Studies at bers of a unifi ed empire. As a result, the ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-3021-2 Southern Methodist University. ISBN-10: 0-8248-3021-0 Mongol nobility came to see themselves JOHAN ELVERSKOG (Continued on back fl ap) www.uhpress.hawaii.edu Our Great Qing Our Great Qing The Mongols, Buddhism and the State in Late Imperial China Johan Elverskog University of Hawai‘i Press Honolulu © 2006 University of Hawai‘i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 11 10 09 08 07 06 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data Elverskog, Johan. Our great Qing : the Mongols, Buddhism and the state in late imperial China / Johan Elverskog. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8248-3021-2 (hbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8248-3021-0 (hbk. : alk. paper) 1. Mongols—History. 2. Buddhism. 3. China—History—Qing dynasty, 1644–1912. I. Title. DS19.E58 2006 951'.03—dc22 2006012482 University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources. Designed by University of Hawai‘i production staff Printed by the Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group Now one of the most obscure of our institutions is that of the empire itself. In Peking, naturally, at the imperial court, there is some clarity to be found on this subject, though even that is more elusive than real. Also the teachers of political law and history in the schools of higher learning claim to be exactly informed on these matters, and to be capable of passing on their knowledge to their students. The farther one descends among the lower schools the more, naturally enough, does one ¤nd teachers’ and pupils’ doubts of their own knowledge vanishing, and super¤cial culture mounting sky-high around a few precepts that have been drilled into people’s minds for centuries, precepts which, though they have lost nothing of their eternal truth, remain eternally invisible in this fog of confusion. But it is precisely this question of the empire which in my opinion the common people should be asked to answer, since after all they are the empire’s ¤nal support. —Franz Kafka, The Great Wall of China Contents Acknowledgments /xi Note on Transcription / xiii Mongol Reign Periods /xv Qing Reign Periods /xvii Introduction / 1 1. The Mongols on the Eve of Conquest / 14 2. The Mongols and Political Authority / 40 3. Qing Ornamentalism and the Cult of Chinggis Khan / 63 4. The Poetics, Rituals and Language of Being Mongol, Buddhist and Qing / 90 5. The Buddhist Qing and Mongol Localization in the Nineteenth Century / 127 Epilogue / 166 Notes /171 List of Tibetan Spellings / 207 Chinese Character Glossary / 209 References / 211 Index / 235 vii Till minnet av min far Acknowledgments This book is about challenging conventional narratives, thus I would like to begin by thanking my family. Nothing would have been possible without them. My mother’s support through the years is beyond ¤lial recompense; and, for in- spiring me in so many ways, I dedicate this book to the memory of my father. My brothers have also always challenged me, and perhaps more important, brought me down to earth. And the wider family, from Sweden to Finland to Serbia, has always helped in putting into perspective the important things in life. Last, LilJana and Sebastian have done so much for me it is simply beyond words. What follows, however, is a collection of words. It has appeared in many avatars. Its initial incarnation was as a dissertation; thus for their teaching, guid- ance and help throughout the years I thank my advisors, Christopher Atwood, György Kara, Jan Nattier, Elliot Sperling and Lynne Struve. I would also like to thank my many other teachers at Indiana University, especially Stephen Boken- kamp, Robert Campany, Larry Clark, Roger Janelli, Larry Moses, Robert Orsi and Michael Walter. Moreover, having now spent a few years on the other side of the desk and grappled with the pleasures and perils of teaching, I would like to thank my earlier teachers who helped foster my particular path: Gerald Berreman, James Carse, Alan Dundes, Robert Goldman, P. S. Jaini, Mark Juergensmeyer, Clara Sue Kidwell, Lewis Lancaster, Karen McCarthy-Brown, Jan Muhammad and Richard Payne. Many others, some knowingly others unwittingly, have also helped me in various ways in the writing of this book. For all their help in reading through ear- lier drafts, raising questions at conferences, sharing with me their own work and generally helping me re¤ne my thinking I thank Brian Baumann, Lubos Belka, Patricia Berger, Uradyn Bulag, Isabelle Charleux, Coyiji, Pamela Crossley, Mark Elliott, Caroline Humphrey, Inoue Osamu, Matthew Kapstein, Kim Songsuu, John Krueger, Peter Marsh, Ellen McGill, James Millward, Aleksandr Naymark, Peter Perdue, Sarah Schneewind, Bruce Tindall, Nikolay Tsyrempilov, Gray Tuttle, Joanna Waley-Cohen, John Wills and all my colleagues at SMU.