THE DIARY OF A MANCHU SOLDIER IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY CHINA The Manchu conquest of China inaugurated one of the most successful and long-living dynasties in Chinese history: the Qing (1644–1911). The wars fought by the Manchus to invade China and consolidate the power of the Qing imperial house spanned over many decades through most of the seventeenth century. This book provides the first Western translation of the diary of Dzengmeo, a young Manchu officer, and recounts the events of the War of the Three Feudatories (1673–1682), fought mostly in southwestern China and widely regarded as the most serious internal military challenge faced by the Manchus before the Taiping rebellion (1851–1864). The author’s participation in the campaign provides the close-up, emotional perspective on what it meant to be in combat, while also providing a rare window into the overall organization of the Qing army, and new data in key areas of military history such as combat, armament, logistics, rank relations, and military culture. The diary represents a fine and rare example of Manchu personal writing, and shows how critical the development of Manchu studies can be for our knowledge of China’s early modern history. Nicola Di Cosmo joined the Institute for Advanced Study, School of Historical Studies, in 2003 as the Luce Foundation Professor in East Asian Studies. He is the author of Ancient China and Its Enemies (Cambridge University Press, 2002) and his research interests are in Mongol and Manchu studies and Sino-Inner Asian relations. ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF ASIA IMPERIAL TOMBS IN TANG CHINA, 618–907 The politics of paradise Tonia Eckfeld ELITE THEATRE IN MING CHINA, 1368–1644 Grant Guangren Shen MARCO POLO’S CHINA A Venetian in the realm of Khubilai Khan Stephen G Haw THE DIARY OF A MANCHU SOLDIER IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY CHINA “My service in the army,” by Dzengmeo Introduction, translation, and notes by Nicola Di Cosmo THE DIARY OF A MANCHU SOLDIER IN SEVENTEENTH- CENTURY CHINA “My service in the army,” by Dzengmeo Introduction, translation, and notes by Nicola Di Cosmo First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2006 Introduction, translation and notes, Nicola Di Cosmo All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Dzengseo, fl. 1680–1681. The diary of a Manchu soldier in seventeenth-century China: my service in the army / by Dzengseo; introduction, translation and notes by Nicola Di Cosmo. p. cm.—(Routledge studies in the early history of Asia; 4) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. China—History—Rebellion of the Three Feudatories, 1673–1681—Sources. 2. Mongols—History—Sources. I. Di Cosmo, Nicola, 1957– II. Title. III. Series. DS754.66.D94 2006 951Ј.032092—dc22 2005036379 ISBN 0-203-96649-X Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 0–700–71611–4 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–700–71611–1 (hbk) FOR LIA CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Diary of my service in the army by Dzengmeo 46 2 Manchu text 88 Appendix: military ranks used in the translation 105 Glossary 106 Notes 111 References 132 Index to the translation 137 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book has been in the making for a long time, mainly because it did not intend to become a book (if books can be said to have intentions of their own) until I was persuaded that the text could profit from an integral translation into English, with introduction and notes, and that the resulting work could not be possibly pub- lished as an article. Over the many years in which I kept this text in the “Manchu materials” drawer, I received valuable suggestions, comments, and corrections from teachers, students, and colleagues with whom I shared it. I must start by expressing my sincere admiration for Professor Ji Yonghai, who first found, studied, and published the text of Dzengmeo’s diary, as mentioned in the Introduction. Without his discovery, this important source would still lie unrecognized and unknown in some dusty archive. My deepest gratitude goes to Lynn Struve, Geoffrey Parker, and Mark Elvin, who have at various stages offered generous comments, corrections, and suggestions on the draft text of the translation either in writing or in conversations. Among those colleagues who have commented on talks I have given about Dzengmeo’s war experience, I would like to thank in particular Alexander Woodside for the insightful remarks made at a conference in Lund some years ago. They have helped me delve more deeply into substantial issues of content as well as problematic points in the translation. Comments by Robert Hegel and again Lynn Struve at a conference at McGill were also very helpful as I revised the Introduction. I also extend my collective, but no less heartfelt, thanks to all friends and colleagues who asked questions and made observations as conferences and in private, and are too numerous to name. This text was used first as teaching material in Manchu classes I taught at Indiana University and Harvard University. As such, a portion of it (especially the first 4 or 5 pages) have benefited greatly from the advice and suggestions that came from students. I would like to thank especially the following former stu- dents of my Manchu class: Annika Culver, Vernon Eagle, Dorothea Heuschert, Lan Mei-hua, Li Ruohong, Ellen McGill, Pat Giersch, Gray Tuttle, and Kenji Schwarz. I am delighted to recognize everyone’s contributions, and if I am forgetting anyone, please forgive me as my notes are probably not as comprehensive as they ought to be. ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A special word of gratitude must be extended to several institutions. First, those that allowed me to teach Manchu, namely Indiana University and Harvard University. The need to train students in this important research language is still felt deeply in the field of Qing studies, and it is extremely gratifying to see that both institutions offer instruction in Manchu at the highest scholarly levels. Second, I would like to thank those institutions that made it possible for me to make progress on this book. I finished the translation while at the Institute for Advanced Study, where I was a Member in the Spring of 1999. I also benefited greatly from a grant of the Marsden Fund of the New Zealand Royal Society, which paid for time release, research support, and contributed funds for the maps included in this book. The good-humored and unflinching assistance from the Chair of the History Department at the University of Canterbury, Professor Peter Hempenstall, has been warmly appreciated. Finally, my assistants Dr Naimah Talib at the University of Canterbury and Maria Tuya at the Institute for Advanced Study have dedicated time and effort toward the completion of this book, for which I am extremely grateful. Mrs Tuya was particularly supportive, as she adroitly responded on my behalf to the con- stant demands posed by technological progress. Dr Tim Nolan, the cartographer, was simply a pleasure to work with, and the Publisher’s Editors, Ms Dorothea Schaefter and Mr Tom Bates, have been helpful, patient, and professional. Ms Maria Tuya and Ms Julia Bernheim have provided invaluable assistance with indexing and proofreading. Needless to say, I alone remain responsible for all the mistakes and shortcomings in this book. x Map 1 Dzengmeo’s campaign in southwestern China. Map 2 Dzengmeo’s itinerary from Yunnanfu to Beijing. INTRODUCTION In the Spring of 1644 victorious Manchu armies entered Beijing, the hitherto Ming capital, thus marking, at least by convention, the transition between the Ming (1368–1644) and the Qing (1644–1912) dynasties. We say “by convention” because the Qing dynasty had already been proclaimed in Manchuria eight years earlier, in 1636. On the other hand, the last claimant to the Ming throne, emperor Yongli, was only captured and executed in 1662, thus putting an end to the period known as the “Southern Ming” (1644–1662).1 Not a small role in the Manchu conquest had been played by General Wu Sangui (1612–1678). This complex and tragic historical figure had been central to the Manchus’ ability to conquer China in several respects. As Commander of the Ming army on the Manchurian border, his defection to the Manchus allowed the latter’s nearly unopposed invasion of China. Moreover, his troops were used effectively against the peasant rebel troops that had seized the Ming capital and would have offered resistance to the Manchus. Finally, he played a critical role in the pursuit and destruction of “Southern Ming” armies, finally capturing the fleeing would-be Ming emperor in Burma and executing him in Yunnan. Would the Manchus have been able to carry out their “great enterprise” and conquer China had the Ming general not defected? Surely the Manchu leaders recognized his contribution to their victory by piling on him honors and rewards that had few if any equals among the Ming military leaders that switched allegiance to the Manchus.