Text: The Silent Sheep
Silent Sheep
According to the 2023 national population statistics, there are more than 10 million Manchus in the mainland, mainly living in the northeast.
The Manchus ruled China for nearly three hundred years, and the Qing Dynasty had only fallen for more than a hundred years, and the Manchu language had already reached a dead end.
Nowadays, almost all of those who can speak Manchu are elderly, and only a handful of them can read Manchu like rare animals.
As they grow old, will the Manchu language be lost?
The birth of every word and language is driven by a specific environment, a tool created for the exchange of information and emotional thoughts.
In the same way, the most direct reason for the demise of a language is the low rate of use.
Because there is not enough words and deeds, it is forgotten in the long river of history.
Manchu is listed as one of the critically endangered languages by the United Nations, and fewer and fewer Manchus are willing to speak it today.
The reason behind this is closely related to the subjective and objective factors of the development of the Manchu language.
Lose the literal backing
The moment human society appeared, language was produced simultaneously, and it was only after human beings evolved to a certain level that writing was born.
Although they are all communication symbols, the language without words as a carrier is like a lonely boat that cannot dock and has no foundation.
Without language, there is no society; Without writing, society cannot develop.
Before the Manchus entered the customs, Nurhachi had heard about the Jin Dynasty's creation of its own language system by combining Chinese and Khitan languages.
The practical communication problems he faced after entering the customs made him realize the importance of the Manchu script to the establishment and consolidation of the dynasty.
So he ordered to draw on the experience of the Jurchens of the Jin Dynasty and combine the Mongolian and Manchu languages to create the Manchu language.
Unfortunately, the Mongolian text is not mature and perfect, and the hastily created script for the sake of writing is always full of loopholes.
These Manchu texts were forcibly used for more than 30 years before they were abandoned.
After the Qing army entered the customs, the Manchurian aristocracy took power, and Manchu became the only official designated language.
Huang Taiji was instrumental in promoting the widespread use of the Manchu language.
The reform produced the new Manchu language, and further expanded the scope of use of the new Manchu language.
The few inscriptions and Manchu texts in the literature that have been preserved to this day are the new Manchu texts implemented by Huang Taiji.
The breadth and profundity of Chinese characters
Compared to the Manchu language, which was coined for domination, the thousand-year-old Chinese language is more natural and flexible to use.
In addition, when the Manchus entered the Guannai to rule the Central Plains, they were originally to be the overlords of the Han people's territory.
Unable to screw the large base of the Han population in the Central Plains and the mature Chinese environment, the children of the Eight Banners began to slowly filter out the Manchu language.
In order to facilitate communication, the Manchus who came in from outside the customs could only learn Chinese, and gradually abandoned their mother tongue.
Almost all the characters in the Central Plains are in common Chinese characters, whether it is historical books or daily records, there are Chinese characters everywhere.
After the Qing rulers promoted the Manchurian aristocracy to learn Chinese in order to infiltrate the Han culture, the Manchu children spoke Chinese more smoothly.
By the time of the Qianlong period, many Manchu officials had weak Manchu literacy skills.
For this reason, Qianlong had to increase the promotion of the Manchu language.
Not only did he personally speak Manchu on formal occasions, but he also made it mandatory for officials of all ethnic groups to use Manchu when communicating with him.
However, the Manchu officials were not inferior in their ability to see and dismantle the moves.
They memorized the contents of the report in Manchu in advance, and when they arrived at the court, they mechanically output it.
In the eyes of the Qing rulers, the excellent cultural traditions of the Manchus were the foundation of the country.
Mounted archery is regarded as a Manchu characteristic culture that cannot be declined, and Kangxi once emphasized that if Manchuria abolished mounted archery, it would be completely sinicized.
Therefore, Qianlong regarded the "Chinese cavalry shooting" as a cohesive bridge that twisted the Manchurians into a rope.
He demanded that the children of the Eight Banners not forget the most basic Manchu language and cavalry archery, and not forget the fundamentals of the nation in order to put an end to the sinicization of the Manchus.
If you have worked hard to inherit and promote the culture of your own nation, you will do your best to obey the destiny of heaven.
The development of history is always moving forward, and anything that does not adapt to the pace of history will be eliminated.
Although the Qing emperors repeatedly emphasized the benefits of the Manchu language, very few of the Manchu civil and military personnel were willing to use the Manchu language, and the ministers volunteered to learn Chinese characters.
The imperial examination system of the Qing Dynasty was a threshold for Han Chinese, and as long as they were Manchus, they could enter the court as officials without going through the imperial examination.
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, in order to apply the Four Books and Five Classics to the official career, they used the rigorous and orderly eight-strand text to write official documents, and these Manchu children resolutely joined the scientific expedition army.
The rulers of the Qing Dynasty did not understand that this was the "unity of Manchu and Han" that they had been advocating.
Unfortunately, the ruling class of the Qing Dynasty was stubborn and could not see the shortcomings of the Manchu language, and its lack of vocabulary was a major flaw.
The language and writing were developed based on society, and originated in the Manchu script of the fishing and hunting economy, and the description of species in this era is quite detailed.
After the Manchus entered Shanhaiguan, they had to adapt to the agricultural economic model of the Central Plains.
The transformation of the economic form also brings a problem, the Manchu language has not yet produced words related to the agricultural economic form.
This is troublesome, the Manchu script does not know how to express it, does not know Chinese, cannot consult experienced Han Chinese, and cannot understand Chinese character literature.
Since they are already "under the eaves", the Manchurians have to learn the Chinese as a stepping stone first.
The practicality is not strong, and the Manchu language itself is complicated.
In addition, the rulers also strangely prescribed this language to symbolize aristocratic status, which the grassroots Manchus did not deserve to use.
The self-conscious ruling class of the Qing Dynasty offended all the Manchus at the bottom who could really promote the Manchu language.
In a fit of rage, they never spoke Manchu again, and did not write Manchu.
The Manchurian aristocracy, on the other hand, was quietly obsessed with the culture of Chinese characters and could not extricate themselves.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, known as the military book of the Qing Dynasty, was not only liked by the rulers of the Qing Dynasty, but also became a classic book read by Manchu generals when translated into Manchu.
Constantly reading excellent Chinese character literary works has made the thinking of the Manchu children also change subtly.
After hundreds of years of cultural edification, the Central Plains culture has infiltrated into the Manchu culture, and the values of the Central Plains culture have also been integrated into the blood and blood of the Manchu people.
National integration is the trend of the times
At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, in order to ensure the sanctity of the Manchu language, the rulers implemented a series of measures such as prohibiting Manchu and Han intermarriages and prohibiting Han people from leaving the customs.
But even the emperor's ministers married Han Chinese, and the situation of intermarriage between the two clans was irreversible.
The Manchu and Han families, in addition to the fusion of blood, the living habits, language and customs of the Manchu people were slowly sinicized.
It is the language that makes up the nation, and the demise of the language is the fusion of the nation.
As an important branch of the traditional culture of the Chinese nation, the Manchu language needs to be protected and inherited urgently.
This is not only conducive to learning more about the history and culture of the Manchu people, but also to protect the treasures of Chinese culture.