Becoming and Unbecoming Manchu: Revisiting the Role of the State in Manchu Identity Formation During and After the Qing
3: Manchu Identity and Realigning Manchu Legal Privileges in the 18th-Century Qing Empire
Friday, March 25, 2022
3:30pm – 5:00pm EST
Location: Virtual
Virtual Paper Presenter(s)
XC
Xiao Chen
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States
This paper sheds light on the shifting definitions of Manchu ethnicity in the eighteenth-century Qing empire by examining the sanctions of criminal tattooing (cizi) and frontier banishment (faqian) against members of the Manchu Eight Banners. Contrary to the long-held view that Manchus were largely exempt from these two harsh and humiliating punishments, my findings suggest otherwise, namely that the administration of prescribed legal privileges were subject to significant changes comparable to those affecting other sectors in the Eight Banners. During the latter half of the eighteenth century, in redefining Manchu identity, the Qing state subjected many underclass Manchu bannermen to tattooing and frontier banishment for offenses categorized as shaming the “Manchu face (Ch. manzhou yanmian; Ma. manjusai dere)”. Using under-explored Manchu-language legal archives and imperial edicts, this paper reveals what these offenses were and how they relate to the Qing ethnic discourse. It argues that by enforcing normative principles within the Manchu banner system, the divide between an institutionalized state-sanctioned Manchu identity and the reality of life in the Manchu communities became more pronounced. Overall, by examining the dynamics between the two legal privileges and Manchu identity, this paper suggests that ethnicity should be regarded as an ongoing process which clearly included a dynamic process rather than static legal prescriptions.
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