EACS-2016. Book of Abstracts

Section 21 21st Biennial Conference of the European Association for Chinese Studies 231 endeavor into its proper historical context and argue that the textbook was not written just for pedagogical purpose but also to serve T.T . Meadows’ ambitions for his diplomatic career. Acloser look into the archival and textual manuscripts may even reveal evidences that could challenge our conventional picture of him. Laamann Lars Peter (SOAS, University of London) A Sino-Manchu Comparative Analysis of Clothes and Accessories Described in Xie Sui’s ‘Portraits of Periodical Offering’ 職貢圖 Key words: Qing history, Manchu civilisation, tributory system, Xie Sui, 職貢圖 The 職貢圖 (“Portraits of Periodical Offering”) compiled in 1751 by Xie Sui 謝遂 on behalf of the Qianlong court, continued a long-established imperial tradition of recording the habits and outer appear- ances of a large proportion of the foreign peoples known to successive Chinese empires. This paper deals with the description of foreigners in the Manchu version of Xie’s portraits, who had rendered their tribute to the Qing (Daiqing Gurun de tumen ba-i urse alban jafanjiha). Europeans will be in the focus of this study, with some parallels highlighted in the descriptions of other nationalities, as well as con- trasts in the Chinese and Manchu versions of this compilation. NB: Discussant X1 will be introducing the significance of ritual symbolism with a paper entitled “To objectify a Lama — How the 5th Panchen turned from an actor to a bargaining chip in the Sino-Tibetan relations of the 17th century”. The beneath summary should be included in the list of abstracts: At the turn of the 17th century, the relations of the Qing empire with Tibet constituted a crucial part of Manchu border policy. This was due to a perceived strong influence of Tibetan Buddhism Mongolian tribes, both allied and hostile. The Qing ascribed the most important role in these relations to the dominant Gelug school, mainly controlled by the 6th Dalai Lama and the 5th Panchen. In the discussions surrounding the conflicts between Beijing and Lhasa about border regions, one issue stands out — a previously failed visit of the Panchen to Beijing. Even though the Panchen is included in these discussions, his presence is treated more like a useful lever for negotiations between the 6th Dalai Lama and his regent on the one hand and the Qing on the other. Using recently published Manchu archival documents, this paper aims to elucidate how the Panchen was treated like a mere bargaining chip by Gelug and the Qing, and argues that he tried and succeeded in subverting being used as a mere tool. Li Renyuan (Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica) Transcribing Knowledge: Manuscripts and Household Encyclopedia in Chinese Villages Key words: household encyclopedia; textual culture; manuscript; transmission of knowledge; rural China Household encyclopedia (riyong leishu) is usually regarded as being published for popular audience, and its contents popular knowledge. However, since historians know little about how a household ency- clopedia was practically used by its owner, it would be dangerous to claim the systematic knowledge it presented was commonly shared by its audience. This paper attempts to respond to this question of recep- tion by observing the intersections between written and printed materials in rural China. I collected these written and printed materials from mountain villages in northeastern Fujian. Most of them are dated from the late 18th to the mid-20th century, and belongs to a family, which produced numerous Daoist masters and the only degree-holder in the history of this village. This collection contains numerous written manu- als that villagers compiled by themselves, as well as several printed books — household encyclopedia, literary references and primers etc.– that villagers purchased from elsewhere. The manuscripts show the knowledge and information that villagers selected to transcribe — many of them apparently came from printed materials, as one written manual was titled as Wanbao quanshu by its owner — and the way they organized them. The extant titles of printed books imply the publications the villagers tended to preserve, and the written words and marks on the pages disclose the readers’ perception of the printed contents. By analyzing these written and printed materials, this paper discusses the role of written manuals as an active