Listen to the Rain Notes

Author: Fog
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-12-01
Features: Listen to Rain Talk in twelve volumes, compiled by Qing Fog. Little is known about Fog's life. According to scattered references in the book, only that he was surnamed Feng, styled Shenzhi, and a Han Bannerman of the Aisin Gioro clan in the Inner Ministry, was the great-grandson of Yinglian, Grand Secretary during the Qianlong era. In the spring of the fifth year of the Xianfeng reign, he remained in the Shandong army of Genglinqin as a judicial officer of Huizhou, overseeing military affairs and managing case documents. Later, he was promoted to the post of Magistrate of Juzhou in Shandong. He was still alive before the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign. The author was familiar with Qing-era customs and recorded many institutional details, especially regarding the Manchu situation, such as the Eight Banners system, the Grand Council system, the examination system, and headgear and attire. Among these, the records of the customs and traditions of the Han and Manchu soldiers in the Inner Ministry were particularly detailed, offering valuable insights for the study of Qing history. As for any inaccuracies or inappropriate content, such as the records of ethnic minorities and neighboring countries, readers are expected to discern them on their own. The book has no printed editions, only a manuscript, originally kept by Fu Zengxiang and later transferred to the Beijing Library. The manuscript is written in black-inked ruled lines, titled "Shanbei Fog Shenzhi's Compilation," with nine lines per page and twenty-one characters per line. It has been heavily revised, with the title "Jiejing Tang Collection" carved on the page number. There are no prefaces or postscripts. The front cover bears the seals "Fu Zengxiang's Reading" and "National Beiping Library's Treasure." The title on the cover reads "Jiejing Tang Collection," with the subtitle "Bingchen Spring, Third Month, Middle Day." Based on this manuscript, Mr. Wang Beiping, who has passed away, divided the text into sentences and printed it, which was published in December 1959. This reprinted edition has been punctuated instead of divided into sentences and some errors have been corrected. The corrected or added characters are marked with ]], while the original incorrect or extra characters remain in ( ). As for paragraph annotations and other elements, they remain unchanged. Due to limited expertise, there may still be inaccuracies or errors, and we kindly ask readers to point them out. Jin Si, June 1983
Excerpt:
The two divisions of the Changbai Mountains are:
- Yudong'e and Zhechen, the two divisions of the Changbai Mountains;
- Neiyin and Daling, the three divisions of the East Sea;
- Weijie, Warka, and Kula, the four divisions of Hulun;
- Yehe, Hada, Huifan, and Wula.
Additionally, large clans such as the Guwalja, Fuhua, and Tongjia, numbering dozens, each occupied city-states, while smaller tribes ruled their own settlements, each governing their people and having city walls. The indigenous people were skilled in hunting and agriculture, unlike the nomadic Mongols. Those who surrendered early were organized into the "Old Manchus," while those subdued after the Chongde era were classified as "New Manchus." By the tenth year of the Kangxi reign, the Sologon and hunting tribes of Jilin were also included as "New Manchus," differing slightly from the Old Manchus in the Eight Banners. The Hezhe of the northern Northeast, the Chilin of the deer-herding tribes, the Hezhe, Feiyya, and Ewenki of the island-dwelling tribes, and the Hezhe who now supply furs, were not organized into banner units and did not belong to the Manchu Eight Banners. The old ruling clans and Manchu tribes of the Changbai Mountains, who surrendered before the Chongde era, mostly joined the upper three banners of the Manchu. Those who surrendered after the Chongde era, from the East Sea and Hulun tribes, mostly joined the lower three banners. In the capital, they were assigned to the Eight Banners, while outside, they were stationed around Shengjing and Xingjing. The Sibo near Jilin, the Gula near Baidu, and the Kula near Hunchun were each assigned to banner units and enrolled in military registers, collectively known as "Jilin Troops," not "Manchu Troops." The Sologon, Dahu'er, and Ewenki of the northern Heilongjiang were collectively known as "Heilongjiang Troops" or "Sologon Troops." The hunting and furs tribes of the far north remained under their original names and were not included in the Manchu roster.
The eighth banner unit under the fourth rank banner leader of the Aisin Gioro in the yellow and white banner was composed of Gula people, while the seventeenth banner unit included Russians, all admitted to the upper three banners for their early surrender. The troops of the three provinces in the East are skilled in archery and horseback riding. The court, imitating the Han dynasty's selection of talents from Gannan, selected troops from Jilin and Heilongjiang every ten years to recruit the most capable for imperial guard duty. First, the general selected them, then they were sent to Ningguta for several years, then transferred to Shengjing for two years, and finally presented to the capital. Those who passed the examination were assigned to banner units, known as "Yechen Manchus," and needed three generations to hold civil positions. Those who failed were sent back to their hometowns to serve. Those who retired and wished to return to their hometowns were permitted. The lower five banners of the Manchu were sometimes elevated to the upper three banners if their mothers were queens or imperial consorts, or if ministers had meritorious service. Similarly, Han soldiers with Manchu heritage, such as the Shi family of the white banner Han soldiers, originally from the Suwan Guwalja clan, were assigned to the Han army after serving in the Ming dynasty. The fourth banner unit under the fourth rank banner leader of the blue banner Han soldiers was transferred from the Manchu in the twelfth year of the Kangxi reign.
According to me, the Manchu, Mongol, and Han soldiers in the Eight Banners are arranged in order, distinguishing between close and distant relations. However, before the Tianming era, the imperial family's close relatives who followed and obeyed were the old tribal officials. At that time, the Inner Ministry banner units and leadership already had Han surnames, now known as the Inner Han soldiers. When the Qing dynasty conquered the East Sea and Hulun tribes, the soldiers were already present. In summary, while the Manchu, Mongol, and Han have distinctions of closeness, the are not comparable to the new Manchu, nor to the northern Qinghai. The Han surnames in the inner three banners are also not comparable to the Tianyou and Tianzhu troops.
Furthermore, according to the Book of Rites·Regulations of the King, the land within the four seas was merely three thousand li in circumference, not extending west to the Gobi, south to the Hengshan, east to the East Sea, or north to the Hengshan. At that time, the Baiyue had not yet been fully pacified, so the boundaries were set as the Yangtze and Hengshan. The Gobi was the Gobi of today, and the Hengshan was far beyond the frontier. Both were considered within the realm of direct rule. Yin Shi stated that before the Qin dynasty, the northwest was vast and the southeast narrow; after the Qin dynasty, the southeast expanded and the northwest shrank. This is how the old Manchu