05.05.08

To the End of the Queue

Posted in Introductory at 9:01 pm by sima

Over the last year or so, Beijing Sounds has been a source of inspiration for those of us grappling with the finer points of life in China. Mandarin language obsessives have been treated to recordings and analyses of real Běijīnghuà, spoken by Beijingers young and old, as well as some of the other sounds one might hear out and about on the streets of the capital, and even the outlying lands.

All of this has led to detailed discussions, most of which have remained vaguely connected to the original subject matter. But in recent months, questions have been arising more quickly than anyone has been able to put them to bed. Indeed three of us have become quite obsessed with the current state of Manchu and whether it had an influence on modern Standard Mandarin.

It may have been Ken Grey, a sometime Beijing Sounds commenter, who planted the seed. He mentioned a time, not so very long ago, when the Manchu language could be heard on the streets of Beijing. If this was the case, who were the Manchu and where did they all go?

A quick search came up with the following description of them, from a webpage describing the circumstances of each of China’s 56 ethnic groups.

Man (Manchu)

Population: 9.8 million
Location: Northern China

Manchu has a history more than 2,000 years. They mainly live in Liaoning and East Northern China. Their ancestors mixed with Han Chinese, Mongolian and Koreans in their early settlement. They governed China for more than 300 years during Qing Dynasty. Unfortunately Qing brought great disaster to China. The imperial court failed to stop the Western power invading China with their newest arms and opium. It took Chinese 80 years to clean up the mess and only until December 20, 1999, the last colony, Macao, reverted back to China from 500 years occupation by Portuguese. The only Chinese land still under foreign occupation is Diaoyutai Island, which was given to Japan by American at the end of the World War II.

Yikes! It wouldn’t be surprising if they kept their heads down. But still, each of us has met people who volunteer the information that they are ethnic Manchu. This has usually been followed by our asking, “Can you speak the language?” a question which is usually answered with some mumbling about a vague memory that their grandfather used to know a few words…but he’s ‘gone’.

Other enquiries about the language are generally met with something along the lines of, “Well, after they came to power, they gave up their language and culture.”

However, it seems that there does remain a handful of elderly mother-tongue Manchu speakers in a village called 三家子(Sānjiāzi), which is way up in China’s Northeastern-most province, 黑龙江(Hēilóngjiāng). After some rooting around, we managed to turn up a video of some of them speaking phrases from a book published by the Central University for Nationalities.

In the last few years there has been considerable activity in the name of recording and even saving the language. Sānjiāzi has attracted visitors from far and wide. One such visitor even claims descent from the Qing imperial family, Aisin Gioro, and dresses to prove the point.

Though preservation of a language seems to us a most noble cause, and though the training of translators to be able to unlock the secrets of thousands of as yet undeciphered documents from the Qing era would, no doubt, offer great insights into a hugely important period in Chinese history, we wonder whether there may be an even more interesting angle to all of this…

Since Ken made his comments, each of us, in the normal course of grappling with Pǔtōnghuà , Běijīnghuà and Dōngběihuà, keeps running into mention of Manchu. It appears that that charming expression 马马虎虎 (mǎmahūhū) comes from the Manchu ‘lalahuhu’; indeed we understand that Altaic languages, amongst which Manchu is counted, are generally big on reduplication. In the Northeast, 抓 (zhuā) can also be pronounced (chuǎ ) meaning, specifically, ‘to snatch something up’; this use appears to have been first recorded in Dream of the Red Chamber, the Qing Dynasty classic, written by Cáo Xuěqín, who was himself nominally Manchu. Our old favorite subject, 儿化 (érhuà), the origins of which remain elusive, seems to have been first recorded in the late Qing. Even Mandarin, which originally referred to a standard set down for use by anyone wishing to address government officials, was heavily promoted under the Qing, who seem to have set their own Beijing standard.

None of the above proves very much, indeed perhaps only a true laowai would be foolish enough to try to join the dots, but the more we dig, the more we find. A 1996 paper by Stephen A. Wadley in the Journal of the American Oriental Society suggested that Beijing dialect in particular may have been more heavily influenced by Manchu than is usually assumed. Increasingly, we find references in Chinese and English, which suggest that, just as the Manchu people are still among us, perhaps the Manchu language remains, not just as a dying language to be studied before it finally expires, but as words and sounds which cross our lips every day.

In light of this, we shall try to record and investigate whatever traces of Manchu we find. Should these traces be few, surely there is value in rarity. Should they be many, they may just enable us to better understand this vast and varied language, Mandarin. Either way, we intend to have fun and will post whatever we find, or fail to find, subject to the following.

We, the Manchu language enthusiasts of Echoes of Manchu, do solemnly swear:

• To tirelessly pursue any clue as to the true nature and influence of the Manchu language, as long as our families and employers don’t mind too much.
• To ensure, in the name of 周有光 Zhōu Yǒuguāng , that every Chinese character is accompanied by correctly written Pīnyīn.
• To promptly correct any error or omission upon receipt of polite notification, excepting split infinitives.
  
• To speculate freely, but endeavor never to draw a conclusion without credible evidence.
• To forsake any or all of the preceding pledges at such time as should common sense dictate.

So help us Nurhaci.

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