Stary, Giovanni

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Writing in the Altaic World Studia Orientalia 87, Helsinki 1999, pp. 245-251Manchu names and some problemsconcern¡ng their transcriptionGiovanni StaryManchu clan names and personal names are topics which belong to themost neglected frelds in Manchuology. In Europe, only four researcheswere carried out on Manchu clan names, one in 1919-1920 by ErichHaenisch,rand three in 1957-1958 by E. P. Lebedeva.2 Both scholarsbased their researches on the <Clan genealogies of the Manchu EightBanners>>, the Jakûn gúsai Manjusai mukún hala be uheri ejehe bithe IBaqi Manzhou shizu tongpu /\Ëìffiüfl.ñffiÌÉH , which have also beenused for the present paper.With the exception of Haenisch's above-mentioned article, Manchupersonal names have never been analyzed by Western scholars. Attemptsto penetrate into the rules of Manchu name-giving and their meaningswere done by the Chinese scholars Ch'en Chieh-hsien3 and Chuang Chi-fa.a Ch'en Chieh-hsien found seven main categories in which Manchupersonal names could be subdivided (p.29):l. Names related to animals, like Arsalan 'Lion'i2. Names related to plans, like Orhoda'Ginseng';3. Names related to inanimate objects, like Amin 'Saddle';4. Names related to the person's order of birth within the family, like Duici'Fourth', or Fiyanggú'Youngest' ;5 . Namcs related to topographical features, like Alín'Mountain' ;6. Names which were strange or amusing, like Síteku'Bed-wetter'; and7. Names related to parental aspiration, like Mukden'Prosperity', and its verbalvariants like Mukdembu'May you become prosperous'.To these we may add some other categories like colors: Sahaliyan'Black', seasons: Bolori 'Autumn', and ethnonyms: Solåo 'Korean',Nikan'Chinese', even Os¿ 'Japanese'. Interesting, in this context is thename Loca, which was also used to indicate the first Russians whoappeared in the Amur region in the lTth century. Loca is the Manchuterm for Sanskrit ralcya,'demon, devil' etc., and it was given, accordingto common opinion, to the Russians because of their violence againstnative Amur tribes. As a Manchu name, it belongs probably to the samecategory as lbagan 'Monster', Hutu 'Demon', and Buíuku 'Spectre'.245246 Giovanni StaryThe most interesting, and for Westerners <<incomprehensible>>, names arefound in Ch'en Chieh-hsien's sixth category, which he called (<strange oramusing>>. Indeed, it is diffrcult to understand, according to our mentality,how a father could call his son Wakían'Toad', or Giohoto 'Beggar', orWalda i.e. the invective 'Vile', or even Ehenikan - Ahanikan 'Bad -Slavish Chinese'. There were, evidently, some criteria in Manchu name-giving that we still do not know.Chuang Chi-fa added a further very common category, that is, that ofChinese numbers in Manchu transcription, which, according to the author,may refer to the father's or grandfather's age when the son was born.Altogether 49 such <<numerical namesD are attested, going from Se.íi <Zq+ .Sisl¿i 'Forty', to Gioiiba < /t+/\ Iiushiba'Ninety eight'.sManchu cardinal numbers were not used with the exception of Dehi'Forty', Ninju 'Sixty', Nadanju 'seventy', Jakûniu'Eighty', Uyuniu'Ninety' and Tanggû'Hundred'.To these numbers we may also add another numerical variant, whichis that of Chinese numbers from one to ten, to which the syllable ge, inChinese transcription ffi, is added. According to Lebedeva, the syllablege derives from Mancht age <<brothen>.6 The syllable exists also inChinese with the same meaning, but written & Se. Whatever the originof this syllable, it seems clear that the names Sange < Sange = t& ,Uge <Wuge -fi-tã. , Lioge < Liuge ì1ffi etc. mean 'Brother Three','Brother Five', 'Brother Six' etc.As can be seen from this preliminary survey, our knowledge of Manchupersonal names is rather limited; for further research, the most importantsource to be taken into consideration is the already mentioned <Clangenealogies of the Manchu Eight Banners>>, giving preference, forobvious reasons, to its Manchu version. This work, with two prefacesdated January llth, 1736 (Yongzheng I3tIzlL) and January 5th, 1745(Qianlong 9ll2l3), contains 80 chapters altogether.. The first 65 chapters are devoted to 649 Manchu clans.. Six chapters (6G?l) are devoted to 235 Mongol clans.. Two chapters (72:73) are devoted to 43 Korean clans and listed according to theirChinese pronunciation.. Five chapters (74:78) are devoted to 163 Chinese clans, called Níkan E lË andnot Han i# also in the Chinese version'. one chapter (79) is devoted to 80 clans of the so-called <watch-tower chinese>,theTaiå. Nikan.. The last chapter (80) is devoted to l0 clans of the so-called <<chinese fromFushun>, Fusi nikqn.Manchu names and some problems 247This subdivision clearly evidences the multiethnic composition of thefirst eight Manchu Banners, made up of Chinese, Koreans, Mongols andJurchen, or better <<Tungus>>, all of them classified as <<Manchu>>. Ittestifies that the term <<Manchu> was originally a political-administrativeterm and not an ethnic one.The Jurchen and Tungus, or <<Manchu propeÞ>, have numerically thestrongest presence with more than 36,000 names registered. In com-parison, the Mongol names number only about 2,200. Obviously this greatnumber of names is a remarkable source for the study of early Manchusociety and its genealogical structure, which comprises, in some cases, upto twelve generations. Given the nature of this source, its historical valueis rather limited and has already been studied by Haenisch. [n some cases,however, answers to unresolved historical questions can be found, forinstance, in the case of Nurhaci's first enemy Nikan Wailan. Translatedliterally, it means 'Chinese ofñcial', and there was (and still is) a longdiscussion on who this 'Chinese official' was. But since this supposed<<title>> is found twice as a personal name in our source, we may definitelyconclude that Nurhaci's enemy was not recorded anonymously by his title,but that Nikan Wailan was really his personal name. It can be seen that inthe early stage of Jurchen-Tungus society, binoms were often used inpersonal names, which disappeared only after the creation of Nurhaci'sbanner system.The translation of Manchu names, however, can lead to wrongconclusions. The best example is the very common name Hooial¿, a termwhich in Manchu means 'paper'. We have already seen that objects ofdaily use are often found as personal names too, for instance, Samara'Wooden bowl', Hunio 'Water bucket'. But in the case of Hooian, whichoccurs 57 times, we can see from the Chinese version that it is rendered asHaoshan, written with various different characters like F# 'good' +'virtuous', ffi# 'crane' + 'virtuous', iå# 'great' + 'virtuous'. So we donot know if for the Manchus the name Hooían really had the meaning of'paper', or if it was rather understood as a transliteration of two Chinesecharacters. In all these cases, of course, any translation into a Westernlanguage results in a vain attempt, especially when the Chinese charactersare not given.In addition, it seems that many Manchu names are pure phoneticvariants of a name given to the first-born son. A good example is offeredby the first-born Uluíun of the Namdulu-clan: the second son got thename Hùluíun, the thrd lluíun, the fourth Deluíun, the fifth Fuluiun,and the sixth "/a/a.íun. lf we try to find a meaning for the secondbrother's name Hùluíun, we will not be successful, at least with thedictionaries at our disposal, and this is due to the fact that this name was248 Giovanni Stary<<created>> by adding an å to the name of the first-born brother Uluíun.Another example is given by the brothers Dobakú, Tebakû, Obakü andTabaku. Such syllabic changes may occur also at the end of names, forinstance in the case of Sahadai, Sahabu, Sahaci and Sahacan. Thesame principle in name-giving holds also between father and son:Cabahai had a son named Cadahai, Boiilda had a son named Boiiltu.The best known example is given by Nurhaci and his younger brothersSurhaci and Murhaci. Here we may add that the meaning of the nameNurhaci is not yet clear. According to a recent, yet questionable Chineseinterpretation? it would be a variant of Nuheci, meaning 'leather of thewild pig'. Since the author connects the name of Nurhaci's youngerbrother surhaci with Manchu iurha, meaning 'a two-year-old wild pig"the impression arises that the author's identiñcation of Nuheci withNurhaci is the result of Surhaci's connection with iurha rather than aphilologically proved evolution of. Nuheci > Nurhaci. As a name in itsown right, Nuheci is found three times in our source' whereas the namesNurhaci, Surhaci and Murhaci are never mentioned.Chinese influence on Manchu name-giving is another interesting chapterin Manchu social history. Generally speaking, during Nurhaci's time wefind an ancestor with a Manchu, or Manchurized Chinese, name; thesecond and third generation (Shunzhi and early Kangxi times) used pureChinese names, the fourth generation (late Kangxi and Yongzheng times)turned back to Manchu or manchurized Chinese names, and the lastgeneration (late Yongzheng and Qianlong times) again used pure Chinesenames.An excellent example is given by Kiyanghiyoo,s evidently a manchurized name ofchinese origin, < Qiang xiao 1fifi, who had his name written in Manchu form,i.e,, with the two syllablcs written together, For his nephews the Chinese name stylewas adopted, and we find their names divided into three parts, with the first oneacting as the Chinese surname Qiang: Kíyang Ioì I <Qiang Yuyi lÂffi''l*'Kiyang Guwe Fu < Qiang Guofu TÂWH, etc. The subsequent generationabandoned Chinese surnames turning back to <Manchurized)' names like Haiming< Haiming Ëü,1, or S;¡u < Shizhuo Ë€ . The last generation again adoptedpure Chinese names and reintroduced Chinese surnames: Kiyang Gioi < Qiang JulÊffi, etc.This strong Chinese influence on Manchu names is well known. Whatis surprising is that the Manchus had the same strong influence on Mongolsand Koreans. Indeed, if we examine Mongol and Korean genealogies, wesee that the Mongol and Korean clan-ancestors had typical Mongol andKorean names. After their submission to the Manchus, however, manyManchu names and some problems 249Mongols and especially Koreans adopted Manchu names, or were registeredinto the Banner genealogies with a Manchu name.As a curious instance we may quote the ethnonym Manju, which isattested l0 times as a proper name. In the Chinese version, this name isgiven 5 times with the characters Man ffi + zhu 4 'pearl', twice withMan + zhu t¡! 'pillar', once with Man + zhu ll 'to dwell', and rwicewith the characters Man + zhou $!l , which later became the ofñcialChinese designation of the Manchu people itself.The Manchu dynastic name Daicing, meaning in Manchu 'warrior', isfound three times; its Chinese version is given with different characters atevery occurence: lf,Ë , ffiË , {tË , though never, of course, with thecharacters of the Chinese dynastic name Da Qing ftÉ . Here we meetthe same situation as in the case of the afore-mentioned Hooían, since wedo not know if the name Daicing was understood in its Manchu meaningas 'warrior', or if it was rather accepted as a Chinese borrowing.In any case, the rendering of Manchu names with Chinese charactersis another unexplored field in Manchu name-giving rules which needsfurther research. The same unclear situation is found when Chinese nameshad to be transcribed in Manchu, for example, the character gao fff issometimes rendered as Guwe, and at ottrer times as G'o .With the progressive Sinicization and adoption of Chinese names anotherproblem arose, which the Manchus resolved with the introduction of newgraphic variants, but which were never taken into consideration inWestern transcription systems. A case of graphic variant occured whentwo Chinese syllables, the second beginning with a vowel, were puttogether. In such occurences, the Manchu letter transcribing the Chinesevowel is a modified form of its initial position, and not that of its <inside>position. For example:Baío, the Manchu transcription of Chinese Bayou ElË', ¡s not writtenñ but , utilising a graphic variant of i in irs initial position: €rq$\ ,thus clearly indicating that io is an <independenb syllable. Another example is thename Duufu, a transcripJion of Chinese Duwufu trã,}Ëi , which is written.r[!rffi\ and nor,ìuonf6' ( ù < É ).The impossibility to distinguish two syllables of Chinese origin is alacuna in Western transcription systems, and this is particularly evidentwhen two reading variants are possible. For example, the Manchu nameGuwanging could originate from Chinese Guan + jing BñË , or Guang+ying Ër€. In Manchu this distinction is preserved, since the first oneis written ô*i\\, with ¿ <<fused> with the foregoing g, whereasthe second is written250 Giovanni StaryHow can one solve this problem, which is particularly felt in modernSibe-Manchu where the number of Chinese loanwords is constantlygrowing? A good example for the debate on this issue is the Chineseioanword for'doctrine',7huyiÈ# , written *ifr\ , with modifiedinitial í, of which two autochthonous Sibe transcriptions and one Euro-pean (Hungarian) transcription are found:I . The first transcription divides the word into its original two syllables: ja i.e2. The second transcription is half sibe and half pinyin chinese, though nowwritten together: jrYi. lo3. The third, European, system uses an apostrophe to separate the two syllables:ja,i. I I Especially in this case, a sign of separation seems absolutely necessary todistinguish it from the Manchu word jni' meaning 'child''Now, if we analyze the first method we may immediately see itsinadequacy since the graphic division into two syllables does not cor-t"rpond tó ttre original form. The second transcription, besides beingnon-scientific, creates a chaotic situation; the above-mentioned nameGuwanging, for example, would have to be transcribed Guwaniing, andthis would clearly be a mistake. What remains is the third possibility: anapostrophe indicates the beginning of a new syllable and underlines thepärticuíar graphic variant of its initial vowel. With this function theupostropt "-is already used in pinyin, for example in the city name EÈi.i,on,' to distinguish it from xian ffi etc. The introduction of anapostrophe in transcribing classical Manchu would be innovative progress'und ptogr".s is indeed the aim of every scientific research'Notes<<Beiträge zur altmandschurischen Geschlechterku nde>, O stas iat is che Ze ít s ch r ifi I(1919-1920), pp. l7l-184'2 <Rasselenie man'ðåurskich rodov v konce XVI i naðale XVII vekov>, Uðenyezapiski, LGPI im. A. I. Gercena, Fakul'tet narodov Krainego Severa, tom 132,Leningrad 1957, pp. 69-ll0; <Die Geschlechternamen der Mandschu>>, AOH 7(1957t, pp.213-229; <Lingvistiðeskij analiz rodovych nazvanij man'õäurov>,Voprosy iazykoznanija 3 (1958), pp. 100-109'3 <The sinification of Manchu names: A study of personal names in the Ch'ingimperial house and upper class Manchu society of the Ch'ing period>, in: Kim Bang-han ed., Proceedings of lhe second East Asian Altaistíc conferencø, seoul1968, pp. 2ç34.4 <A discussion of the Manchu custom of giving names after numbers", in: Ch'enManchu narnes and some problems 25rChieh-hsien ed., Proceedings of the Sixth East Asían Altaistíc Conference,Taipei 1981, pp. 89-102; see also footnote 5.5 For more examples see his article <Cong shumu mingzi de yanbian kan QingdaiManzu de hanhua>, Manxue yanjíu 2 (Peking 1994), pp. 169*201.6 Lebedeva, E. P., <Die Geschlechternamen der Mandschu, AOÍ17 (1957),p.217.7 Wang Huo, <Manzu renming de minsu tezheng he yuyan tezhengn, Manzu yanjiu(1993), pp. 72-77, especially p. 72.8 Manchu edition ch. 58, p. l5a, Chinese edition ch. 15, p. l2b.9 See the dictionary Nikan Sibe gisun lcamciha iolokon buleku bíthe / Høn-Xijíanming duizhao cidian, Urumqi 1989, p.420.l0 See Nei fon Síbe 3u tacín gísun-i arara koolì I Xíandaí Xíbo wenxue yuyanzhengti /a, Urumqi 1992, p.85. For its German translation see G. Stary, <<DieOrthographie-Reform der modernen Schriftsprache der Sibe>, Central Asíatictournal4lll (1997), pp. 7Gl2l.ll See p.360 footnote 12 in Cornélie Melles, <Remarques sur un texte chibomoderne>r, AOH XXXII3 (1977), pp. 359-363.

Manchu Names and Some Problems Concerning their Transcription

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Manchu Names and Some Problems Concerning their Transcription

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