Junghar

Through a series of military campaigns in the middle of the eighteenth century, the Qing dynasty encountered various groups in Central Asia. This essay discusses some issues related to Qing policy toward Central Asia. The Qing evaluated its conquest of the “New Dominion” (Xinjiang) as a great achievement and conceptualized an ideal imperial vision of Central Asian people. With respect to Qing communication with Central Asia, one of the remarkable facets of their negotiations was the use of non-Chinese languages, e.g. Manchu, Mongolian, Turki (Chaghatay), and Persian and Qing government established systems of translation. To say nothing of their content, the very existence or possession of Qing imperial edicts had great significance for local leaders of Central Asia. On the other hand, according to the circumstances, alterations and interpretations convenient to the Qing were often added to the statements from Central Asia. In addition, this essay conducts basic research on how the people of the Qing and Central Asia viewed each other. The arguments can provide some new perspective for reconsidering the relationship between the Qing dynasty and its Central Asian neighbors.

In the 17th century, the Zunghar branch of the Oirat Confederation pioneered the local manifestation of the ‘Military Revolution’, which was sweeping the wider world.  This revolution had begun a century earlier when important innovations related to firearm technology effectuated large-scale modifications to military tactics and strategy. These innovations and modifications resulted in the pronounced increase in the sheer scale of warfare, and perhaps most importantly, in the greater impact of war upon society in terms of its destructiveness, economic costs, and growing administrative challenges for governments. Improvements in musket and cannon technology allowed some empires, including the Tsardom of Russia and the Great Qing, to attain their ends more easily than in the past, while at the same time putting new insuperable obstacles in the path of the smaller and weaker nomadic polities situated on the steppes.  Nomadic polities entered a period of unceasing decline, primarily owing to fundamental changes in military technology.  The notable exception to this larger trend was the nomadic Zunghar, who were able to indigenously produce and incorporate large quantities of muskets and cannons into their armed forces.

В статье утверждается, что до 1680-х годов политическая культура в верхнем Прииртышье опиралась на лидерство хошутов. Ведущая роль хошутов существовала не только в военно-политической, но и в религиозной сферах. Хошутский Аблай-тайджи, основатель монастыря Аблай-кит, сделал многое для укрепления своих позиций в ойратском мире. Он наследовал и продолжил политику сотрудничества с Московией, пытаясь получить выгоды от ее торговли с Китаем. Сообщения ранних исследователей, а также последние исследования развалин Аблай-кита и найденных там рукописей, говорят о том, что в середине XVII века этот монастырь мог быть наиболее значительным религиозным центром Прииртышья. К 70-м гг. XVII века хошутский род постепенно приходит в упадок. Вытесненный братом со своих кочевий Аблай терпит окончательное поражение. Данные выводы и заключения в статье сделаны в результате использования метода аналитического сопоставления разнообразных письменных источников и исследований других ученых.

Abstract. The authors examine the relationship between Dzungaria and Tibet in the first half of the 18th century. A whole series of events that happened in these countries coincide chronologically in a rather surprising way. The authors highlight the important events of this period: the seizure of Lhasa by the Dzungars in 1717–1720, the uprising of the Kukunor Khoshuts in 1723–1724, the development of Dzungar-Tibetan relations in the second quarter of the 18th century. They stress the Galdan-Tsereng’s embassy to the Dalai-lama in 1742/1743, the event, which was mentioned even in the Russian archival documents. Besides, they pay special attention to the activities of the main leaders, such as Dzungarian hungtaiji: Tsewang-Rabdan, Galdan-Tsereng; Tibetan rulers: rgyal-po Lhawzang, miwang Pholanay, the Dalai-lamas Sixth and Seventh; the Qing emperors: Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. They quote the letters exchanged between the Qing emperors, on the one hand, and the Dzungar (and Khoshut) leaders, on the other. The authors concluded that the relations between Dzungaria and Tibet during the first half of the 18th century could be subdivided into three stages (1703–1717; 1717–1727; 1727–1745/1750, each with its peaks). These relations, as well as their development, largely depended on the state of the relations between the dynasty of Qing and Tibet, especially the imperial policy towards Dzungaria.
Аннотация. В настоящей статье авторы рассматривают отношения между Джунгарией и Тибетом, имевшие место в первой половине XVIII в. Целый ряд со-бытий, случившихся в этих странах, хронологически удивительным образом со-впадают. Авторы выделяют важные события этого периода: подчинение Лхасы джунгарами в 1717-1720 гг., восстание хошутов Кукунора 1723-1724 гг., разви-тие джунгаро-тибетских отношений во второй четверти XVIII в., при этом особо отмечается посольство от Галдан-Цэрэна к Далай-ламе в 1742-1743 гг., о чем со-хранились записи даже в русских архивных документах. Также отмечается дея-тельность основных участников: джунгарских хунтайджи: Цэван-Рабдана, Гал-дан-Цэрэна; тибетских лидеров: гьялпо Лхавзана, миванга Пхоланая, Далай-лам Шестого и Седьмого; цинских императоров: Канси, Юнчжэна, Цяньлуна. Приво-дится соответствующая переписка между цинскими императорами, с одной сто-роны, и джунгарскими (и хошутскими) лидерами-с другой. Делается вывод, что джунгаро-тибетские отношения первой половины XVIII в. можно разделить на три этапа:-каждый со своими пиками, и развитие их во многом зависело от состояния тибето-цинских отношений и политики империи Цин в отношении Джунгарии. Для цитирования: Китинов Б. У., Лю Цян. Джунгаро-тибетские отношения в первой половине XVIII в.: особенности периодизации. Ориенталистика. 2021;4(1):77-95. http://doi.

Translation from Russian, M. T. Tynyshpaev, "Ak-taban-shubryndy. (Velikie bedstviia i velikie pobedy kazakov.)" In: A. E. Shmidt and E. K. Betger, eds. V. V. Bartol'du: turkestanskie druz'ia, ucheniki i pochitateli. Tashkent: Kazgiz, 1927, pp. 57-68.

This article is Tynyshpaev's contribution to a festschrift in honor of V. V. Barthold, academician and one of the founders of Turkology in Russian Oriental Studies. Tynyshpaev synthesizes much of the existing literature and some primary sources and oral traditions collected from his extensive journeys over the territory of Russian Turkestan as a railway construction engineer. Tynyshpaev's article is the first major work in a European language devoted to the study of the Kazakh-Jüün Ghar wars of the 1720s.