r/history • u/AutoModerator • 21h ago
Discussion/Question Weekly History Questions Thread.
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r/history • u/AutoModerator • 3d ago
Discussion/Question Bookclub and Sources Wednesday!
Hi everybody,
Welcome to our weekly book recommendation thread!
We have found that a lot of people come to this sub to ask for books about history or sources on certain topics. Others make posts about a book they themselves have read and want to share their thoughts about it with the rest of the sub.
We thought it would be a good idea to try and bundle these posts together a bit. One big weekly post where everybody can ask for books or (re)sources on any historic subject or timeperiod, or to share books they recently discovered or read. Giving opinions or asking about their factuality is encouraged!
Of course it’s not limited to *just* books; podcasts, videos, etc. are also welcome. As a reminder, r/history also has a recommended list of things to read, listen to or watch
r/history • u/Magister_Xehanort • 1d ago
PDF Ptolemy’s treatise on the meteoroscope recovered
link.springer.comr/history • u/zhuquanzhong • 1d ago
Article Various statements by Zhu Yuanzhang the Emperor Hongwu, founder of the Ming Dynasty, about the Yuan Dynasty.
Sources (The first four are in Chinese, as unfortunately most Chinese historical texts are not translated):
Description of the Yuan Dynasty's Decline
During the mid 14th century, the Yuan Dynasty of China, ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan, was nearing its end. Several natural disasters compounded by years of misrule and internal instability after the death of Kublai resulted in massive rebellions throughout southern China. The rebels eventually coalesced under several leaders, including Han Lin'er, Xu Shouhui, Guo Zixing, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhang Shicheng, Chen Youliang, Ming Yuzhen, Fang Guozhen and others. Note that the rebels were by no means united, as each rebel can be treated as an independent state which posed just as much threat to each other as their common enemy, the Yuan court. Although the Yuan court attempted to suppress the rebellions and were initially successful, court intrigue and resulting infighting within the Yuan court dashed those chances and resulted in the Yuan losing any ability to defeat the rebels. Meanwhile, Zhu Yuanzhong, a peasant rebel who at one point nominally submitted to Han Lin'er, managed to defeat the other rebel leaders and unite the Yangtze river valley by 1368. His erstwhile lord, Han Lin'er, also died under mysterious circumstances that some attribute to Zhu. Zhu then defeated the Yuan court and drove them out towards the Mongolian plateau, thus creating the Ming dynasty.
Even though Zhu Yuanzhang rebelled against the Yuan dynasty as a part of the Red Turban Rebellion, after he established the Ming Dynasty in 1368, at least for the purpose of internal propaganda, he seemed to be extremely willing to distance himself from his Red-Turban roots and derive his legitimacy from the Yuan Dynasty instead. To achieve this, he released a number of edicts and statements after his accession to the throne:
In 1368, upon his proclamation of a new dynasty, he began his official speech offering sacrifices to the mountains and rivers by saying: "As for the people of China, since the mandate of the Song ended, heaven commanded the True Man (Kublai) to enter China from the deserts and become the lord of all under heaven. The emperor, father and son and grandson ruled for a hundred years. Their mandate ends today..."
After capturing the Yuan capital Dadu the same year, he said: "I've thought about the history of the three ancient dynasties, Han, Tang, Song for some time, and always found that their ancestors were righteous and tolerant, which was the reason they were able to command the hearts of people, and so it is important that they did not forget their origins. The Yuan, since Shizu (Kublai)'s time united the realm, and acted with tolerance and virtue, it could be said that they possessed a benevolant heart. But their descendants were able to maintain this and not change; thus it was to the benefit of the land and soil."
In a letter sent to the Northern Yuan court in 1369, he wrote: "I was originally a peasant, in the past I was in the fields, and depended on the joy of peace within the nation. Suddenly various sorcerers and bandits overturned the nation, and the nation exploded into chaos..."
In a conversation with Li Wenzhong, one of his chief generals in 1370, he said, after reading a proposed victory proclamation after defeating the Yuan, he replied that Li was far too boastful, saying: You are a chief minister, so you should learn from the etiquette of sages, instead of acting as a petty local official. Even though the Yuan originated from Barbarians, they were the Emperors of China for nearly a hundred years, and mine and your parents all depended on it for livelihood and survival. Yuan's defeat was a matter of its own luck, which I could not have predicted. If we proclaim this way, learned men would likely disagree even though they do not speak up. You should change it."
In an edict titled "Edict on Pacifying the Desert" issued the same year, he said: I was originally a farmer, and I was happy to be born in Yuan times. However, at the time of the lord of Gengshen (Toghon Temur), he was weak and chaotic in governance. So heroes arose and divided the land within the seas. Even though the Yuan troops attempted to save the situation, they were unable to help, and it was the will of heaven that it be so. However, agents of chaos (rebels) inflicted great devastation upon the country, and attempted to seize land and establish themselves as kings and dukes. Watching their actions, they did not adhere to rites, and were thus annihilated...
In a conversation a few days later with Liu Bowen, his main strategist, Liu advised: "Since ancient times there as never been a group of barbarians who could take over all of China, but the Yuan, being so, ruled China in a barbaric fashion for several hundred years. Heaven in fact detests it. This is compounded by the fact the the Yuan's final ruler was licentious and inept, the state of affairs was collapsing, and the people were trapped under corruption and disaster. How would such a state not fall. Your majesty should follow the will of heaven and the people, and proclaim that you had saved the people from the Yuan's catastrophic rule, and had been undefeated in battle. Should such not be the best choice?"
To which Zhu replied: "During the Yuan, the monarch was peaceful in his abode, while his ministers were the cause of trouble. The country was misused and its abilities gradually limited. Natural disasters followed, and occurred year after year. Heaven's anger and the people's resentment led to thieves and bandits rising and becoming warlords, attacking and illegally occupying provinces and counties. I was forced into this order of affairs to protect myself, but eventually I was able to gather sizable forces and begin my conquests east and west. I eventually crushed the bandits and expanded my realm, but by then the realm no longer belonged to Yuan. Had the Yuan's lords acceded to heaven's will, and did not make themselves complacent, and make their ministers dutiful and obedient, how would there ever be a chance for uprisings? I took the realm from the various warlords, not Yuan. Today I have captured their heirs, and the desert is calm, was this not accomplished by the auspiciousness of heaven?"
A few days later he released another statement: Since ancient times heaven birthed sages to rule the realm and create laws to benefit the people. The three ancient dynasties, Han, Tang's monarchs are too distant in history, so we shall only speak of the recent past. The Song dynasty's founding emperor was capable and benevolent in administration, and the populace prospered, so heavens adored him. But his descendants were weak, and their borders were reduced, so heaven commanded Emperor Shizu of Yuan (Kublai) to replace them. This lasted until Toghon Temur, who was weak and corrupt, who did not care to administer, who lacked knowledge of the people's difficulties, so various evil forces (Red Turbans) took advantage of the chaos to rise up. The realm was in disorder, and the people's livelihoods were destroyed. I could not stand the destruction, so I rose up for the salvation of the people, and various heroes who worshipped righteousness came to join me. I defeated the cruel rebels and pacified the four seas, so they raised me as emperor of the Great Ming. This I achieved by heaven's grace, thus I was able to do it relatively quickly...
In 1373, he established the Temple of Emperors of Past Dynasties, and added all founding emperors of united Chinese dynasties to it. He thus added the three sovereigns and five emperors (all legendary rulers), Yu of Xia, Tang of Shang, Wu of Zhou, Gao of Western Han (Liu Bang), Guangwu of Eastern Han (Liu Xiu), Wen of Sui (Yang Jian), Taizong of Tang (Li Shimin, second emperor of Tang, added instead of the first emperor because Li Shimin did all the heavy lifting in unifying China under Tang and was in general a much better emperor than his father who was forced to abdicate by him), Taizu of Song (Zhao Kuangyin), and and Shizu of Yuan (Kublai). Several Years later he kicked Emperor Wen of Sui out of the temple, as he did not consider Emperor Wen worthy of standing with the others. However, Kublai, being the only non-Han in the temple, remained.
In addition to Zhu's personal statements, in the "History of Yuan", which was the official dynastic history of the Yuan dynasty compiled on Zhu's orders in 1369, all Red Turban rebels were categorically referred to by various derogatory epithets, such as "devils", "thieves", "bandits", "hooligans", and others. Some examples are:
From Toqto'a biography: Various devils and bandits rebelled between Ru and Ying, using the red turban as a signal. Xiang, Fan, Tang, Deng joined in rebellion.
From Toghon Temur's biography: Since the Red Turban devils and bandits threw the nation into chaos, various districts north and south were lost, so the Great Ming came and replaced them.
Such examples are very numerous throughout the History of Yuan.
It is possible that Zhu's statements are a reflection of general attitudes in China at the time, or at least the attitude of the Confucian gentry. Zhu considered Yuan to have ruled by heaven's mandate despite their Mongol origin, and also believed that by heaven's mandate he was destined to replace the Yuan. On the other hand, all of the destruction involved was entirely blamed on the Red Turbans, who Zhu condemned for being lawless bandits bringing chaos everywhere. He also repeatedly claimed that he either was forced to rebel himself, or even in some instances claimed that he accidently rebelled. All of these were likely done to reinforce the notion to the nation that while rebelling against the emperor is bad and is unfilial, Zhu was able to do it only because he was chosen by heaven. It is a strange world view, but it makes sense given the nature of the mandate of heaven system.
However, in Zhu Yuanzhang's external statements in the form of diplomatic letters to other nations, Zhu denounced the Yuan several times for being barbaric (Although he did not reduce his condemnation of the Red Turbans, he instead denounced both). For example, in his letter to Korea, he wrote: The Yuan are not like us, and in their hundred years ruling China, heaven detested their decadence and destroyed their foundations with natural disasters. China was then thrown into disorder for 18 years, and warlords arose. I was originally a peasant by the Huai river, and the rebel troops suddenly arrived, and I joined by accident. Seeing that they couldn't amount to anything, I became disturbed, but heaven and earth graced me with civil and martial servants, so I crossed the Yangtze River and learned the art of raising the people for 14 years. In those days I suppressed Chen Youliang to the west, captured Zhang Shicheng to the east, pacified Min and Yue to the south, and defeated warlords of various kinds. I then turned north to expel the barbarian emperor and cleanse China, restoring its former frontiers.
In his letter to Japan, he wrote: God likes the living and dislikes those who are cruel. In the past, we, China, were lost by the Song, and northern barbarians entered and spread their customs to defile it, thus the lands and customs of the central plains became polluted. For a hundred years, how could we not be angry? Since 1351, the central plains were in war, and Japanese pirates raided Shandong, but this was only possible because of the collapse of the barbaric Yuan! I, being from the old of China, washed away the previous humiliations and raised armies to sweep away the barbarian's rule.
Since times immemorial, emperors and kings have lived and China and ruled the various barbarians. Generation after generation, such has it always been. Only the Yuan, being originally barbarians from the northern desert, seized the central kingdom for a hundred years and polluted its customs so that they become unstandardised. Thus heroes arose and fought against the barbarians for twenty years. I, being blessed by heaven and ancestors, aided by spirits of all kinds and my various generals, took into my fold the various warlords and restored the boundaries of old. Thus I have become emperor, now for three years.
As noted the external messages and diplomatic letters differ drastically from the internal messages.
All originals texts I've quoted are below in order:
惟我中國人民之君,自宋運告終,帝命真人於沙漠入中國,爲天下主,其君、父、子及孫百有餘年,今運亦終。
朕思三代及漢、唐、宋歷年多者,皆其祖宗仁厚,結於人心植本深固,人不能忘故也。元自世祖混一天下,寬恤愛人,亦可謂‘有仁心’矣,但其子孫能持仁厚之心守而不替,社稷之福也。
朕本布衣,昔在田里,賴承平之樂。忽妖人倡亂,海內鼎沸。
卿等為宰相,當法古昔致君於聖賢,何乃習為小吏浮薄之言,不知大體,妄加詆誚?況元雖夷狄,然君主中國且將百年,朕與卿等父母皆賴其生養,元之興亡,自是氣運,與朕何預?而以此張之四方,有識之士口雖不言,其心未必以為是也。可即改之。
《平定沙漠詔》朕本農家,樂生於有元之世。庚申之君,荒淫昏弱,紀綱大敗,由是豪傑並起,海內瓜分,雖元兵四出,無救於亂,此天意也。然倡亂之徒,首禍天下,謀奪土疆,欲為王伯,觀其所行,不合於禮,故皆滅亡,亦天意也。
劉基進曰:“自古夷狄未有能制中國者,而元以胡人主華夏,幾百年腥羶之俗,天實厭之,又況末主荒淫無度、政令隳壞,民困於貪殘,烏得而不亡?陛下應天順人,神武不殺,救民於水火,所向無敵,安得而不興?”
上曰:“當元之季,君宴安於上,臣跋扈於下,國用不經,徵斂日促,水旱災荒,頻年不絕。天怒人怨,盜賊蜂起,群雄角逐,竊據州郡。朕不得已起兵,欲圖自全,及兵力日盛,乃東征西討,削除渠魁,開拓疆宇,當是時,天下已非元氏有矣。向使元君克畏天命,不自逸豫,其臣各盡乃職,罔敢驕橫,天下豪傑曷得乘隙而起?朕取天下於群雄之手,不在元氏之手。今獲其遺胤,朔漠清寧,非天之降福何以致此?
“自古天生聖人主宰天下,立法創制以安生民,三代、漢、唐之君姑置不言,且以近代論之:若宋創業之君,能行善政,其民樂生,故天祐之。厥後子孫微弱,疆土日削,故天命爾元世祖代之。至妥歡帖木兒為君,荒淫昏懦,不思政理,不恤民艱,故奸兇並起,天下大亂,生民無主。朕實不忍荼毒,於是起兵救民,豪傑之慕義者相率來歸。剪暴除殘,平定四海,乃推戴朕為皇帝,國號大明,此天佑朕躬,故成功之速若是也。
汝、潁之間妖寇聚眾反,以紅巾為號,襄、樊、唐、鄧皆起而應之。
自紅巾妖寇倡亂之後,南北郡縣多陷沒,故大明從而取之。
元非我類,入主中國百有餘年,天厭其昏淫,亦用殞絕其命。華夏潑亂十有八年,當群雄初起時,朕為淮右布衣,暴兵忽起,誤入其中。見其無成,憂懼弗寧,荷天地眷,授以文武,東渡江左,習養民之道十有四年。其間西平漢主陳友諒;東縛吳張士誠;南平閩粵,戡定八蕃;北逐胡君,肅清華夏,复我中國之舊疆。
上帝好生,惡不仁者。向我中國自趙宋失馭,北夷入而據之,播胡俗以腥羶,中土華風不竟。凡百有年,孰不與憤? 自辛卯以來,中原擾攘,彼倭來寇山東,不過乘胡元之衰耳!朕本中國之舊家,恥前王辱,興師振旅,掃蕩胡番。
粵自古昔,帝王居中國而治四夷,歷代相承,咸由斯道,惟彼元君,本漠北胡夷,竊主中國,今已百年,污壞彝倫,綱常失序,由是英俊起兵,與胡相較,幾二十年。朕荷上天祖宗之佑,百神效靈,諸將用命,收海內之群雄,复前代之疆宇,即皇帝位,已三年矣。
r/history • u/ffoboomstick • 2d ago
Article In the 1990s over 1,200 bones from roughly 15 bodies were found buried in Benjamin Franklin's London house, they are believed to be the remains from an anatomy school founded by an associate of Franklin's.
discovermagazine.comr/history • u/marketrent • 2d ago
Article Representation of zodiac and star constellations, rare in Egyptian temples, uncovered at the Temple of Esna vestibule built ca. 41–54 CE
uni-tuebingen.der/history • u/AshleyDGray • 2d ago
Article Ancient Egyptians depended on international trade to preserve bodies over embalming techniques
nerdyinfo.com
r/history
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u/hvacguy525
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3d ago
Article One of the oldest surviving Bible could be yours — for $30 million
apnews.comr/history • u/egg_static5 • 2d ago
Article We used DNA from Beethoven's hair to shed light on his poor health – and stumbled upon a family secret
theconversation.com
r/history
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u/Karvier
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4d ago
Article I found a diary written in Manchus language, the author was a Manchus soldier served in a combined unit of Manchus and Mongols in 17th century. I never have read something like this before. So I decided to translate part of it to English with original Manchu text and my own commentary in bold text.
Sources:
If you want to read the untranslated part of this diary, click this link
Some general descriptions about the situations in eastern Asia by that time
Some quick background:
By the year of 1649, which was five years after the Manchus, a semi-nomadic tribe, descended from the seemingly unbreakable great wall and achieved their great feat of conquering Northern China, the authority conducted a census and found out by that time there were only 55330 adult males in the entire population. In the mean time, they have to deal with more than 100 millions subjugated Chinese. This sheer difference of numbers between the conqueror and the conquered forced practically every Manchus men to become soldiers, including the author of this diary.
The author acted sort of like a nowadays squad leader in the Manchus army, for he had 4 soldiers under his command. However, Since the Manchus army suffered from the above mentioned predicament of lacking manpower, he , as a born Manchus himself, actually enjoyed a very trusted position in the eyes of his general and could get in touch with some ultra confidential information/ high level officials every now and then.
The diary itself covered a period of roughly 3 years: from the New year's day of 1680 to 1682, and it mainly focused on the author's military career during the Manchus conquest of the southern China. Although as you can probably tell from reading his work, the author himself was not exactly the most educated and bright guy on the earth and due to the nature of his job this diary's narration suffered badly from many huge gaps, it was a really unique and extremely valuable piece of historical source and eye-witness account.
I wish I could translate all of them but for now please enjoy the first five months of this diary that I have already translated!
In the reign of Elhetaifin khan(the original text omitted this title here, yet the author did use Khan to address his monarch in the later part of the dairy. The Chinese word for Elhetaifin was Kang xi), in year 19, the canary monkey year of the Manchu calendar.
The new year‘s day: General Manggitv(this is apparently either a spelling mistake or a nickname, since this general's name was actually Manggitu as we can find from the later part of the diary and other history sources) led his councilors,janggins (a Manchu military title)and local officials to the city of Nan ning fu (The word fu already means city in Chinese , but the author,as a Manchu, clearly was unaware of it and he probably thought it is a part of the city’s name. So in the original text he wrote Nan ning fui hoton, in which hoton means city in Manchus,thus it could be translated as the city of Nan ning city). They entered the Dung Yoo miyoo(meaning the temple of eastern mountains in Chinese) and made a dedication to the divine. The subordinates of the councillors prostrated themselves to each other to show their courtesy. By the time of the festival, the janggins of the eight banners and soldiers started to eat and drink, even those armoured bayaras(one of the most elite Manchu military units) went on the street, they got some women’s clothes and wore them themselves to pretend like women, and they sang along with those who were singing the song of Doo yang ke (again, ke already means song in Chinese, and the author was not aware of that. I think making this kind of mistake twice probably suggests the author has no knowledge of the Chinese language.)to entertain themselves. The image of the old men (sakdasa in the original text, which probably refers to the author’s parents) emerged in my heart, fuck.
25th,February: Shang zhi xin(a Chinese dynast who serves the Manchus), the mighty conqueror general, the king who pacified the south; along with Manggitu,the general of the south theatre; Ecu, the general of Jiangning; Lebei and Hife, the counsellor and lord of the banner; and Ehene, the vice janggin, met together to hold a war council on the best method to enter and conquer Yun nan(a province in southwestern China).The plan was made, and it was decided that we should initiate the invasion next winter. I sewed a tent and saddle for my horse(not sure what exactly that means,do horses need tents?) and also fixed my weapons.
3rd,March: Mang(this time for sure a nickname of general Manggitu, potentially coined by the author himself) said there was a decree issued from the khan’s court…..(the content of the decree was too long and rather irrelevant, so I did not translate it). I took some time to finish the necessary maintenance.
5th,March: The date of departure was approaching, so an order was given to us to prepare our weapons.
6th,March: Ganduhai and other low-ranked janggins strictly inspected the quantity of the horses. The message of Ma qiyang yen’s rebellion against us was delivered to our camp again, he was the Chinese governor of Bin jeo.
13th,March: General Mang(nickname of Manggitu) selected 3 bayaras from each niru(the manchu equivalent of battalion, roughly 300 men strong), and he handled this force to Hife, the lord of the banner, and Ehene, the janggin of the flag(apparently Mr Ehene got recently promoted). Hife also had 5 regiments of Chinese auxiliary forces under his command, each of which was 1000 men strong . With this army, he was ordered to fight the above-mentioned rebel Ma Qiyang Yen, and he then marched towards the direction of Bin jeo.This day my eight horses(the author forgot to use plural form and accusative case here,I assume it was due to his depression)were stolen by thieves. My heart feels so heavy. After reporting this to the general, the general informed the officials and the civilians about this matter, and an investigation was initiated; it turned out to be fruitless.
16th,March: General Ecu reached Nanning city(I assume the author was learning Chinese, since this time he did not say the city of Nanning city again)from the county of Yung Mvn by water.
20th,March: The military horse from Yung Mvn also reached our camp. The general ordered to allocate these military horses from Yung mvn among those armored soldiers who did not have one. At that time (the couriers) did not want to surrender the horses, so (the general) scolded the leaders of every regiment, calling them weak. General Mang gathered all those janggins of the camps together and told them: "Why have those horses not been allocated as ordered yet? You were ignoring my orders! It was not even something hard to do, yet you refused to follow it! Now, go and bring those horses to the city, they are government property! " Then the matter was finally settled.
25th,March: We departed from Nanning city and I was leading a squad of four soldiers in a niru. Mang the general and Lebei, Hife the lord of the banner, led the army, aiming to reach Liu zhou. We marched past the Jing ceng sy(a Chinese temple) and Kun lun pass.
In five days, we marched 170 ba(a Manchu unit of length, each ba equals roughly 500 meters)
30th,March: We reached Bin Jeo; first, we met the Bayara force; then, I and my squad were allocated to the ranks of the Aliha force(it is a combined force of Mongol and Manchu soldiers.The word Aliha means "those who are in charge").We then formed a new platoon.
1st,April: A servant of my platoon mate Hooxan distributed some beef among us. These beef meats were acquired through killing some random natives. This was discovered by the general’s own armoured guards. He called me and other squad leaders to his tent, then he asked us to sit down and comforted us with his kind words. I felt so ashamed. In the end, we were all punished, Ganduhai was sentenced to a fine of three months' salary, I and the vice janggin Dandai were sentenced to a fine of six months' salary. Bosoku (a Manchu military title, refers to a low-ranking cavalry officer) was sentenced to 70 strokes of the cane. Hooxan from the Booju niru,who was the master of the servant, was sentenced to 80 strokes of the cane. The servant was sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane.
4th, April: The rations of the army were running out, so the general decided to move the camp. We moved to a place that was 15 ba away from Bin Jeo. We were ordered to search for food in every nearby village and to hull rice plants if we could find any. I sent the children of my servant to the village,(they)discovered some rice plants hidden by the villagers in their basements, (we)dug a hole in the ground to hull the rice.
6th, April: The Chinese auxiliary force was ordered to build a temporary bridge on the river near Bin Jeo.
8th, April: A decree was issued by the ministry:"Prince kemungge and Brother king Shang zhi xin(previously mentioned Chinese dynast who supports Manchu rule) ,please(the original text was,quite surprisingly, using operative mood) meet together, then use your joint force to attack Ma qiyang yen’s force.General Manggitu, why have you not launched the campaign to enter and conquer Yun nan? You need to explain this to us immediately" Then we heard again the rumour that Hai Qing county,Jin Men, and Xia Men of Fu Jian province were conquered by our empire.
13th,April: Once again, a scolding message was sent from the ministry, asking us to enter and conquer Yun nan.
16th,April:Since the servant of the soldier( probably referring to the Hooxan incident)harmed the local people, a decree that barred all soldiers from leaving their post was issued.
19th,April: We crossed the river near Bin jeo, marching 15 ba, and then we established our camp at a place called Too deng near Xa Moo San. I made a small shack for myself with grass. This day the brother king(Shang zhi xin) sent a letter to our camp:" governor Jin (a Chinese) is leading the marine force and traveling by water with 23 boats. I myself am currently dwelling with military governor Jelken. We shall start to move with our force on April 15th. I pray that your excellency could capture Lai Bin County; in the mean time, I will go and capture Vsiowan County. I hope I can meet you at that place. I wish we could then discuss whether we should wait for Prince Kemungge or simply attack Liu zhou with our own force." And the mighty baturu(meaning great warrior), the man born for war, the governor of Yun Gui, general Zhao liang dong( a Chinese general who served in Manchu army, he was greatly respected by the author)also sent a secret message to our camp: "The leader of the rebels Wu san gui, Wu guo gui were now dead. The ones left were Wu ying qi, Wu Shi Fan, and Hu Gui Zhu. They were nothing but a bunch of incompetent dollards and their morale was already shattered. This is the time to conquer Szechuan! Four(armies)need to conduct attacks together, we shall capture all their land, and it will be done in one strike!" I carefully and respectfully heard his message .
23th,April: The war council decided to capture Lai Bin first. Thus, an order to prepare a ration of one month’s worth was issued. I ordered someone to dig a hole in the ground to hull the rice plants.
28th,April: The soldiers were sent out to collect enemy intelligence. I also went out with them.
29th,April: I was sick, I puked.
1st, May: Prince Elhe himself was leading his army back to the north, it was said they were going back to Beijing, I went out to follow him, but contrary to my wish, I failed to go back, fucking frastrute(author made a spelling mistake here, and it was followed by a large gap period, so he was probably super fed up).
7th, May: The rebel leaders from Yun nan,namely Fan Qi Han and Jan Yang, joined forces with Ma Qiyang yen and crossed the river near Lai Bin. We heard that they stopped near the Da Xi Bridge. General Mang ordered all the men to stay within the camp and build fortifications. My troops also participated in building the defences, and they were all complaining.
13th, May: The hostile force was approaching, they stopped at a place 5 ba away from us and set up camp on a monticule. General mixed the Chinese auxiliary forces and our own forces together in order to defend the camp. I was personally patrolling the camp with my full-set of armour on for the entire day.
15th,May: Subordinates of the rebel Ma qiyang yen, fake general Ma qiyang lei, and Rao yi lung,together with the other rebel’s fake generals Fan qi han and Jan yang from Yun nan challenged us with more than 10 thousand soldiers. They arranged many anti-horse obstacles and large barriers near Too Deng. The army of the enemy itself was drawn up in a four-line formation and was equipped with many muskets and elephants. Seeing this, General Mang ordered every subcamp to select 1 janggin and 10 armoured soldiers to secure the luggage. Then the rest of the army went out to fight the enemy. Our army was marshalled as follows: "Hife, the lord of the banner, stood at the front of the first line to coordinate the attack. The troops in the second line were commanded by Masita. The first line of the right wing, in the meantime, was commanded by Ehene. The flank troops of the left wing were commanded by Lebei. In front of the whole army, the general placed the Chinese auxiliary force and their artillery." The enemy rushed towards us; they broke through our first line like it was nothing, and the Chinese could not stop the charging enemy, so they fled from the battle. Seeing this, the banner men from plain red and plain yellow organised two simultaneous attacks with great passion; they penetrated the enemy line, creating two gaps. Yet the enemies fought unyieldingly; they reorganised and concentrated all their forces to strike towards us, ignoring the plain red and yellow bannermen at their flank. Our troops could not stop them, so we started to retreat scatteredly. I saw it all myself, how they drove the bannermen from the bordered blue banner to their anti-horse obstacle. But all of a sudden, the bannermen being chased stopped, and a series of strange "picyang" sounds came from the enemy's direction. Then I saw the soldiers of the first line somehow managed to drive the elephants towards us while the military standards of the bordered yellow banner’s bayara janggin Valda and aliha army(the unit author belonged to)’s vice bosoku( the bosoku himself was probably still recovering from the cane stroke) Ulehi were seized by the enemy. At that time, the soldiers of the second line, including me, saw hardly any option but to shoot desperately towards those beasts. They were charging us from all directions, so we had to shoot while standing back to back, and the elephants looked like hedgehogs. When the elephants acted like grey fishes,(elephants) fled away. My heart felt really strange at that instance, and I could not stop it from beating like crazy. The hostile army then left the plain and retreated to the forest on the mountains. They again arranged some anti-horse obstacles there later that day. We did not fight them again, for our forces went back to the camp to spend the night while defending our fortifications.
Name list*:*
Since the Manchus usually would only address other Manchus with their first name, I'll attach a list of names of the figures mentioned in this diary whose full name could be found in other sources
Manggitu= Manggitu Joogiya
Ecu= Ecu Ujara
Hife= Hife Heseri
Ehene=Ehene Nara
Lebei=Lebei Gorolo
Jelken=Jelken Eci
Prince elhe= Giyešu Aisin-gioro
Prince kemungge= Labu Aisin-gioro
Original Manchu text:
Elhe taifin i sohon bonio juwan uyuci aniya,aniya biyai ice inenggi,jiyanggiyvn Manggitv,hebei ambasa,geren janggisa,bana i hafasa be gaifi,Guwangsi Nanning fui hoton i Dung yoo miyoo i dolo isibufi doroloho.Ambasa juwe galai hafasa ishunde hengkilehe.Aniya i ucuri jakvn gvsai janggin cooha gemu jeme omime,bayara uksin i beye giyade,hehe adali miyamifi,Doo yang ke uqun ba uculeme efihe. Mini dolo sakdasa be gvnime alixaha.
Juwe biyai orin sunja de,horon be badarambure amba jiyanggiyvn,juergi be necihiyere wang Xang jy sin,juergi be tuwakiyara jiyanggiyvn Manggitu,Giyangning ni jergi babe tuwakiyara jiyanggiyvn Ecu,hebei amban gvsai ejen Lebei,Hife,meireni janggin Ehene se Yvn nan be gaime dosire jalin hebe aqafi,tuweri dosimbi seme toktoho.Bi morin be ulebume maikan enggemu agvra hajun be dasataha.
Ilan biyai ice ilan de.Dergici wasimbuha Mang....... Mini gamara yaya jaka be gemu dasataha .
Ice sunja de dosire inenggi hanci oho,agvra hajun be sadata seme selgiyehe,
Ice ninggun de Ganduhai buyarame janggisa morin i ton be qiralame baicaha.Bin jeo i jy jeo hafan Ma qiyang yen be ubaxaha seme nurhume boolanjiha.
Juwan ilan de jiyanggiyvn Mang gusai ejen Hife,tui janggin Ehene de emu nirui ilata bayara,dahame dailara sunja ing ni sunja minggan niowanggiyantv cooha be bufi, neneme ubaxaha hvlha Ma qiyang yen be dailame Bin jeo baru jurambuha.Tere inenggi mini jakvn morin hvlha bufi,mini doro alixame,jiyanggiyvn de alara jakade,Jiyanggiyvn sunja ing ni hafasa,irgen de selgiyafi baicabuha,naranggi bahaakv....
Juwan ninggude jiyanggiyvn Ecu,cooha gaifi yungmvn hiyan ci quwan tefi,nan ning de jihe.Orin de yungmvni choohai morisa isinjiha,Jiyanggiyvn gisun morin akv uksinsade yunmvni albani morin be tatame gaifi bu seme。tatarade lak seme burakv ofi,genere kvwaranda be uhuken seme dangsifi.jiayanggiyvn Mang,tuwakiyara kvwarani dajanggisa be gajifi,morin be burakvngge adarame emke hono famxame yabuki serakv jilerxembi,te uthai albani morin be bu seme,morin be tatame gaifi genere cooha de icihiyame buhe.
Orin sunjade bi jiyanggiyvn Mang,gvsai ejen Lebei,hife sebe dahame. Emu nirui duite ton i cooha be gaifi,Nanning fuci,Lio Jeo baru jurafi yabume,Jing ceng sy be dulefi,Gunluwan guwan be tucifi.
Sunja inenggi emu tanggv nadanju babe yabufi.Gvsin de bin jeo de isinafi,neneme geneje bayara be acafi,aliha cooha be acabufi emu meyen obuha.
Duin biyai ice de,mini jalani Booju nirui Hooxani kutele,gvwa i waha irgini ihani yali be dendefi gaijirede,Jiyanggiyvni gocika uksin de nambufi,Jiyanggiyvn,mimbe,kvwaran i da be gamafi,qaqari de tebufi,sain gisun i neqihiyere de,be yertehe.Weile gisurefi,Ganduhai ilan biyai funglv,mimne arahai janggin dandai be ninggun biyai funglu faitame,bosokv be nadanjv,kutelei ejen hooxan be jakvnju,kutule be tanggv tantaha.
Uheri coohai jetere bele lakcafi,ice duide jiyanggiyvn ing gurime,Binjeo ci tofohon bai dubede genefi ing ilifi,teisu teisu gaxan de bele baisu,handu be niohu seme selgiyehe.Bi booi juse be gaxan de unggifi,eye fatame handu baifi gajifi,na be sangga arafi bele niuhuhe. Ice ninggude Bin jeo i bira be fukiyoo ca seme,niowanggiyan tu de afabuha.
Ice jakvn de jurgan ci unggihe bithede:“Ubaxaha hvlha Ma Qiyangyen be kemungge wang anda wang Xang jysin ni emgi acafi dailakini,jiyanggiyvn Manggitu si yvn nan be dailame dosika akv babe hvdun boola sehebi!” Geli fugiyan i goloi Haiqing hiyan,Gin men,Hiya men i jergi babe baha seme donjiha.
Juwan ilan de geli Yvnnan be gaime dosi seme hacihiyara bithe isinjiha. Juwan ninggude cooha kutule be irgen be nungnembi seme,gemu karun ci ume tucibure seme fafun i bithe selgiyehe. Juwan uyun de Bin jeoi bira be doofi,tofohon ba yabufi.Xa moo sani ebele Too deng sere babe ing iliha.Bi orhoi tatan araha.Anda wang ni yabubuha bithede: Dzungdv Gin mukei cooha be gaifi,juwan ilan de quwan be jurambi. Mini beye, tidu Jelkeni emgi cooha be gaifi, tofohon de olhon be jurambi.Laibin hiyan be wesihun jiyanggiyvn gaisu,bi vsiowan hiyan be gaifi, dere aqafi hebdeki.Eici kemungge qin wang be aliyafi Lio jeo fvbe gaire,eici musei cooha uthai Lio jeo fvbe gaire babe ebxeki sehebi.Yvn guii dzungdu baturu bodohonggo jiyanggiyvn Joo liyangdung ni wesimbuhengge:Fudaraka hvlha U sangui,U guwegui bucihe, funcehe U ingki,U xifan,Hv guwejv,Maboose gemu silhi meijehebi,muten akv urse.Ere Suquwan be baha ucuri,duin jugvni sasa Yvn gui be gaime dosici, emgeride toktobuci ombi seme.narhuxame wesimbuhe seme donjiha.
Orin ilan de Laibin i baru ibembi seme gisurefi nakaha,emu biyai jetere bele niohu seme selgiyehe.Bi eye fetebume handu baifi, bele niohuhe.Orin jakvn de hvlha i mejige be gaime,cooha unggirede,bi genehe bihe.Orin uyun de mini beye fudame nimehe.Sunja biyai ice sunja de, elhe qin wang ni beye cooha gaifi, Beging ni baru bederehe seme donjifi,bi elhe wang be dahame tucifi, elemangga bahafi bedererakv seme kusucehe.Ice nadan de Yvn nan ci jihe hvlha Fan qihan,Jan yang ni cooha, Ma qiyangyen i cooha Lai bin i bira be doofi, Da xikiyoo de iliha seme donjifi, Jiyanggiyvn Mang geren de selgiyefi ing be akdulara de, mini beye cooha be kadalame dobori dulime keremu ulan weilehe.Coohai urse gasaha.
Juwan ilan de hvlha ibeme jifi,bakcilame sunja bai dubede,alin be gaime ing iliha.Jianggiyvn,niowanggiyan tvbe musei cooha de kamcibume keremu tuwakiyabuha.Mini beye dobori inenggi a(u)ksilehei jucelehe.Tofohon de ubaxaha hvlha Ma qiyangyeni fejergi holo Jiyanggiyvn Ma qiyang liyei,Rao i lung,Yvn nan ci jihe hvlha i holo jiyanggiyvn Fan qihan,Janyang uheri tumen funqere hvlha be gaifi, ing be afanjime hanci latunjifi, Too deng ni bade hiyahan kalka miyoocan sufan duin be faidafi ambarame jihe be.Jiyanggiyvn Mang ing toome emu janggin,juwan uksin be werifi,uheri amba cooha be gaifi tucifi,cini dere de hife,masitai be jai meyen i cooha be gaifi faida,ici ergi xaksiha de Ehene uju meyeni cooha be gaifi faida.Hashv ergi xaksiha de lebei xaksiha meyen i cooha be gaifi faida seme afabufi.Niowanggiyan tvbe juleri sindafi,ibeme poo sindame,hvlha uthai fondolome latunjifi,niowanggiyan tv alime muterakv axxame.Gulu suwayan gulu fulgiyan juwe hontoho fakcame angga arame ba buhe.Hvlha bireme emu dalgan i fondolofi,baksalafi bedererede,tuwaci jebele galai baru siribume kubuhe lamun, hvlhai hiyahani hanci ilinaha. Hvlhai piciyang turi tashara adali sindambi . Tuwaqi uju meyen i qooha sufan be birebufi , kubuhe suwayan i bayara janggin walda tu , aliha qooha i funde bosoku ulehi i tu gaibuha,sufan halgime jai meyen i qooha de nikenjihe be , meni geren i gabdara de ,sirdan sengge bula i adali , sufan de hadara jakade , sufan burulame alin i baru genehe . mini dolo faije(u)me seme gvnime tuksitehe.Hvlha neqin baci ikvme, alin i luku bujan de kurlefi ,yamjitala bakqilame hiyahan faidafi bihe.Musei qooha inu afahakv, ing de bederefi , keremu be akdulame tuwakiyaha.
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