Comprehending the Qing Empire: Building Multilingual Competence in an Age of Imperial Rivalry, 1792-1820

• Published in: International history review Vol. 41; no. 5; pp. 1057 - 1075
• Main Author: Mosca, Matthew W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Toronto Routledge 03.09.2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Access; Ambition; Bilingualism; Competence; Diplomacy; European history; French Revolution; French Revolutionary and Napoleonic War Era; imperialism; multilingual scholarship; Multilingualism; Qing Dynasty; Qing Empire; translation; Ventures; War; China
• DOI: 10.1080/07075332.2018.1496129
• ISSN: 0707-5332

European knowledge of the four dominant languages of the Qing Empire, Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan, was transformed between 1792 and 1820 as a consequence of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Although these conflicts did not dramatically alter European political relations with the Qing Empire, they inaugurated a series of more subtle changes that collectively produced this surge in linguistic ability. First, this period saw unprecedented European interest in, and access to, the inland frontiers of the Qing Empire. Such access convinced some that China was newly accessible through the empire's diverse Inner Asian territories, leading them to plan bold ventures in diplomacy, trade, proselytization, and academic research. These ambitious projects, although rarely accomplishing their goals, stimulated research by seeming to demand new linguistic capabilities for their execution. The fact that they often envisioned crossing Inner Asia to reach China explains why progress in Chinese occurred together with Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan. Another factor promoting a sudden surge in multilingual competence was the speed with which breakthroughs could now be communicated through imperial and trans-imperial networks. Printing, evangelical and learned societies, and new professional opportunities, gave European scholars unprecedented access to advances made on or near the Qing frontier.