First compiled in 1684 and revised in 1736, the Shengjing tongzhi was expanded by a Qianlong commission under Agui and Liu Jinzhi into the 130-juan edition of 1784. It covers the Manchu homeland of Shengjing (Liaoning), Jilin and Heilongjiang: imperial edicts, cities and walls, rivers, ancient sites, officials and the tribute peoples of the Amur and Ussuri. It draws on banner records, earlier editions, Yuan and Ming geographies and travel diaries. The corpus holds poor scans of juan 1 and 129 to 130 and the full Kanseki Repository transcription of the Siku copy, which is quoted here.
How they knew
Compiled from others
Who “Tartar” means here
The gazetteer does not use Tatar for any people it describes. It names Manchus, Mongols, the Solon, Daur, Hezhe and Fiyaka, and calls the Russians Luocha; old names such as the 'Water Tatars' of Yuan sources appear only in re-spelled form.
Why read it
It shows the land Europeans called Chinese or Eastern Tartary as the Qing saw it: dog sledges and skis on the Amur, ruined palace cities of earlier dynasties, and the Kangxi emperor building wooden forts against Russian raiders.
Watch out
An official compilation that often quotes older works rather than reporting observation; the Qianlong editors re-spelled Mongol, Jurchen and Khitan names. Translations are working translations.
Editorial contextIn an edict of 1682 the Kangxi emperor weighs the report that the Russians (Luocha) raiding the Amur could be driven out with three thousand men. War, he says, is not a good thing; instead he orders fifteen hundred troops from Ula and Ningguta, with boats, cannon and muskets, to build wooden forts at Heilongjiang (Aigun) and Humar facing the enemy, and to farm so they can hold out. This is the start of the Albazin war that ended with the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689).
But war is not a good thing; it is fitting to pause the attack for now. Transfer fifteen hundred soldiers from Ula and Ningguta, have boats built, and send red-barrel cannon and muskets with men trained to use them to Heilongjiang and Humar, to build wooden forts in both places, face the enemy's lines and act as opportunity allows.
The Kangxi emperor, edict of 1682, in Agui, Liu Jinzhi and the Qianlong commission, Imperially Commissioned Gazetteer of Shengjing (1784 recension; Siku quanshu Wenyuange copy, Kanseki Repository transcription)
Editorial contextQuoting the diary of Gao Shiqi, who accompanied the Kangxi emperor to Manchuria in 1682, the gazetteer describes Huorong city: a walled site over forty li around with an inner forbidden city, the foundations of three halls strewn with broken green-glazed tiles, and outside it a great stone Buddha about three zhang high on a lotus base, with a leaning stone pagoda. Gao took it for the Jin (Jurchen) upper capital; the gazetteer's editors then use the Jin river name Anchuhu (which they equate with the Alchuka) and Song travellers' distances to argue that the Jin capital lay further west, toward the Sungari.
[Gao Shiqi's diary:] Fifteen li southeast of Shalin is Huorong city, the upper capital Huining prefecture of the Jin. It is more than forty li around; in the middle is a forbidden city about a li across, where the foundations of three halls all survive, with broken green tiles scattered over them like chess pieces. Outside the forbidden city is a great stone Buddha about three zhang high, resting on a lotus, and in front of it a stone pagoda leaning a little to the east.
Agui, Liu Jinzhi and the Qianlong commission, Imperially Commissioned Gazetteer of Shengjing (1784 recension; Siku quanshu Wenyuange copy, Kanseki Repository transcription), quoting Gao Shiqi's diary of 1682
About Builders of an earlier dynasty (identified as Jin; now known as Bohai)
Keep in mind
Gao's identification is doubted in the gazetteer itself. Modern archaeology identifies the ruins near Ningguta, with their stone Buddha and stone lantern, as Shangjing, capital of the Bohai kingdom (8th to 10th centuries).
Editorial contextThe gazetteer quotes the Yuan imperial geography: the people of Kaiyuan were strong, warlike and practised archers and hunters, and had 'wooden horses' (skis) tied to both feet that could keep up with a galloping horse on snow and ice, and light boat-shaped wooden 'dog carts' pulled by several dogs. The editors add that in Manchu these are called suntaha and sherhe, in Chinese pali (sledges), and that they are still used throughout Jilin and Heilongjiang.
The people of Kaiyuan are strong, good fighters and practised at archery and hunting. They have the convenience of dog carts and wooden horses, which are light and quick. The wooden horse is shaped like a bow... one on the left and one on the right, tied to the two feet; pushing off, they glide along and on snow and ice can keep pace with a galloping horse. The dog cart is made of wood; it is light and simple, shaped like a boat... and pulled by several dogs.
Agui, Liu Jinzhi and the Qianlong commission, Imperially Commissioned Gazetteer of Shengjing (1784 recension; Siku quanshu Wenyuange copy, Kanseki Repository transcription), quoting the Yuan Comprehensive Geography (Yuan yitong zhi)
The 'dog-using' and 'deer-using' tribes of the Amur
Editorial contextThe gazetteer lists the northeastern peoples who brought tribute to the Qing post at Ningguta, measuring each by distance: the Fiyaka seven or eight hundred li beyond the three-river confluence, the Kiler three thousand li away on the sea coast, the Kuyala facing Korea across the Tumen. Beyond the 'dog-using' tribes lay a 'deer-using' (reindeer) tribe. These are the peoples European maps grouped in 'Eastern Tartary'.
Another seven or eight hundred li to the northeast are the Fiyaka. Three thousand li northeast of Ningguta are the Kiler, who border the great sea on the east... The Kuyala: their land lies on the north bank of the Tumen river, opposite Kyongwon in Korea... And the deer-using tribe lies beyond the dog-using tribes.
Agui, Liu Jinzhi and the Qianlong commission, Imperially Commissioned Gazetteer of Shengjing (1784 recension; Siku quanshu Wenyuange copy, Kanseki Repository transcription)
About Fiyaka (Nivkh), Kiler, Kuyala and other tribute peoples
The fine print
How we know
compilation Assembled from earlier sources. The author did not observe it directly.
official compilation from banner records, earlier editions (1684, 1736) and surveys
Research notes
Late recension; earlier 1684 and 1736 editions differ in coverage. Siku quanshu (1770s-80s) manuscript copy: the Qianlong editors systematically re-transcribed Mongol, Jurchen and Khitan names following the Qinding Liao Jin Yuan san shi guoyu jie, so name forms differ from Ming and early Qing prints (seen on the Ming shi Wala chapter page: 衛拉特 for 瓦剌, 太平巴圖博囉 for 太平 and 把禿孛羅). Cite the pre-Siku editions for original orthography.
Why it matters
Qing official geography of the Manchu homeland, the region European maps called Eastern or Manchu Tartary; includes the Amur frontier with Russia and lists of tribute peoples.