The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by Emperor Xuanzong in

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin ...

. Membership in the academy was confined to an elite group of scholars, who performed secretarial and literary tasks for the court. One of its main duties was to decide on an interpretation of the

Chinese classics Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confuci ...

. This formed the basis of the

Imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

s, which aspiring government bureaucrats had to pass to attain higher-level government posts. Painters working for the court were also attached to the academy.

Academy members

Some of the more famous academicians of Hanlin were: * Li Bai (701–762) – Poet *

Bai Juyi Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; ; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as g ...

(772–846) – Poet * Yan Shu (991–1055) – Poet, calligrapher, (prime minister, 1042) * Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) – Historian * Shen Kuo (1031–1095) – Chancellor * Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145) – Painter * Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) – Painter, calligrapher, poet (rector, 1314–1320) * Huang Zicheng (1350–1402) – Imperial scholar *

Li Dongyang Li Dongyang (, 1447–1516) was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician during the Ming dynasty. Born in Beijing, Li began writing since 4 years old. He was invited by the Jingtai Emperor to the court for testing and requested his presence ...

(1447–1516) – Imperial officer, poet, served as 'Grand Historian' *

Ni Yuanlu Ni Yuanlu (; ca. 1593–1644) was a high-ranking official, calligrapher, and painter during the Ming dynasty of Chinese history. Ni was born in Shangyu in the Zhejiang province. His courtesy name was "Yuru" (玉汝) and his art name was "Hongbao" ...

(1593–1644) – Calligrapher, painter, high-ranking official * Wu Renchen (1628–1689) – Historian and mathematician *

Chen Menglei Chen Menglei (; 1650-1741) was a Qing dynasty scholar-writer known for being the chief editor, compiler, and author of the Gujin Tushu Jicheng Chinese encyclopedia. In 1670, he became a Jinshi. Chen Menglei conducted research for over 50 years, c ...

(1650–1741) – Scholar, writer (Editor in Chief of the ''

Gujin Tushu Jicheng The ''Gujin Tushu Jicheng'' (), also known as the ''Imperial Encyclopaedia'', is a vast encyclopedic work written in China during the reigns of the Qing dynasty emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng. It was begun in 1700 and completed in 1725. The wor ...

'') * Zhang Tingyu (1672–1755) – Politician and historian *

Ji Xiaolan Ji Yun (; 1724–1805), also known as Ji Xiaolan () or Ji Chunfan () was a Chinese philosopher, politician, and writer. He was an influential scholar of Qing dynasty China and many anecdotes have been recorded about him. Ji Yun left behind a b ...

(1724–1805) – Scholar, poet (Editor in Chief of the '' Siku Quanshu'') *

Yao Nai Yao Nai (姚鼐, pinyin: Yáo Nài; 1731–1815) was a scholar of the Qing Dynasty. Born in Tongcheng (), Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China regio ...

(1731–1815) – Scholar *

Gao E Gao E (, c. 1738c. 1815) was a Qing dynasty Chinese scholar, writer, and editor. He attained the degree of '' juren'' in 1788 and ''jinshi'' in 1795. A Han Chinese who belonged to the Bordered Yellow Banner, he became a Fellow of the Hanlin Ac ...

(1738–1815) – Scholar and editor *

He Changling He Changling () (March 18, 1785—July 6, 1848), courtesy name Ougen (), was a Chinese scholar and official of the Qing dynasty from Changsha, Hunan. In 1808, he obtained the highest degree in the imperial examination and the following year h ...

(1785–1848) – Scholar and official * Zeng Guofan (1811–1872) – Scholar and later key military official *

Chen Lanbin Chen Lanbin (; 1816–1895), courtesy name Li Qiu (), was the first Chinese Ambassador to the United States during the Qing dynasty. Born in Wuchuan City, Guangdong, he passed the Chinese imperial examination in 1853 at the age of 24, and ente ...

(1816–1895) – Diplomat (ambassador to the U.S., Spain and Peru) *

Weng Tonghe Weng Tonghe (; 1830–1904), courtesy name Shuping (), was a Chinese Confucian scholar and imperial tutor who lived in the Qing dynasty. In 1856, he obtained the position of '' zhuangyuan'' (or top scholar) in the imperial examination and was ...

(1830–1904) – Imperial Tutor * Cai Yuanpei (1868–1940) – Educator *

Qu Hongji Qu Hongji (; 1850–1918), style name Zijiu (), and art name Zhi'an (), was a politician of the Chinese Qing Dynasty who served in several ministerial positions, most notably being the first Minister of Foreign Affairs. Biography Qu Hongji was b ...

(1850–1918) – Politician

Bureau of Translators

Subordinated to the Hanlin Academy was the Bureau of Translators (). Founded by the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

in 1407, after the first expedition of

Zheng He Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferr ...

to the Indian Ocean, the Bureau dealt with the memorials delivered by foreign ambassadors and trained foreign language specialists. It included departments for many languages such as the

Jurchen Jurchen may refer to: * Jurchen people, Tungusic people who inhabited the region of Manchuria until the 17th century ** Haixi Jurchens, a grouping of the Jurchens as identified by the Chinese of the Ming Dynasty ** Jianzhou Jurchens, a grouping of ...

, "Tartar" (

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

), Korean, Ryukyuan, Japanese,

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken diale ...

, " Huihui" (the "Muslim" language, Persian) Vietnamese and Burmese languages, as well as for the languages of the "various barbarian tribes" (''Bai yi'' 百夷, i.e., Shan ethnic groups on China's southwestern borders), "Gaochang" (people of Turfan, i.e. Old Uyghur language), and ''Xitian'' (西天; (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

, spoken in India). In 1511 and 1579 departments for the languages of ''Ba bai'' (八百; Lao) and Thai were added, respectively. A

Malay language Malay (; ms, Bahasa Melayu, links=no, Jawi: , Rencong: ) is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spoken in East Timor and parts of the Philippines an ...

vocabulary (Manlajia Guan Yiyu) 滿剌加館譯語 (Words-list of Melaka Kingdom) for the Malay spoken in the Malacca Sultanate was compiled. A Cham language vocabulary 占城館 was created for the language spoken in the Champa Kingdom. When the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

revived the Ming ''Siyiguan'' 四夷館, the Manchus, who "were sensitive to references to barbarians", changed the name from ''yi'' 夷 "barbarian" to ''yi'' 彝 "

Yi people The Yi or Nuosu people,; zh, c=彝族, p=Yízú, l=Yi ethnicity historically known as the Lolo,; vi, Lô Lô; th, โล-โล, Lo-Lo are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Numbering nine million people, they are the seve ...

", and changed the Shan

exonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group ...

from ''Baiyi'' 百夷 "hundred barbarians" to ''Baiyi'' 百譯 "hundred translations". The later Tongwen Guan set up by the Qing dynasty for translating western languages was subordinated to the Zongli Yamen and not the Hanlin.

1900 fire

The Beijing Hanlin Academy and its library were severely damaged in a fire during the siege of the International Legations in Peking (now known as

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

) in 1900 by the

Kansu Braves The Gansu Braves or Gansu Army was a unit of 10,000 Chinese Muslim troops from the northwestern province of Kansu ( Gansu) in the last decades of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Loyal to the Qing, the Braves were recruited in 1895 to suppres ...

while fighting against the Eight-Nation Alliance. On June 24, the fire spread to the Academy: Many ancient texts were destroyed by the flames. The Academy operated continuously until its closure during the 1911

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of ...

References

External links

Foreign language vocabularies

* wikisource:zh:華夷譯語 – 達達館（蒙古語）Mongol language
華夷譯語(一)
– 暹羅館（泰語）天文門。 Thai language
華夷譯語(二)
– 緬甸館譯語緬甸館來文（緬甸語）通用門。Burmese language
華夷譯語(三)
– 百夷館（雲南傣語）天文門。Baiyi ( Dai, Shan)
華夷譯語(四)
– 百夷館（雲南傣語）天文門和地理門。Baiyi ( Dai, Shan)
華夷譯語(五)
– 回回館《回回館雜字》（波斯語）天文門。Persian language
華夷譯語(六)
– 回回館《回回館雜字》（波斯語）天文門和地理門。Persian language
高昌館來文
– 高昌館來文（高昌）回鶻語 (畏兀兒館（回鶻語）。Old Uyghur language
譯文備覽
– 譯文備覽西番館（藏語）。Tibetan language

– 《西番譯語》西番館（藏語）Tibetan language * wikisource:zh:華夷譯語/朝鮮館譯語 Korean language * wikisource:zh:使琉球錄 (陳侃)#.E5.A4.B7.E8.AA.9E.EF.BC.88.E9.99.84.EF.BC.89 Ryukyuan language * wikisource:zh:使琉球錄 (蕭崇業)/附#.E5.A4.B7.E8.AA.9E – 使琉球錄夷語夷字 Ryukyuan language * wikisource:zh:使琉球錄 (夏子陽)/卷下#.E5.A4.B7.E8.AA.9E.E3.80.90.E9.99.84.E3.80.91 Ryukyuan language * wikisource:zh:中山傳信錄/卷六#.E9.A2.A8.E4.BF.97 Ryukyuan language * wikisource:zh:重修使琉球錄 Ryukyuan language
使琉球录三种-夷语（附）_国学导航
Ryukyuan language

Ryukyuan language

Ryukyuan language
《女直館》（女真語）《女真譯語》《女真館雜字》在 ''Die Sprache und Schrift der Jučen'' by Wilhem Grube by Wilhem Grube 《女真文和女真語》作者：葛祿博
Jurchen language {{Authority control 8th-century establishments in China 1911 disestablishments in China Confucian education Education in Beijing Government of Imperial China History of education in China History of Imperial China Song dynasty Tang dynasty