Bukūri Yongšon (; ? – ?) was a legendary ancestor of the future emperors of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
.
Legend
Bukūri Yongšon was claimed the progenitor of the
Aisin Gioro
The House of Aisin-Gioro is a Manchu clan that ruled the Later Jin dynasty (1616–1636), the Qing dynasty (1636–1912), and Manchukuo (1932–1945) in the history of China. Under the Ming dynasty, members of the Aisin Gioro clan served as chie ...
clan by
Hong Taiji
Hong Taiji (28 November 1592 – 21 September 1643), also rendered as Huang Taiji and sometimes referred to as Abahai in Western literature, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizong of Qing, was the second khan of the Later Jin ...
,
which would be the imperial family of China in the future. According to the legend, three heavenly maidens, namely Enggulen (, 恩古倫), Jenggulen (, 正古倫) and Fekulen (, 佛庫倫), were bathing at a lake called Bulhūri Omo () near the
Changbai Mountains. A magpie dropped a piece of red fruit near Fekulen, who ate it. She then became pregnant with Bukūri Yongšon.
However, another older version of the story by the Hurha (Hurka) tribe member Muksike recorded in 1635 contradicts Hong Taiji's version on location, claiming that it was in
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...
province, close to the
Amur river
The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ''proper'' is ...
, where Bulhuri lake was located, and where the "
heavenly maidens" took their bath. This was recorded in the ''
Jiu Manzhou Dang'' and is much shorter and simpler in addition to being older. This is believed to be the original version and Hongtaiji changed it to Changbai mountain. It shows that the Aisin Gioro clan originated in the Amur area and the Heje (
Hezhen) and other Amur valley Jurchen tribes had an oral version of the same tale. It also fits with Jurchen history since some ancestors of the Manchus originated north before the 14th-15th centuries in the Amur and only later moved south.
Modern interpretation
However, some scholars believe that the so-called legend actually carries the different meanings. Zhang (2013) pointed that, in the Manchu language, the names of three "heavenly maidens", “Enggulen,” “Jenggulen,” and “Fekulen”, may be formed from the words “enen” (son), “jeje” (father), and “fefe” (mother), combined with “gulung” (babbling). Based on this interpretation, this legend could be understood as follows: "A family of three from the Hurha clan was bathing in Lake Bulhuri. After bathing with his son, the father and the son left the mother alone, who then gave birth to Bukūri Yongšon." The entire legend, while on the surface praised by Muksike and his clan as proof that the Manchu tribes were descended from goddesses, was in fact a veiled mockery suggesting that Bukūri Yongšon, the Manchu progenitor, was essentially born out of wedlock and of lowly status.
Legacy
After the Qing dynasty was established, he was given the
temple name
Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dynas ...
"Shizu" (始祖).
[官修史料.清實錄.中華書局，2008]
See also
*
Researches on Manchu Origins
Notes
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Manchu people
Qing dynasty