The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

by Emperor Xuanzong in

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

. It has also been translated as "College of Literature" and "Academy of the Forest of Pencils." Membership in the academy was confined to an elite group of scholars, who performed secretarial and literary tasks for the court. One of its primary duties was to decide on an interpretation of the

Chinese classics The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian traditi ...

. This formed the basis of the

Imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

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; , Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin pinyin ''Bǎi Jūyì''; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a Chinese musician, poet, and politician during the Tang dynasty. Many of his poems concern his career o ...

(772–846) – Poet *

Su Shi Su Shi ( zh, t=, s=苏轼, p=Sū Shì; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese poet, essayist, calligrapher, painter, scholar-official, literatus, artist, pharmacologist, and gastronome wh ...

(1037 – 1101) – Poet * Yan Shu (991–1055) – Poet, calligrapher, (prime minister, 1042) * Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) – Historian *

Shen Kuo Shen Kuo (; 1031–1095) or Shen Gua, courtesy name Cunzhong (存中) and Art name#China, pseudonym Mengqi (now usually given as Mengxi) Weng (夢溪翁),Yao (2003), 544. was a Chinese polymath, scientist, and statesman of the Song dynasty (960� ...

(1031–1095) – Chancellor *

Zhang Zeduan Zhang Zeduan (; 1085–1145), courtesy name Zhengdao (), was a Chinese painter of the Song dynasty. He lived during the transitional period from the Northern Song to the Southern Song, and was instrumental in the early history of the Chinese la ...

(1085–1145) – Painter * Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) – Painter, calligrapher, poet (rector, 1314–1320) * Huang Zicheng (1350–1402) – Imperial scholar * Li Dongyang (1447–1516) – Imperial officer, poet, served as 'Grand Historian' * Ni Yuanlu (1593–1644) – Calligrapher, painter, high-ranking official * Wu Renchen (1628–1689) – Historian and mathematician *

Chen Menglei Chen Menglei (; 1650–1741) was a Chinese encyclopedist, historian, and philosopher during the Qing dynasty. He was a scholar-writer known for being the chief editor, compiler, and author of the Gujin Tushu Jicheng Chinese encyclopedia. In 1670 ...

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

Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China The ''Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China'' (or the ''Gujin Tushu Jicheng'') 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 ...

'') * Zhang Tingyu (1672–1755) – Politician and historian * Ji Xiaolan (1724–1805) – Scholar, poet (Editor in Chief of the '' Complete Library of the Four Treasuries'') * Yao Nai (1731–1815) – Scholar * Gao E (1738–1815) – Scholar and editor * He Changling (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 a Chinese politician and diplomat who was the first Chinese Ambassador to the United States during the Qing dynasty. Born in Wuchuan City, Guangdong, he passed the Chinese imperial exam ...

(1816–1895) – Diplomat (ambassador to the U.S., Spain and Peru) * Weng Tonghe (1830–1904) – Imperial Tutor * Cai Yuanpei (1868–1940) – Educator * Qu Hongji (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 of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

in 1407, after the first expedition of

Zheng He Zheng He (also romanized Cheng Ho; 1371–1433/1435) was a Chinese eunuch, admiral and diplomat from the early Ming dynasty, who is often regarded as the greatest admiral in History of China, Chinese history. Born into a Muslims, Muslim famil ...

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, "Tartar" ( Mongol), Korean, Ryukyuan, Japanese, Tibetan, " 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 (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, 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 ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

vocabulary (Manlajia Guan Yiyu) 滿剌加館譯語 (Words-list of Melaka Kingdom) for the Malay spoken in the

Malacca Sultanate The Malacca Sultanate (; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parameswara, also known as I ...

was compiled. A

Cham language Cham (Cham: , Cham Jawi, Jawi: چم, Latin script: Cam) is a Malayo-Polynesian languages, Malayo-Polynesian language of the Austronesian languages, Austronesian family, spoken by the Cham people, Chams of Southeast Asia. It is spoken primarily i ...

vocabulary 占城館 was created for the language spoken in the

Champa Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...

Kingdom. When 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 ...

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", and changed the Shan

exonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

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 The siege of the International Legations was a pivotal event during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, in which foreign diplomatic compounds in Peking (now Beijing) were besieged by Chinese Boxers and Qing Dynasty troops. The Boxers, fueled by anti-f ...

in Peking (now known as

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

) in 1900 by the Kansu Braves while fighting against the Eight-Nation Alliance, close to the British Legation as an intimidation tactic. On June 22-23, the fire spread to the academy: The flames destroyed many ancient texts. 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 Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...

References

External links

Foreign language vocabularies

* s: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 * s:zh:華夷譯語/朝鮮館譯語 Korean language * s:zh:使琉球錄 (陳侃)#.E5.A4.B7.E8.AA.9E.EF.BC.88.E9.99.84.EF.BC.89 Ryukyuan language * s: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 * s: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 * s:zh:中山傳信錄/卷六#.E9.A2.A8.E4.BF.97 Ryukyuan language * s: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 Song dynasty Tang dynasty