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 A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...

, 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 Li Bai (, 701–762), Literary and colloquial readings, also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and hi ...

(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 Ouyang Xiu (; 1007 – 1072 CE), courtesy name Yongshu, also known by his art names Zuiweng () and Liu Yi Jushi (), was a Chinese historian, calligrapher, epigrapher, essayist, poet, and politician of the Song dynasty. He was a renowned writer a ...

(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 Wu Renchen (吳任臣, ) ( 1628 – 1689), with courtesy names of Zhiyi (志伊), Erqi (爾器) and Zhenghong (征鴻), and an art name of Tuoyuan (託園), was a Chinese historian, mathematician, politician, and writer during the Qing dynasty. Or ...

(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 The ''Siku Quanshu'', literally the ''Complete Library of the Four Treasuries'', is a Chinese encyclopedia commissioned during the Qing dynasty by the Qianlong Emperor. Commissioned in 1772 and completed in 1782, the ''Siku quanshu'' is the larg ...

'') * Yao Nai (1731–1815) – Scholar * Gao E (1738–1815) – Scholar and editor * He Changling (1785–1848) – Scholar and official *

Zeng Guofan Zeng Guofan, Marquis Yiyong (; 26 November 1811 – 12 March 1872), birth name Zeng Zicheng, courtesy name Bohan (), was a Chinese statesman and military general of the late Qing dynasty. He is best known for raising and organizing the Xiang ...

(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 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 sub ...

(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 Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

, Ryukyuan, Japanese, Tibetan, " Huihui" (the "Muslim" language,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

) 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 Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the prefectural area has shifted ...

, i.e.

Old Uyghur language Old Uyghur () was a Turkic language spoken in Qocho from the 9th–14th centuries as well as in Gansu. History Old Uyghur evolved from Old Turkic, a Siberian Turkic language, after the Uyghur Khaganate broke up and remnants of it migrat ...

), 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 The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) an ...

, who "were sensitive to references to barbarians", changed the name from ''yi'' 夷 "barbarian" to ''yi'' 彝 "

Yi people The Yi or Nuosu people (Nuosu language, Nuosu: , ; see also #Names and subgroups, § Names and subgroups) are an ethnic group in South China, southern China. Numbering nine million people, they are the seventh largest of the 55 Ethnic minorit ...

", 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 The School of Combined Learning, or the Tongwen Guan was a government school for teaching Western languages and science, founded at Beijing in 1862, right after the conclusion of the Second Opium War, as part of the Self-Strengthening Movement. I ...

set up by the Qing dynasty for translating western languages was subordinated to the

Zongli Yamen The ''Zongli Yamen'' (), short for Office for the General Management of Affairs Concerning the Various Countries (), also known as Prime Minister's Office, Office of General Management, was the government body in charge of foreign policy in imp ...

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 The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, which were being besieged by the popular Boxer ...

, 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