The Role of History in Early Qing Claims to Rule the Mongols

Abstract: After the death of Ligdan Qan in 1634, Hong Taiji advanced the claim that he was the legitimate ruler of all Mongols. A common thread among the various arguments he advanced to support this claim was an appeal to historical events and circumstances that in his view illustrated the correctness of the Qing position and the illegitimacy of his enemies. This use of historical references coincided with the first systematic efforts of the emerging Qing state to propagate historical sources in Manchu translation. This talk will review the origins and basis for some of the historical claims made by Hong Taiji regarding the legitimacy of Qing rule over all Mongols, and how they relate – or do not relate – to the content of official historiography.

Speaker:
Matthew Mosca, Associate Professor, Department of History and Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington

Moderator:
Gray Tuttle, Leila Hadley Luce Professor of Modern Tibetan Studies, Columbia University

Time: April 28, 2021 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM EDT

Register for the Zoom link: https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIocOqrqzksGNwrgS_nFy9E2SpDf1DyOGY1

This event is a part of the lecture series “China, Inner Asia, and the World: Mongol and Qing Empires in Comparative Perspectives” sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.

Event Contact Information: Ling-Wei Kung lk2627@columbia.edu