Research On Qianlong's Tibetan Poems

With the formation and development of a unified multi-ethnic country in the Qing Dynasty,China’s territory continued to expand,and the exchange and integration between ethnic groups was unprecedented.The natural scenery,ethnic customs,and political history of Tibetan areas became new creative themes of many scholars,and a large number of Tibetan poems appeared.This is a kind of poetry which is composed of natural and humanistic materials such as politics,economy,culture,history,geography and scenery in Tibetan areas,or related events in Tibetan areas.On the whole,it belongs to the category of ancient Chinese frontier poetry.The creators of Tibetan poems are almost court officials who are sent to work in Tibetan areas.They describe the magnificent scenery of the frontier of the motherland with their own personal experience.However,one of them,who had never been to Tibet,still left a lot of Tibetan poems.He was Emperor Qianlong.This emperor,who enjoyed the highest longevity and had been in power for the longest time in Chinese history,not only achieved the last glory of Chinese feudal society,the flourishing age of Kangxi and Qianlong,but also had extraordinary attainments in literature and art.Among the more than40000 poems left by Qianlong in his life,there are 403 Tibetan poems.Based on Qianlong’s poems on Tibetan affairs,this paper makes a special study of his poems on Tibetan affairs,combining with the historical documents such as the record of the Qing Dynasty,the draft of the Qing Dynasty history,and the memorials of the Qianlong Dynasty,in order to have a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the contents of Qianlong’s poems on Tibetan affairs,to explore the emotion and mentality in Qianlong’s creation,and the significance in the history of Chinese literature,especially in this new type of frontier poetry Value.This paper is divided into four chapters:The first and second chapters sort out Qianlong’s Tibetan poems from the content.These poems can be divided into two categories: the first chapter is about military poems.These poems record four major military actions in Tibet and Sichuan Tibet during Qianlong’s reign,namely,the first expedition to Jinchuan(1747-1749),the second expedition to Jinchuan(1771-1776),the first expulsion of Gurkha(1788)and the second expulsion of Gurkha(1791-1792).Based on the memorials he received and the front-line memorials,Qianlong made a detailed description of the causes,process and results of the four battles,and showed his heart during the command of military operations.The second chapter is about political poetry.One is about the revolt of namuzal in jurmut.Fu Qing and labudun,the ministers stationed in Tibet,died in order to fight the rebellion in this incident.Shuangzhong Temple vividly restores the course of the incident,praises their deeds of loyalty and bravery,and is also the only long poem related to this incident by Qianlong.After the incident was calmed down,the Qing government promulgated the "thirteen articles of the regulations for dealing with the aftermath of Tibet",abolished the "king of Tibet system",improved the power and status of the Dalai Lama and ministers in Tibet,strengthened the Qing government’s management of Tibet,and temporarily guaranteed the peace and stability of Tibet for decades.Second,the sixth Panchen Lama went to Beijing to celebrate Qianlong’s 70 th birthday.In 1780 A.D.,the sixth Panchen Lama erdeniro SANGHUA danyixi made a pilgrimage to Beijing to celebrate Emperor Qianlong’s 70 th birthday.This trip to Beijing not only promoted the exchanges and integration between the Han and Tibetan,but also was a grand political event,by which the Qing government further strengthened its jurisdiction and governance over Tibet.Third,it reflected the establishment of troops in Jinchuan area and the promulgation of the 29 articles of the regulations for the rehabilitation of the Tibetan people,which played an important role in the local social stability and economic development.The third chapter analyzes the artistic characteristics of Qianlong’s Tibetan poetry.First of all,Qianlong used poetry to record the important events that happened in the Tibetan area and were closely related to the Tibetan area,which not only expressed his personal feelings,but also described the events,reflecting the characteristics of diary and fragment.Diaries focus on the real records of daily life and events,reflecting the breadth of Qianlong’s poems on Tibetan affairs;fragments are the interception of a certain segment of events for coloring,or the depiction and highlighting,reflecting the depth of his poems.The title,preface and annotation of the poems provide a broader space for the narration of Qianlong’s Tibetan poems.Secondly,Qianlong’s poems on Tibetan Affairs inherited the tradition of "depending on the event,that is to say,expressing emotion" and formed a unique emotional expression;At the same time,Qianlong’s poems on Tibetan affairs are records of his life’s management,stability,preservation,and handling of Tibetan affairs.The four military actions of the two expeditions to Jinchuan and the two drives to Gurkha straddle the three stages of Qianlong’s late youth,middle-aged and old age,thus showing the psychological differences of different ages and forming a unique emotional expression.Thirdly,Different from the emotional and cold narrative style in Qing Shi draft and Qing Shi Lu,which portrayed Qianlong as a kind of superior,condescending,rational but not perceptual existence,Qianlong created two kinds of images in the collection of poems,namely,the emperor and the literati.In the fourth chapter,the value of Qianlong’s poems is analyzed from four aspects.The first is the value of historical materials.Whether it is the Tibetan poetry itself,or its preface,notes,for the study of this period of history,provides a rich and detailed material.At the same time,the poem itself and the notes in the poem also provide evidence for certain historical events,especially for the events with doubtful points and divergent opinions in history,or the relevant records in other historical books,which has the function and value of "proving history with poems".The second is political value.In order to provide some reference for China’s governance of Tibet in the new period,we should set up troops to garrison the land,abolish the "king of Tibet system",draw lots from the Golden Vase,and promulgate the regulations for the governance of Tibet,constantly improve the powers and responsibilities of the ministers stationed in Tibet,and strengthen the governance of Tibet by the Qing government.The third is literary value.Although Qianlong’s poems have not been highly appraised,they are flexible in the use of allusions,rhymes,antithesis and other poetic techniques,and reach a high level.Therefore,they should not be regarded as "out of fashion" works and be submerged.This paper holds that Qianlong’s Tibetan poetry has a strong realistic color,showing concern and worry about national affairs,which is full of anger and lament,confidence and joy,rich in content and diverse in genre.It also adheres to the creation requirements of traditional Chinese classical poetry,and shows its skillful and steady poetic skills in artistic writing.Fourth,military value.Qianlong’s Tibetan poems reflect his understanding and control of the overall situation of the war,his personal military accomplishment and his emphasis on the national military power.