The Territorial Expansion of the Qing Empire and the Dzungar Nomads in the Eighteenth Century

Speaker: Kicengge, chengzhi

The dissolution of the Dzungar nomadic groups as a result of attacks by the Great Qing state (Daicing gurun) in the eighteenth century represented the commencement of the reorganization of the political and social order of Central Eurasia. There exist virtually no records about the Dzungar nomadic groups in Chinese-language sources, and their actual circumstances have not been clarified. But the makeup of the nucleus of the Dzungar régime has been recorded in detail in Manchu sources, and these are important sources for learning about the actual circumstances of the nomadic groups of the Dzungars at the time.

In this lecture, Kicengge endeavours to clarify on the basis of Manchu sources the actual circumstances of the anggi (appanages) and otok (camp districts), the main administrative organizations of Oyirad society. He presents the results of a detailed analysis of these Oyirad groups of anggi and otok, including the location of each of their nomadic camps, their commanders, their relationships with other otok, and so on. The elucidation of the actual circumstances of the Dzungar nomadic groups in the eighteenth century will lead to a more accurate grasp of Asian history and will also provide an important key for examining various problems faced by the new states born on the Eurasian continent in modern and contemporary times.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Please RSVP here. 

About the speaker:

Kicengge (CHENGZHI) is a professor at Otemon Gakuin University in Japan since 2011 and teaches regular courses of reading Manchu documents at Kyoto University. In 2006 - 2010 He worked at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature. Currently, Kicengge is a visiting researcher at the Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. from Kyoto University, Japan, in 2004.

In his research of Qing history, Kicengge uses original documents in Manchu, Chinese and other languages. He bases his studies on Manchu documents, a large amount of which he has collected. His first monograph was  "The Historical Background of the Great Qing Empire: The Formation of the Empire and Eight Banner Society) (In Japanese, Nagoya 2009). In 2003 - 2007 Kicengge worked at Academia Sinica arranging the Manchu archives and the Manchu ancient map collection of the National Palace Museum. Currently, he is working on Manchu ancient maps and the history of the Dzungar empire.