Gastbeitrag von Dr. Sanjiao Tang
Dieser Beitrag erschien zuerst auf dem Blog der Staatsbibliothek.
Driven by the international tensions in the Cold War context, war preparation elements heavily and continuously featured Chinese people’s lives throughout the Maoist era (1949–1976). Despite the great famine around the late 1950s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) decided to include China’s entire population in the armed forces (quanmin jiebing 全民皆兵). In 1962, despite the tens of millions of deaths caused by the famine, the country celebrated that its militias had maintained a scale of over two hundred million people. It was not yet the final goal of the campaign of mass mobilisation and militarisation. As depicted in a well-known slogan, all the seven hundred million Chinese people were to become soldiers (qiyi renmin qiyi bing 七亿人民七亿兵). Although this was rhetorically exaggerated, it is no exaggeration to say that Chinese people were generally involved in the national war-preparing activities that lasted until the end of the Maoist era, and whose relevant experiences should not be overlooked when reviewing personal and collective lives in Maoist China. It is also the topic that I aim to explore.
Before arriving in Berlin, benefiting from a notable number of sources I had collected, my research mainly concentrated on those joining the militias who were normally aged between 16 and 35 and undoubtedly formed the core force of Maoist-era mass mobilisation and militarisation. As for those either too young or too old to obtain membership of the militias in the Maoist era, how were their lives associated with the mass campaign? For example, what were the Chinese children’s stories like between the 1960s and 1970s, being engaged in the war preparation? Remember the active roles that schoolchildren in elementary and junior middle schools had played in China’s numerous mass movements since 1949, like their organisational participation in the movement of backyard furnaces during the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s. It was not surprising that the children from the early 1960s took another active part in the national campaign of mobilisation and militarisation, as the youngest generation involved in the war-preparation activities. However, their stories scarcely received much attention in the officials’ paperwork and documentation. Hardly could these pupils carefully record their experiences either. Overlooking the mobilised and militarised childhood of the generations who are driving the country at present leads to a notable gap in understanding both Maoist and today’s China.
Thanks to the Grant Program of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, I had the opportunity to conduct my research at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and to access valuable contemporary publications regarding the Chinese school pupils being mobilised and militarised between the 1960s and 1970s. Whether they are in the form of picture-story books or children’s fiction, whether they have been issued periodically or published separately, they are all in scouts-like style. The Chinese word xiao bing (小兵), meaning ‘young soldiers’ in English, frequently appeared in their titles. Taking up a big proportion of them are monthlies or semi-monthlies produced in various provinces during the Cultural Revolution period (1966–1976) that are aiming at children in primary schools, uniformly with the name of Hong Xiao Bing 红小兵 (see illustration above). When Hong Xiao Bing is mentioned, people will normally think about Hong Wei Bing (红卫兵 Red Guards), who were the rebels in China during the first few years of the Cultural Revolution. Younger than those becoming Hong Wei Bing, Hong Xiao Bing were the youngest participants of the Cultural Revolution. In December 1967, the authorities endorsed the Hong Xiao Bing organisations in primary schools, aiming to recruit those between 6 and 12 years old. While the tide of the Cultural Revolution ended in the late 1960s, that was also the time when the Hong Xiao Bing organisations truly functioned in China’s elementary schools. Until the late 1970s, despite the decline of the Cultural Revolution, the lasting campaign of mass mobilisation and militarisation instead characterized the Hong Xiao Bing organisations. As a result, the Chinese generations starting their primary schooling between 1966 and 1976 had common and distinct experiences of their preparation to defend Maoist China as Hong Xiao Bing.
Admittedly, all these items were propaganda products of the CCP. For the curious children, when most cultural products and literary works were banned during the Cultural Revolution, these publications were also among the very scarce materials they could read every day. What was propagated in these books provided them with limited and precious information regarding what to learn, what to play, what to say, what to sing, what to know, and what to dream about.
Therefore, based on the materials in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, I tried to draw up a sample schedule and account of a Chinese pupil of two days during the first half of the 1970s, when the order of schooling had been basically recovered from the chaos caused by the Cultural Revolution. – Imagine that you started your primary education in the early 1970s: You will find that your school lives were driven by ubiquitous elements of mobilisation and militarisation, which aimed to physically and mentally train you according to the need of war preparation.
This session is based on:
Chen Guangrong 陈光荣 (text), Mei Meng 梅萌 (images), “Jianpuzhai xiaoyingxiong: Dada” (柬埔寨小英雄: 达达) (‘Young Hero in Cambodia: Dada’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Jiangsu Province) 53, no. 8 (1975): no page number available
As the most important thing that all the children need to do in school, the session of Studies in Politics (Zhengzhi xuexi政治学习) takes place at least three times per week. This morning, the Studies in Politics in your class focuses on mobilising the children to play an active role in national defence. Your teacher’s long speech based on the upper-level documents is boring to the class. What draws your attention is the story shared by your teacher. It is about a child fighting hero in Cambodia. Your teacher retells the story based on a Hong Xiao Bing magazine. The Cambodian child learned and mastered the skill of driving a tank in just a few days, by which he contributed significantly to defend the communist regime in Cambodia, Khmer Rouge (Hongse Gaomian红色高棉). At that time, none of you really knows the regime of the Khmer Rouge, which killed millions of people in Cambodia. Yet, the ignorance does not prevent you from admiring the child fighting hero. To defend the Chinese communist regime, now you understand that you need to improve yourselves and learn from the child fighting models of the Khmer Rouge. The sessions of Studies in Politics are also one of the very limited ways for you and your classmates to obtain information regarding the outside world, although what you hear from the teacher is usually partial, fake, and misleading.
This session is based on:
Lu Xiaoping 陆小萍, “Wo tiaoguo le shanyang” (我跳过了山羊) (‘I vaulted the horse’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Guangdong Province) no. 1 (January 1974): 34–35
The first session after lunch is PE class. Today, the task is to practice tiao shanyang (跳山羊 horse-vaulting), which is a common requirement in military training. You have learned the basic skills in previous classes. But you still lack confidence in practice. In order to encourage you, the PE teacher uses the example of battlefields. According to your teacher’s analogy, it is just like how the soldiers stride over barriers in warfare. So, to be better prepared for the coming war, you must take the challenge of tiao shanyang and achieve the goal. Being effectively encouraged, you successfully finish the task when imagining that you are really in a battle fighting against enemies.
This session is based on:
Cui Yaofa 崔耀法, “Wa dilei” (挖地雷) (‘Dig up land mines’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Guangdong Province) no. 8 (August 1974): 4, and “Yiqie xingdong ting zhihui” (一切行动听指挥) (‘All actions under command’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Jiangsu Province) 47, no. 2 (1975): no page number available
After the PE class, there is a one‑hour period for collective activities. Aiming to reinforce the cohesion and teamwork of the pupils, teachers organise a series of interesting games in group form, which are always welcome by the children. This time, two new games are recommended. The first one is Wa dilei (挖地雷 Dig up land mines). As instructed by your teacher, the pupils, including you, sit in a circle. Two bricks are put inside as landmines. Each time, two children, with their eyes covered, try to find the landmines with their hands. When it is your turn, you move your hands slowly and cautiously, as if you were really in a minefield. When you finally dig up a land mine, all your classmates applaude for you, just like a cohesive team fighting together in a war.
The second game is even more militaristic. The name of the game is Yiqie xingdong ting zhihui (一切行动听指挥 All actions under command). It is quite a large-scale collective game, in which a whole school class can participate. Every child holds a wooden gun and stands in a line. Every line of children is regarded as a military squad. Once your teacher issues the order of zhunbei zhandou (准备战斗 prepare for fighting), each line moves according to the whistling. There are different kinds of whistling sounds with different meanings, like one long, two short, or one long and one short. They signify taking a step forward, taking a step back, about‑face, and some other actions. All the children are expected to take actions correctly, timely, and precisely in line with the orders. Due to nervousness, you make a mistake when moving. You feel guilty and decide to take more exercise. Only in this way you can make fewer mistakes in real wars, you believe. Otherwise, your comrades-in-arms would be endangered.
This session is based on:
Zhang Chi 张翅, “Tebie renwu” (特别任务) (‘Special Task’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Guangdong Province) no. 8 (August 1974): 14–15
After school, the hong xiao bing in your class, including you, receive a special task (teshu renwu特殊任务). It is to protect the crops in collective fields. Despite your young age, you are expected to finish the task together with the militia members in your village. Not only is the name of the task military-like, you are also requested to behave as if engaging in a fully militarised assignment in warfare. Based on the militia cadres’ instruction, what you specifically need to do is to go around on patrol, keeping vigilant at all times about any potential destruction from class enemies (jieji diren阶级敌人).
This session is based on:
“Fanxiu qianxian de Hong Xiao Bing – Zhenbaodao diqu Hong Xiao Bing de gushi” (反修前线的红小兵 – 珍宝岛地区红小兵的故事) (‘The Hong Xiao Bing on the frontier of anti-revisionism – the stories of Hong Xiao Bing in Zhenbaodao region’), in: Women shi Maozhuxi de Hong Xiao Bing (我们是毛主席的红小兵) (‘We are the Hong Xiao Bing of Chairman Mao’), Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1970: 1–6, and “Jizhi de Xiaowulan” (机智的小乌兰) (‘The smart Xiaowulan’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Jiangsu Province) 50, no. 5 (1975): no page number available
In the Chinese class this morning, your teacher introduces extra reading materials, two stories from Hong Xiao Bing magazines. Based on close reading and comprehension, you should answer questions related to the keynotes of the stories.
The first story is about the hong xiao bing who joined the fighting with the Soviet Union on China’s northeast frontier, Zhenbao Island, in 1969. It is certainly a fiction, as it would be an extremely crazy thing to let children participate in a conflict between regular armies where tanks and armoured cars were used. Nevertheless, many pupils in your class are deeply moved and stimulated by the fictional story, swearing that they would defend China as heroically as the peers described here.
As for the second reading material, it is a picture story set on the grassland in Inner Mongolia. The hong xiao bing there are also active in war preparation and national defence. As a significant result of their efforts, a spy is discovered and arrested by the Mongolian hong xiao bing. After you have enjoyed the thrilling story, your teacher repeatedly highlights the importance of staying alert to any potential spy that you might meet in your daily lives.
This session is based on:
Hong Xiao Bing yue zhan yue jianqiang: ertong gequ huoye gequ (红小兵越战越坚强: 儿童歌曲 活页歌曲) (‘The more fighting, Hong Xiao Bing are stronger: loose-leaf of children’s songs’) (3), Beijing: Renmin yinyue chubanshe, 1974
After lunch, your first session is a music class. This is your favourite session across the curriculum, as you like singing. Many of the songs that you learn in the class are inspired by military-related themes. Even though some songs do not present real warfare directly, they still strongly encourage you to fight (zhandou 战斗), no matter if you have been mobilised to attend meetings of criticism (pidouhui 批斗会), criticise Lin Biao and Confucius (Pilin pikong 批林批孔), or prepare to go to the countryside (Shangshan xiaxiang 上山下乡). In the mass mobilisation and militarisation context, such analogies were not weird but produced harmonious melodies. Whenever singing these songs loudly with your classmates, you feel agitated and become eager to join the fighting.
This session is based on:
“Jixun qianjin” (继续前进) (‘Continue advancing’), in: Women shi Maozhuxi de Hong Xiao Bing (我们是毛主席的红小兵) (‘We are the Hong Xiao Bing of Chairman Mao’), Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1970: 114–117
For your classmates and you, the music class is yet the most attractive part of this afternoon. After that, you would go hiking, as one of the collective activities that enjoy lasting popularity among all the pupils in your school. Instead of taking a relaxing leisure activity, however, according to the instructions issued by your teacher who leads the hiking team, it is not an ordinary hiking experience but a fighting task with the aim to occupy the hill from the enemies. But who are the enemies? Based on the instructions, the U.S. and the Soviet Union are regarded as the enemies that the children need to fight. Resulting from the real war-like mobilisation, the whole way of climbing up the top of the hill is filled with your yell of kill, kill, and kill (hanshasheng zhentian喊杀声震天). Finally, in your imagination, you successfully defeat the U.S. and Soviet Union enemies and “occupy” the top of the hill as expected. Even so, that is not the end of the “fighting” task. As instructed by your teacher, the goal of defeating the enemies has not been fully achieved yet. Next week, your class will participate in another hiking activity under the title of jixu qianjin (继续前进 continue advancing).
This session is based on:
“Dixiashi de zhandou” (地下室的战斗) (‘The fighting in the basement’) and “Da huoba” (打活靶) (‘Alive target practice’), in: Women shi Maozhuxi de Hong Xiao Bing (我们是毛主席的红小兵) (‘We are the Hong Xiao Bing of Chairman Mao’), Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1970: 133–137 & 14–21
Finishing the “fighting” on the hill, it is not yet time to go back home. This week, your class is responsible for the school’s propaganda task. After the lessons, you need to produce big character papers (dazibao 大字报) and slogans, in addition to completing other relevant work for propaganda. All you are going to do is described as fighting tasks (zhandou renwu 战斗任务). When the topic of the big character paper is to criticise certain people, it is called daba (打靶 target practice), as serious as the situation in warfare. Sometimes, you even have the chance to help organise in-person meetings to criticise those who are viewed as anti-revolutionary in your school. In that case, it is called da huoba (打活靶 alive target practice). You and all your classmates yearn for such opportunities, which are no less exciting than getting a chance to fight against enemies in a real war.
As shown in this sample schedule and account of only two days, it is already safe to conclude that although just between 6 and 12 years old, Chinese children were shaped by war-preparing elements during their school lives in various aspects, including the knowledge they learned, the skills they acquired, their reading preferences, their habit of speaking, and their mode of thinking. If the Maoist era had not abruptly ended after a few years and the mass mobilisation and militarisation had continued, these children in their adolescence and early adulthood would surely have become the main force of war preparation in Communist China. The unexpected end of the Maoist era suddenly stopped them on the way to achieve their goal. Hong Xiao Bing organisations were dissolved nationally in 1978. However, the influence of the mobilised and militarised childhood may not be so easily overcome.
Benefitting from the rich materials existing in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, only a small part of which is demonstrated in the article here, I plan to conduct more detailed research focusing on the experiences of Chinese children involved in China’s mass mobilisation and militarisation under Mao, in addition to the legacies that live beyond the Maoist era.
Links to the referred sources available at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Guangdong Province), no. 1 (January 1974). –
SBB-PK: Zsn 47135-1974,1
Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Guangdong Province), no. 8 (August 1974) . –
SBB-PK: Zsn 47135-1974,8
Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) 47 (Issued by Jiangsu Province), no. 2 (1975) . –
SBB-PK: Zsn 129438-47 (2,1975)
Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) 50 (Issued by Jiangsu Province), no. 5 (1975) . –
SBB-PK: Zsn 129438-50 (5,1975)
Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) 53 (Issued by Jiangsu Province), no. 8 (1975) . –
SBB-PK: Zsn 129438-53 (8,1975)
Hong Xiao Bing yue zhan yue jianqiang: ertong gequ huoye gequ (红小兵越战越坚强: 儿童歌曲 活页歌曲) (The more fighting, Hong Xiao Bing are stronger: loose-leaf of children’s songs), Beijing: Renmin yinyue chubanshe, 1974. –
SBB-PK: 229838
Women shi Maozhuxi de Hong Xiao Bing (我们是毛主席的红小兵) (We are the Hong Xiao Bing of Chairman Mao), Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1970. –
SBB-PK: 220150
Herr Dr. Sanjiao Tang war im Rahmen des Stipendienprogramms der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz im Jahr 2024 als Stipendiat an der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Forschungsprojekt: „An Exploration of China’s Campaign of Mass Mobilization and Militarization during the Mao Era: Based on the Valuable Sources at the Berlin State Library“
NK Scholar: Service interruption in 2025
/in Aktuelles, Datenbanken/by CrossAsiaLiebe Nutzer:innen,
wir möchten Sie darüber informieren, dass NK Scholar seit Dezember 2024 aufgrund eines umfangreichen Wartungs- und Upgrade-Projekts nicht verfügbar ist. Laut Angaben des Anbieters wird die Wartung voraussichtlich mindestens bis Juni 2025 andauern.
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CrossAsia Team
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Neues Jahr, neue Lizenz: Shiryō Sanshū (Teil 3)
/in Aktuelles, Datenbanken/by Ursula FlacheFür CrossAsia wurden von dem Werk Shiryō Sanshū im November 2023 bereits Teil 1 sowie im März 2024 Teil 2 lizenziert. Nun kommt ab sofort Teil 3 hinzu.
史料纂集 (第3期) Shiryō Sanshū (Teil 3)
Bei Shiryō Sanshū (Verlag Yagi Shoten) handelt es sich um eine Materialsammlung historischer Dokumente in moderner Druckschrift. Mit Teil 3 der Onlineausgabe wird das Kokirokuhen mit den Bänden 4-7 der Zeitperioden Muromachi sowie Sengoku fortgesetzt ( 第3期：古記録編 室町・戦国 ④～⑦) und bietet Volltext-Zugriff auf insgesamt 60 Bände der Druckausgabe.
Weitere Informationen finden Sie auf der Seite des Anbieters oder in diesem Verlagsprospekt.
Shiryō Sanshū ist ein Bestandteil der Datenbank JapanKnowledge, die Sie über die Datenbankseite wie üblich aufrufen können. Das Werk ist über alle drei Suchmöglichkeiten recherchierbar, also über die einfache Suche (基本検索), die ausführliche Suche (詳細検索) und über das „Bücherregal“ (本棚). Mit der einfachen Suche können alle angebotenen Inhalte gleichzeitig durchsucht werden. Über die ausführliche Suche können alle anderen Inhalte von JapanKnowledge ausgeschlossen und nur in der jeweils ausgewählten Ressource recherchiert werden, während das „Bücherregal“ einen Einstieg zum Blättern anbietet. In der Auflistung der „JK Books“ im Menü links ist Shiryō Sanshū ganz am Ende zu finden.
Newsletter 33 – CrossAsia Highlights zum Jahresende
/in Aktuelles, Datenbanken, Digitalisierung, Fachinformationsdienst, Newsletter, Newsletter 33, SBB, Schulungen, Services, Vortragsreihe "CrossAsia Talks"/by CrossAsiaLiebe CrossAsia Nutzer:innen,
über die neuesten Entwicklungen bei CrossAsia informiert Sie dieser Newsletter in aller Kürze:
Jubiläums-Publikation der Ostasienabteilung – Zum Jahresende noch was zum Schmökern, Stöbern und fürs Auge
Anlässlich des Dreifach-Jubiläums der Ostasienabteilung der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin im Jahr 2022:
konnten wir Dank der Unterstützung durch unsere Angebote nutzende Wissenschaftler:innen, von Sammlungsgeber:innen und Mitarbeiter:innen unseren Jubiläumsband „Sammellust und Wissensdrang : Vier Jahrhunderte Asiatica in Berlin“ veröffentlichen. In 42 Beiträgen auf 200 Seiten und mit gut 150 Abbildungen versehen, stellen sie ein Objekt bzw. Segment aus unseren Beständen vor, das für ihre Forschung bedeutsam war oder ist, geben Einblicke in die Geschichte und die Zukunft der Abteilung und beleuchten Aspekte der Sammlungsgeschichte.
Wir bedanken uns bei allen Beteiligten für die Unterstützung und Geduld bei diesem Projekt und wünschen Ihnen allen viel Spaß beim Lesen und Entdecken!
Gute Nachrichten: die vierte Förderphase für den FID Asien wurde soeben bewilligt
Wir haben gerade erfahren, dass die DFG unseren Antrag für die vierte Förderphase des FID Asien bewilligt hat! Damit können wir unsere Arbeit und Angebote für Sie in den kommenden drei Jahre fortsetzen und weiterentwickeln.
Mehr Informationen dazu folgen demnächst über unsere Info-Seiten.
Neue Reihen im CrossAsia Open Access Repository
Das CrossAsia Open Access Repository freut sich über die Aufnahme neuer Inhalte:
Details zu den neuen Reihen und Beteiligten können im CrossAsia Blog nachgelesen werden.
Das CrossAsia Open Access Repository bietet Wissenschaftler:innen der Asienwissenschaften eine Plattform für Erst- und Zweitveröffentlichungen sowie Forschungsdaten. Das CrossAsia Open Access Repository archiviert langfristig und bietet gute Auffindbarkeit für die Fachcommunity und ist das von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft empfohlene Fachrepositorium für die Asienwissenschaften (DFG-White List für fachspezifische Repositorien).
Neu lizenzierte Datenbanken:
Weitere Informationen hierzu im Blog.
CrossAsia Talks:
Nach der Sommerpause sind die CrossAsia Talks erfolgreich in eine neue Runde gestartet.
Neue Kooperation:
Am 20.11.2024 unterzeichneten Prof. Dr. Achim Bonte, Generaldirektor der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, und Dr. Deni Kurniadi, stellvertretender Direktor der Nationalbibliothek Indonesiens, ein Memorandum of Understanding. Ziel der Vereinbarung ist es, die Zusammenarbeit zwischen beiden Institutionen zu stärken und den Austausch von Wissen und Ressourcen zu fördern. Weitere Informationen finden Sie auf unserem Blog.
Stipendienprogramm der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin:
Stipendiaten der Staatsbibliothek stellen im Rahmen der CrossAsia Talks ihre Forschungen vor:
Rückblick: Hackathon zur Layouterkennung tibetischer Handschriften und Blockdrucke
Am 22. November 2024 fand in Dresden ein Hackathon statt, organisiert von Cloud & Heat in Zusammenarbeit mit AI Insights Saxony. Einer der beiden Use Cases wurde vom CrossAsia-Team bereitgestellt: die Layouterkennung tibetischer Handschriften und Blockdrucke. Ziel war es, die verschiedenen Elemente auf den Seiten, wie den Schriftblock, tibetische und gegebenenfalls chinesische Seitenzahlen sowie Illustrationen, zu identifizieren.
Um den Teilnehmer:innen die Besonderheiten vormoderner tibetischer Handschriften und Blockdrucke näherzubringen, wurden ausgewählte Objekte aus der Sammlung nach Dresden geschickt. Diese wurden im Rahmen einer kleinen Ausstellung präsentiert, die auf reges Interesse stieß und die Vielfalt der tibetischen Schriftkultur eindrucksvoll verdeutlichte.
Im Laufe des Hackathons entstand ein Tool, das auf einem bereitgestellten Large Language Model basiert und das Layout tibetischer Texte bereits relativ zuverlässig erkennen kann. Als kleine Anerkennung erhielten die Teilnehmer:innen einen CrossAsia-Beutel mit verschiedenen Mitbringseln.
Das Projekt bleibt jedoch nicht beim Hackathon: Einige Teilnehmer:innen zeigten großes Interesse an der weiteren Arbeit an der tibetischen Layouterkennung und planen, die Entwicklungen fortzusetzen.
Wir danken Cloud & Heat für die Einladung und Nico Hoffmann für die Initiative und die Idee zur Kooperation! Weitere Informationen finden Sie im dazugehörigem Blogbeitrag.
Ausblick für das neue Jahr:
Wir wünschen Ihnen einen guten Rutsch und einen erfolgreichen Start ins neue Jahr! Wir freuen uns auf den gemeinsamen Austausch mit Ihnen nach der Winterpause.
Ihr CrossAsia Team
Zum Jahresende noch was zum Schmökern, Stöbern und fürs Auge
/in Aktuelles, E-Publishing, Fachinformationsdienst, Newsletter 33, SBB/by Christian DunkelSoeben haben wir im CrossAsia Open Access Repository unseren Jubiläumsband „Sammellust und Wissensdrang : Vier Jahrhunderte Asiatica in Berlin“ veröffentlicht. In 42 Beiträgen auf 200 Seiten und mit gut 150 Abbildungen versehen, stellen Wissenschaftler:innen, Sammlungsgeber:innen und Mitarbeiter:innen ein Objekt bzw. Segment aus unseren Beständen vor, das für ihre Forschung bedeutsam war oder ist, geben Einblicke in die Geschichte und die Zukunft der Abteilung und beleuchten Aspekte der Sammlungsgeschichte.
Verlinkungen in den Beiträgen führen zu den vorgestellten Objekten in den Digitalisierten Sammlungen der SBB-PK und laden ein zum Blättern und zum weiteren, digitalen Erkunden, oder leiten zu Aufzeichnungen von Vorträgen der Beitragenden im Rahmen der CrossAsia Talks.
Anlass für den Band und die Beiträge war das dreifache Jubiläum im Jahr 2022: die Gründung der Ostasienabteilung einhundert Jahre zuvor, 70 Jahre Förderung durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft als Sondersammelgebiet bzw. heute als Fachinformationsdienst Asien und der 400. Geburtstag von Christian Mentzel, Leibarzt des Großen Kurfürsten und erster Kurator der chinesischen Sammlung und die in diesem Zusammenhang ursprünglich geplante Ausstellung.
Wir bedanken uns bei allen Beteiligten für die Unterstützung und Geduld bei diesem Projekt und wünschen Ihnen allen viel Spaß beim Lesen und Entdecken!
Neue Reihen im CrossAsia Open Access Repository
/in Newsletter 33, Uncategorized/by Ursula FlacheDie folgenden fortlaufenden Reihen sind neu im Angebot des CrossAsia Open Access Repository:
Der FID Asien freut sich über diese rege Publikationstätigkeit!
Grundsätzlich versteht sich das CrossAsia Open Access Repository als ein bewusst niedrigschwelliges Angebot an alle Wissenschaftler:innen für die Selbstarchivierung und Publikation sowohl von Erstveröffentlichungen (goldener Weg) als auch Zweitveröffentlichungen (grüner Weg) im Bereich der Asienwissenschaften. Bücher, Aufsätze, Blogbeiträge, Vorträge und weitere Formate sind willkommen. Darüber hinaus ist auch das Ablegen von Forschungsdaten möglich. Langzeitarchivierung und eindeutige Adressierung via DOI/URN sind garantiert. Über Such-Tools wie die CrossAsia Suche oder Base sind die Inhalte gut auffindbar.
Nicht zuletzt ist das CrossAsia Open Access Repository das von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft empfohlene Fachrepositorium für die Asienwissenschaften (DFG-White List für fachspezifische Repositorien).
Mobilised and Militarised Childhood: A Sample Schedule and Account of a 1960s-born Chinese Pupil in Two Days
/in Aktuelles, CrossAsia Stipendiaten, Newsletter 33/by CrossAsiaGastbeitrag von Dr. Sanjiao Tang
Dieser Beitrag erschien zuerst auf dem Blog der Staatsbibliothek.
Driven by the international tensions in the Cold War context, war preparation elements heavily and continuously featured Chinese people’s lives throughout the Maoist era (1949–1976). Despite the great famine around the late 1950s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) decided to include China’s entire population in the armed forces (quanmin jiebing 全民皆兵). In 1962, despite the tens of millions of deaths caused by the famine, the country celebrated that its militias had maintained a scale of over two hundred million people. It was not yet the final goal of the campaign of mass mobilisation and militarisation. As depicted in a well-known slogan, all the seven hundred million Chinese people were to become soldiers (qiyi renmin qiyi bing 七亿人民七亿兵). Although this was rhetorically exaggerated, it is no exaggeration to say that Chinese people were generally involved in the national war-preparing activities that lasted until the end of the Maoist era, and whose relevant experiences should not be overlooked when reviewing personal and collective lives in Maoist China. It is also the topic that I aim to explore.
Before arriving in Berlin, benefiting from a notable number of sources I had collected, my research mainly concentrated on those joining the militias who were normally aged between 16 and 35 and undoubtedly formed the core force of Maoist-era mass mobilisation and militarisation. As for those either too young or too old to obtain membership of the militias in the Maoist era, how were their lives associated with the mass campaign? For example, what were the Chinese children’s stories like between the 1960s and 1970s, being engaged in the war preparation? Remember the active roles that schoolchildren in elementary and junior middle schools had played in China’s numerous mass movements since 1949, like their organisational participation in the movement of backyard furnaces during the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s. It was not surprising that the children from the early 1960s took another active part in the national campaign of mobilisation and militarisation, as the youngest generation involved in the war-preparation activities. However, their stories scarcely received much attention in the officials’ paperwork and documentation. Hardly could these pupils carefully record their experiences either. Overlooking the mobilised and militarised childhood of the generations who are driving the country at present leads to a notable gap in understanding both Maoist and today’s China.
Thanks to the Grant Program of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, I had the opportunity to conduct my research at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and to access valuable contemporary publications regarding the Chinese school pupils being mobilised and militarised between the 1960s and 1970s. Whether they are in the form of picture-story books or children’s fiction, whether they have been issued periodically or published separately, they are all in scouts-like style. The Chinese word xiao bing (小兵), meaning ‘young soldiers’ in English, frequently appeared in their titles. Taking up a big proportion of them are monthlies or semi-monthlies produced in various provinces during the Cultural Revolution period (1966–1976) that are aiming at children in primary schools, uniformly with the name of Hong Xiao Bing 红小兵 (see illustration above). When Hong Xiao Bing is mentioned, people will normally think about Hong Wei Bing (红卫兵 Red Guards), who were the rebels in China during the first few years of the Cultural Revolution. Younger than those becoming Hong Wei Bing, Hong Xiao Bing were the youngest participants of the Cultural Revolution. In December 1967, the authorities endorsed the Hong Xiao Bing organisations in primary schools, aiming to recruit those between 6 and 12 years old. While the tide of the Cultural Revolution ended in the late 1960s, that was also the time when the Hong Xiao Bing organisations truly functioned in China’s elementary schools. Until the late 1970s, despite the decline of the Cultural Revolution, the lasting campaign of mass mobilisation and militarisation instead characterized the Hong Xiao Bing organisations. As a result, the Chinese generations starting their primary schooling between 1966 and 1976 had common and distinct experiences of their preparation to defend Maoist China as Hong Xiao Bing.
Admittedly, all these items were propaganda products of the CCP. For the curious children, when most cultural products and literary works were banned during the Cultural Revolution, these publications were also among the very scarce materials they could read every day. What was propagated in these books provided them with limited and precious information regarding what to learn, what to play, what to say, what to sing, what to know, and what to dream about.
Therefore, based on the materials in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, I tried to draw up a sample schedule and account of a Chinese pupil of two days during the first half of the 1970s, when the order of schooling had been basically recovered from the chaos caused by the Cultural Revolution. – Imagine that you started your primary education in the early 1970s: You will find that your school lives were driven by ubiquitous elements of mobilisation and militarisation, which aimed to physically and mentally train you according to the need of war preparation.
This session is based on:
Chen Guangrong 陈光荣 (text), Mei Meng 梅萌 (images), “Jianpuzhai xiaoyingxiong: Dada” (柬埔寨小英雄: 达达) (‘Young Hero in Cambodia: Dada’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Jiangsu Province) 53, no. 8 (1975): no page number available
As the most important thing that all the children need to do in school, the session of Studies in Politics (Zhengzhi xuexi政治学习) takes place at least three times per week. This morning, the Studies in Politics in your class focuses on mobilising the children to play an active role in national defence. Your teacher’s long speech based on the upper-level documents is boring to the class. What draws your attention is the story shared by your teacher. It is about a child fighting hero in Cambodia. Your teacher retells the story based on a Hong Xiao Bing magazine. The Cambodian child learned and mastered the skill of driving a tank in just a few days, by which he contributed significantly to defend the communist regime in Cambodia, Khmer Rouge (Hongse Gaomian红色高棉). At that time, none of you really knows the regime of the Khmer Rouge, which killed millions of people in Cambodia. Yet, the ignorance does not prevent you from admiring the child fighting hero. To defend the Chinese communist regime, now you understand that you need to improve yourselves and learn from the child fighting models of the Khmer Rouge. The sessions of Studies in Politics are also one of the very limited ways for you and your classmates to obtain information regarding the outside world, although what you hear from the teacher is usually partial, fake, and misleading.
This session is based on:
Lu Xiaoping 陆小萍, “Wo tiaoguo le shanyang” (我跳过了山羊) (‘I vaulted the horse’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Guangdong Province) no. 1 (January 1974): 34–35
The first session after lunch is PE class. Today, the task is to practice tiao shanyang (跳山羊 horse-vaulting), which is a common requirement in military training. You have learned the basic skills in previous classes. But you still lack confidence in practice. In order to encourage you, the PE teacher uses the example of battlefields. According to your teacher’s analogy, it is just like how the soldiers stride over barriers in warfare. So, to be better prepared for the coming war, you must take the challenge of tiao shanyang and achieve the goal. Being effectively encouraged, you successfully finish the task when imagining that you are really in a battle fighting against enemies.
This session is based on:
Cui Yaofa 崔耀法, “Wa dilei” (挖地雷) (‘Dig up land mines’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Guangdong Province) no. 8 (August 1974): 4, and “Yiqie xingdong ting zhihui” (一切行动听指挥) (‘All actions under command’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Jiangsu Province) 47, no. 2 (1975): no page number available
After the PE class, there is a one‑hour period for collective activities. Aiming to reinforce the cohesion and teamwork of the pupils, teachers organise a series of interesting games in group form, which are always welcome by the children. This time, two new games are recommended. The first one is Wa dilei (挖地雷 Dig up land mines). As instructed by your teacher, the pupils, including you, sit in a circle. Two bricks are put inside as landmines. Each time, two children, with their eyes covered, try to find the landmines with their hands. When it is your turn, you move your hands slowly and cautiously, as if you were really in a minefield. When you finally dig up a land mine, all your classmates applaude for you, just like a cohesive team fighting together in a war.
The second game is even more militaristic. The name of the game is Yiqie xingdong ting zhihui (一切行动听指挥 All actions under command). It is quite a large-scale collective game, in which a whole school class can participate. Every child holds a wooden gun and stands in a line. Every line of children is regarded as a military squad. Once your teacher issues the order of zhunbei zhandou (准备战斗 prepare for fighting), each line moves according to the whistling. There are different kinds of whistling sounds with different meanings, like one long, two short, or one long and one short. They signify taking a step forward, taking a step back, about‑face, and some other actions. All the children are expected to take actions correctly, timely, and precisely in line with the orders. Due to nervousness, you make a mistake when moving. You feel guilty and decide to take more exercise. Only in this way you can make fewer mistakes in real wars, you believe. Otherwise, your comrades-in-arms would be endangered.
This session is based on:
Zhang Chi 张翅, “Tebie renwu” (特别任务) (‘Special Task’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Guangdong Province) no. 8 (August 1974): 14–15
After school, the hong xiao bing in your class, including you, receive a special task (teshu renwu特殊任务). It is to protect the crops in collective fields. Despite your young age, you are expected to finish the task together with the militia members in your village. Not only is the name of the task military-like, you are also requested to behave as if engaging in a fully militarised assignment in warfare. Based on the militia cadres’ instruction, what you specifically need to do is to go around on patrol, keeping vigilant at all times about any potential destruction from class enemies (jieji diren阶级敌人).
This session is based on:
“Fanxiu qianxian de Hong Xiao Bing – Zhenbaodao diqu Hong Xiao Bing de gushi” (反修前线的红小兵 – 珍宝岛地区红小兵的故事) (‘The Hong Xiao Bing on the frontier of anti-revisionism – the stories of Hong Xiao Bing in Zhenbaodao region’), in: Women shi Maozhuxi de Hong Xiao Bing (我们是毛主席的红小兵) (‘We are the Hong Xiao Bing of Chairman Mao’), Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1970: 1–6, and “Jizhi de Xiaowulan” (机智的小乌兰) (‘The smart Xiaowulan’), Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Jiangsu Province) 50, no. 5 (1975): no page number available
In the Chinese class this morning, your teacher introduces extra reading materials, two stories from Hong Xiao Bing magazines. Based on close reading and comprehension, you should answer questions related to the keynotes of the stories.
The first story is about the hong xiao bing who joined the fighting with the Soviet Union on China’s northeast frontier, Zhenbao Island, in 1969. It is certainly a fiction, as it would be an extremely crazy thing to let children participate in a conflict between regular armies where tanks and armoured cars were used. Nevertheless, many pupils in your class are deeply moved and stimulated by the fictional story, swearing that they would defend China as heroically as the peers described here.
As for the second reading material, it is a picture story set on the grassland in Inner Mongolia. The hong xiao bing there are also active in war preparation and national defence. As a significant result of their efforts, a spy is discovered and arrested by the Mongolian hong xiao bing. After you have enjoyed the thrilling story, your teacher repeatedly highlights the importance of staying alert to any potential spy that you might meet in your daily lives.
This session is based on:
Hong Xiao Bing yue zhan yue jianqiang: ertong gequ huoye gequ (红小兵越战越坚强: 儿童歌曲 活页歌曲) (‘The more fighting, Hong Xiao Bing are stronger: loose-leaf of children’s songs’) (3), Beijing: Renmin yinyue chubanshe, 1974
After lunch, your first session is a music class. This is your favourite session across the curriculum, as you like singing. Many of the songs that you learn in the class are inspired by military-related themes. Even though some songs do not present real warfare directly, they still strongly encourage you to fight (zhandou 战斗), no matter if you have been mobilised to attend meetings of criticism (pidouhui 批斗会), criticise Lin Biao and Confucius (Pilin pikong 批林批孔), or prepare to go to the countryside (Shangshan xiaxiang 上山下乡). In the mass mobilisation and militarisation context, such analogies were not weird but produced harmonious melodies. Whenever singing these songs loudly with your classmates, you feel agitated and become eager to join the fighting.
This session is based on:
“Jixun qianjin” (继续前进) (‘Continue advancing’), in: Women shi Maozhuxi de Hong Xiao Bing (我们是毛主席的红小兵) (‘We are the Hong Xiao Bing of Chairman Mao’), Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1970: 114–117
For your classmates and you, the music class is yet the most attractive part of this afternoon. After that, you would go hiking, as one of the collective activities that enjoy lasting popularity among all the pupils in your school. Instead of taking a relaxing leisure activity, however, according to the instructions issued by your teacher who leads the hiking team, it is not an ordinary hiking experience but a fighting task with the aim to occupy the hill from the enemies. But who are the enemies? Based on the instructions, the U.S. and the Soviet Union are regarded as the enemies that the children need to fight. Resulting from the real war-like mobilisation, the whole way of climbing up the top of the hill is filled with your yell of kill, kill, and kill (hanshasheng zhentian喊杀声震天). Finally, in your imagination, you successfully defeat the U.S. and Soviet Union enemies and “occupy” the top of the hill as expected. Even so, that is not the end of the “fighting” task. As instructed by your teacher, the goal of defeating the enemies has not been fully achieved yet. Next week, your class will participate in another hiking activity under the title of jixu qianjin (继续前进 continue advancing).
This session is based on:
“Dixiashi de zhandou” (地下室的战斗) (‘The fighting in the basement’) and “Da huoba” (打活靶) (‘Alive target practice’), in: Women shi Maozhuxi de Hong Xiao Bing (我们是毛主席的红小兵) (‘We are the Hong Xiao Bing of Chairman Mao’), Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1970: 133–137 & 14–21
Finishing the “fighting” on the hill, it is not yet time to go back home. This week, your class is responsible for the school’s propaganda task. After the lessons, you need to produce big character papers (dazibao 大字报) and slogans, in addition to completing other relevant work for propaganda. All you are going to do is described as fighting tasks (zhandou renwu 战斗任务). When the topic of the big character paper is to criticise certain people, it is called daba (打靶 target practice), as serious as the situation in warfare. Sometimes, you even have the chance to help organise in-person meetings to criticise those who are viewed as anti-revolutionary in your school. In that case, it is called da huoba (打活靶 alive target practice). You and all your classmates yearn for such opportunities, which are no less exciting than getting a chance to fight against enemies in a real war.
As shown in this sample schedule and account of only two days, it is already safe to conclude that although just between 6 and 12 years old, Chinese children were shaped by war-preparing elements during their school lives in various aspects, including the knowledge they learned, the skills they acquired, their reading preferences, their habit of speaking, and their mode of thinking. If the Maoist era had not abruptly ended after a few years and the mass mobilisation and militarisation had continued, these children in their adolescence and early adulthood would surely have become the main force of war preparation in Communist China. The unexpected end of the Maoist era suddenly stopped them on the way to achieve their goal. Hong Xiao Bing organisations were dissolved nationally in 1978. However, the influence of the mobilised and militarised childhood may not be so easily overcome.
Benefitting from the rich materials existing in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, only a small part of which is demonstrated in the article here, I plan to conduct more detailed research focusing on the experiences of Chinese children involved in China’s mass mobilisation and militarisation under Mao, in addition to the legacies that live beyond the Maoist era.
Links to the referred sources available at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Guangdong Province), no. 1 (January 1974). –
SBB-PK: Zsn 47135-1974,1
Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) (Issued by Guangdong Province), no. 8 (August 1974) . –
SBB-PK: Zsn 47135-1974,8
Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) 47 (Issued by Jiangsu Province), no. 2 (1975) . –
SBB-PK: Zsn 129438-47 (2,1975)
Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) 50 (Issued by Jiangsu Province), no. 5 (1975) . –
SBB-PK: Zsn 129438-50 (5,1975)
Hong Xiao Bing (红小兵) 53 (Issued by Jiangsu Province), no. 8 (1975) . –
SBB-PK: Zsn 129438-53 (8,1975)
Hong Xiao Bing yue zhan yue jianqiang: ertong gequ huoye gequ (红小兵越战越坚强: 儿童歌曲 活页歌曲) (The more fighting, Hong Xiao Bing are stronger: loose-leaf of children’s songs), Beijing: Renmin yinyue chubanshe, 1974. –
SBB-PK: 229838
Women shi Maozhuxi de Hong Xiao Bing (我们是毛主席的红小兵) (We are the Hong Xiao Bing of Chairman Mao), Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1970. –
SBB-PK: 220150
CrossAsia Talks: Franz Xaver Erhard 12.12.2024
/in Aktuelles, Newsletter 33, Veranstaltungen, Vortragsreihe "CrossAsia Talks"/by CrossAsia(See English below)
Wir beschließen das Jahr mit einem CrossAsia Talk von Dr. Franz Xaver Erhard (Universität Leipzig) am 12. Dezember 2024 ab 18 Uhr (MEZ) mit dem Titel: From Print to Digital: Making Available Tibetan Newspapers as a Historical Source. Herr Erhard wird das Forschungsprojekt Divergent Discourses vorstellen und insbesondere auf die Verwendung und Bedeutung von Digital Humanities-Methoden in seiner Forschung eingehen. Der Vortrag wird online stattfinden.
The Sino-Tibetan history of the 1950s and 1960s is relatively unknown and highly contested. At the same time, sources on the period are scarce and local archives – if they exist – are generally closed to outside researchers. The few existing collections, including the one at the Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin), of Tibetan newsprint and contemporary publications offer rare insights into the events but also the official presentation of events at the very time when they were taking place. The UK-German research project Divergent Discourses takes up this opportunity to study the events and narratives in newspapers of the period to understand how they became woven into cohesive yet diverging discourses on Tibet.
In the field of Tibetan Studies, Digital Humanities approaches are just emerging, and often the most essential tools are still wanted – the Divergent Discourses project has grappled with a multitude of challenges to digitisation posed by the Tibetan language and script, the complexity of newspaper layout, and the lack of Natural Language Processing tools for Tibetan and thus adapted existing or created new tools to build a workflow for the digitisation and analysis of a modern Tibetan text corpus.
The presentation will showcase the Divergent Discourses project’s approaches and Digital Humanities tools geared to unlock a large corpus of Tibetan historical newspapers for the first time as a source for a historical study of the emergence and development of conflicting concepts, ideas and discourse strategies.
Die Vortragssprache ist Englisch. Bei Fragen kontaktieren Sie uns unter: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de.
Der Vortrag wird darüber hinaus via Webex gestreamt und aufgezeichnet*. Sie können am Vortrag über Ihren Browser ohne Installation einer Software teilnehmen. Klicken Sie dazu unten auf „Zum Vortrag“, folgen dem Link „Über Browser teilnehmen“ und geben Ihren Namen ein.
Alle bislang angekündigten Vorträge finden Sie hier. Die weiteren Termine kündigen wir in unserem Blog und auf unserem X-Account an.
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We will end the year with a CrossAsia Talk by Dr. Franz Xaver Erhard (Leipzig University) on December 12, 2024 from 6 pm (CET) entitled: From Print to Digital: Making Available Tibetan Newspapers as a Historical Source. Mr Erhard will present the Divergent Discourses research project and in particular discuss the use and significance of digital humanities methods in his research. The lecture will take place online.
The Sino-Tibetan history of the 1950s and 1960s is relatively unknown and highly contested. At the same time, sources on the period are scarce and local archives – if they exist – are generally closed to outside researchers. The few existing collections, including the one at the Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin), of Tibetan newsprint and contemporary publications offer rare insights into the events but also the official presentation of events at the very time when they were taking place. The UK-German research project Divergent Discourses takes up this opportunity to study the events and narratives in newspapers of the period to understand how they became woven into cohesive yet diverging discourses on Tibet.
In the field of Tibetan Studies, Digital Humanities approaches are just emerging, and often the most essential tools are still wanted – the Divergent Discourses project has grappled with a multitude of challenges to digitisation posed by the Tibetan language and script, the complexity of newspaper layout, and the lack of Natural Language Processing tools for Tibetan and thus adapted existing or created new tools to build a workflow for the digitisation and analysis of a modern Tibetan text corpus.
The presentation will showcase the Divergent Discourses project’s approaches and Digital Humanities tools geared to unlock a large corpus of Tibetan historical newspapers for the first time as a source for a historical study of the emergence and development of conflicting concepts, ideas and discourse strategies.
The lecture will be held in English. If you have any questions, please contact us: ostasienabt@sbb.spk-berlin.de.
The lecture will also be streamed and recorded via Webex*. You can take part in the lecture using your browser without having to install a special software. Please click on the respective button “To the lecture” below, follow the link “join via browser” (“über Browser teilnehmen”), and enter your name.
You can find all previously announced lectures here. We will announce further dates in our blog and on X.
*Mit Ihrer Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung räumen Sie der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz und ihren nachgeordneten Einrichtungen kostenlos alle Nutzungsrechte an den Bildern/Videos ein, die während der Veranstaltung von Ihnen angefertigt wurden. Dies schließt auch die kommerzielle Nutzung ein. Diese Einverständniserklärung gilt räumlich und zeitlich unbeschränkt und für die Nutzung in allen Medien, sowohl für analoge als auch für digitale Verwendungen. Sie umfasst auch die Bildbearbeitung sowie die Verwendung der Bilder für Montagen. / By participating, you grant the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and its subordinate institutions free of charge all rights of usage of pictures and videos taken of you during this lecture presentation. This declaration of consent is valid in terms of time and space without restrictions and for usage in all media, including analogue and digital usage. It includes image processing and the usage of photos in composite illustrations. German law will apply.
(Un)official Korean Sources on late Koryŏ in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin’s East Asian Collection
/in CrossAsia Stipendiaten, Newsletter 33/by CrossAsiaGastbeitrag von Lukáš Kubík
Dieser Beitrag erschien zuerst auf dem Blog der Staatsbibliothek.
During the mid‑fourteenth century, East Asia experienced a period of profound changes, labelled by researchers as the Great Chinggisid Crisis, corresponding to Europe’s Crisis of the late Middle Ages. This era was marked by significant climate changes, leading to several disasters, including natural calamities, famines, and plagues. These events set the stage for major political upheavals. The once mighty Mongol Empire (1206–1368) began to decline, paving the way for the rise of the Red Turbans, a new power in China that led to the founding of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). At the same time, Japan faced its own turmoil during the Northern and Southern Courts period, characterized by intense rivalry between the two imperial courts. In Korea, these turbulent times led to a significant shift in power as well. The Korean state of Koryŏ (918–1392) gave way to the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910) by the end of the fourteenth century. This transition was part of a broader pattern of dramatic changes that reshaped the entire region of East Asia.
Today’s historians of East Asia have access to a rich collection of written sources spanning an impressive geographic and cultural range. These materials, originating from China, Japan, Central Asia, Arabic-speaking countries and Europe, provide a multifaceted view of the region’s historical landscape. The main written Korean historical sources for this period are the Koryŏsa 高麗史 (History of Koryŏ) and Koryŏsa Chŏryŏ 高麗史節要 (The Essential History of Koryŏ), both in the category of dynastic histories and annalistic works. These are “official” historical documents written by court historians, which offer valuable information about historical periods. The political agenda and ideologies of the ruling dynasty influenced the compilation of official histories and veritable records. Most of the sources are retrospective. That means in the case of Korea, the Chosŏn dynasty historians composed the History of Koryŏ; in the case of the Yuan dynasty, it was the Ming dynasty historians that wrote the History of Yuan. Different historiographical biases have particular traditions in Chinese historiography (and in historiography in general per se); for instance, the emphasis on moral judgment and categorising rulers into “good” or “bad” based on Confucian principles can lead to a somewhat simplistic or one-dimensional portrayal of historical figures. Historians working on these works also might have faced censorship leading them to exclude sensitive or controversial information. Additionally, self-censorship might have prompted historians to avoid topics that could jeopardise their positions or provoke the ruling regime. Official histories are typically compiled after the end of a dynasty or reign of the ruler, meaning historians may have been influenced by knowledge of later events. This can lead to a tendency to view past events through the lens of present circumstances, possibly distorting the interpretation of historical events. Chinese and Korean official histories also exhibit a degree of ethnocentrism, portraying China as the centre of the world and other cultures or nations as peripheral or subordinate. This perspective can result in a biased understanding of regional or global historical dynamics.
Alongside the official histories, an array of unofficial written sources offers a broader perspective on historical events. These include, for example, educational materials developed for private academies, known as Sŏwŏn 書院 in Korean, which summarize Korean history by drawing from a variety of earlier texts. Additionally, collections of personal writings and records from scholars, officials, and literati, known as Munjip 文集, provide invaluable insights into individual viewpoints and experiences often missing in official narratives.
One significant repository for such materials in Europe has been the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz. This collection, however, has been dispersed, with parts of it now residing in both Berlin and Kraków. Despite this geographical split, a collaborative effort known as the Berlin-Kraków Project has made these resources more accessible. Through this initiative, the East Asian sources housed in Poland are digitized, allowing scholars and the general public to explore these documents online.
In this blog post, I’ll explore several unofficial historical Korean sources in the East Asian collection of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. These sources shed light on the 14th century and beyond, offering rich alternatives to the more conventional dynastic records.
Cover of Tongguk t’ongkam chekang (The Basic Framework of the Comprehensive Mirror of the Eastern Kingdom). – SBB-PK:. Libri cor. 23, image 1
One of these alternative sources for Korean history is the Tongguk t’ongkam chekang 東國通鑑提綱 (The Basic Framework of the Comprehensive Mirror of the Eastern Kingdom), compiled by scholar Hong Yŏha (洪汝河, 1620–1674) in the 17th century. This work served as an instructional resource for private academies. It encompasses a historiography of Korean history, tracing from the Ancient Chosŏn to the Unified Silla (668–935) period. Notably, this text represents one of the earliest instances of exploring questions of legitimacy within ancient Korean history. It is generally known that it was published in 1786 with an introduction by An Chŏngbok (安鼎福 1712–1791). The book is printed using wooden type and consists of 13 volumes (卷) across 7 books (冊). It has been preserved and digitized at major South Korean archives, including the Kyujanggak and Jangseogak. Copies are also available at the Harvard-Yenching Library, Princeton, and Berkeley. In Europe, it is only found at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Therefore, it is quite a rare document, making the digitized version a valuable resource for researchers interested in accessing the original text.
Tongguk t’ongkam chekang: Introduction by An Chŏngbok. – SBB-PK:. Libri cor. 23, image 9
Another example is the Yŏsachekang 麗史提綱 (Annotated Outline of Koryŏ History), compiled by Yu Kye (兪棨, 1607–1664) in the 17th century.
Cover of the Yŏsachekang (Annotated Outline of Koryŏ History). – SBB-PK: Libri cor. 18, image 1
This work comprehensively covers the history of Koryŏ, spanning from the reign of King T’aejo of Koryŏ (太祖, 918–943) to the reign of King Ch’ang (昌王, r. 1388–1389). This manuscript represents a significant development in Chosŏn-period historiography influenced by Confucianism. The first edition was compiled in 1667, three years after Yu Kye’s death. In 1749, King Yŏngjo took issue with the record of King Kongyang (恭讓王, r. 389–1392) and had it reprinted; there are, therefore, two versions. Looking at the differences from the first edition, the expression ‘夷狄禽獸’ in the preface written by Song Si-yŏl 宋時烈 (1607–1689), which King Yŏngjo pointed out, has been changed to ‘倫綱弗正’, and other parts of the records of King Kongyang were deleted. The book is printed using wooden type and consists of 23 volumes (卷) across 23 books (冊). It has been preserved and digitized at major South Korean archives, including Kyujanggak and Jangseogak, but also in North Korea at the Grand People’s Study House (인민대학습당). Copies are available at Harvard’s Yenching Library, Princeton, Library of Congress, and Indiana University. In Europe, it is only at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.
Preface 序 to the Yŏsachekang (Annotated Outline of Koryŏ History). – SBB-PK: Libri cor. 18, image 4
Another indispensable alternative source for exploring Korean history is the Munjip (文集), a compilation that gathers essays, poetry, and other writings by one or several individuals. In Korea, the scope of Munjip is broad, encompassing records, collected works, compilations, posthumous works, daily records, complete works, collected letters, comprehensive collections, and factual records. These collections serve not only to preserve individual legacies for posterity, but also as a rich repository of diverse personal experiences.
The material value of Munjip for historical research is profound. Each collection offers a unique lens through which to view the past, reflecting their authors’ personal insights, cultural contexts, and intellectual climates. This personal dimension allows historians and scholars to access a range of narratives that might otherwise be lost in more formal historical accounts.
Front cover of the Collected Works of P’oŭn . – SBB-PK: Libri cor. 27, image 1
One noteworthy example of Munjip in the holdings of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is the P’oŭnjip 圃隱集 (Collected Works of P’oŭn). P’oŭn was the pen name of Chŏng Mong‑ju 鄭夢周 (1337–1392), a distinguished Confucian scholar and politician from the late Koryŏ dynasty. P’oŭn’s life and career were profoundly intertwined with the turbulent political shifts of his time, culminating in his assassination by Yi Pang-wŏn, the third king of the Chosŏn dynasty. This act was motivated by P’oŭn’s steadfast loyalty to the Koryŏ dynasty and his opposition to Yi Sŏng-gye, Yi Pang-wŏn’s father and the founder of the Chosŏn dynasty. Chŏng Mong‑ju held several key positions within the Koryŏ government, including Minister of Civil Appointments, Director of the Royal Academy, and Supervisor of the Office of Personnel. He was a significant figure during a time when factions within the Koryŏ court were deeply divided between the ones supporting the declining Yuan dynasty and supporters of the rising Ming dynasty. Chŏng emerged as a staunch advocate for pro-Ming policies among progressive scholars and demonstrated considerable diplomatic skills, serving as an envoy to both Ming China and Japan.
Portrait of Chŏng Mong‑ju in the Collected works of P’oŭn. – SBB-PK: Libri cor. 27, image 4
The P’oŭnjip was first published in 1439. This collection represents a significant literary work that has accumulated various editions and supplements over the centuries. There are several editions of P’oŭnjip located in archives:
1. Old Edition (舊本), published in 1439: Initially published by his sons Jong Sŏng 宗誠 and Jong Bon 宗本. It was mentioned that Chŏng Mong‑ju’s works had been collected since 1409, indicating thirty years until the first edition’s publication.
2. Shingye Edition (新溪本), published in 1533: Updated by his descendant Se-shin 世臣 while serving as a county magistrate in Shingye, adding a chronological record to the original edition.
3. Kaesŏng Old Print Edition (開城舊刻本): Early in the reign of King Sŏnjo (宣祖 r. 1567–1608), this edition added three new poems to the original content. The exact year of publication remains unknown.
4. Scholar’s Library Edition (校書館本): Published in metal type during the early to mid-reign of King Sŏnjo.
5. Yŏngchŏn First Print Edition (永川初刻本), published in 1584: Compiled and revised under the commission of Yu Sŏng‑yong (柳成龍, 1542–1607). This edition was recompiled in 1607 by Yŏngchŏn magistrate Hwang Yŏ‑il (黃汝一, 1556–1622) and scholars from the Imgo Sŏwŏn 臨皐書院 after the original plates were destroyed during the Japanese invasions (Imjin War, 1592–1598).
6. Bonghwa Print Edition (奉化刻本), published in 1659, was carved by a descendant, Yu Sŏng (維城, ??) in Bonghwa. It has added sections on chronological discrepancies and ritual texts.
7. Yŏngchŏn Reprint Edition (永川再刻本), published in 1677: Reprinted in Yŏngchŏn with added corrections from the Bonghwa edition and extended records from various families, expanding the content from 4 to 9 volumes.
8. Kaesŏng Reprint Edition (開城再刻本), published in 1719: This edition was further expanded by a descendant, Ch‘an Hwi (纘輝, ??), who added three additional volumes of records to the four volumes of the Bonghwa edition. This extended content was eventually published in Kaesŏng in 1769.
9. Kaesŏng New Edition (開城新本), published in 1900: Compiled by descendant Hwan Ik (煥翼, ??) at the Sungyang Sŏwŏn 崧陽書院, primarily based on the Yŏngjo (英祖 r. 1735–1776) period edition, supplemented by materials from the Yŏngchŏn edition and additional records.
More information about the various editions is here in Korean.
The edition held by the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin contains a preface written by Song Si‑yŏl. It is presumably the Bonghwa Print Edition or a later one.
Collected works of P’oŭn: A preface written by Song Si‑yŏl. – SBB-PK:. Libri cor. 27, image 10
The Yaŭn sŏnsaeng ŏnhaeng sŭbyu 冶隱先生言行拾遺 (Anecdotes and the Words and Deeds of Master Yaŭn) housed in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is another exemplary Munjip that illuminates the scholarly and literary culture of the Chosŏn dynasty. This collection, dedicated to the works and legacy of Kil Chae 吉再 (1353–1419), known by his pen name Yaŭn 冶隱, compiles poetry and prose that span his life and recollections noted by later generations. Kil Chae’s life and works were first chronicled in 1573, originally under the title Yaŭn Sŏnsaeng Haengnok 冶隱先生行錄 (Chronicles of Master Yaŭn). Over time, this initial compilation underwent several revisions and augmentations. By 1615, his sixth‑generation descendants expanded the work to include various royal sacrificial texts and texts for veneration and rituals. They re-titled it to Yaŭn sŏnsaeng ŏnhaeng sŭbyu and released it as a three‑volume, one‑book edition with a postscript by Chang Hyŏn-Kwang (張顯光, 1554–1637). The 1858 edition represents further efforts by his descendants to honour Kil Chae’s legacy. This edition was proofread by Song Nae‑hee (宋來熙, 1791–1867) and includes a continuation collection that compiled new writings and poems by Kil Chae, alongside excerpts from various documents and poems in praise of him penned by later generations.
Preface to the Anecdotes and the Words and Deeds of Master Yaŭn. – SBB-PK: Libri cor. 26, image 20
In addition to the Korean manuscripts I have presented, I recommend further exploration of the Library’s catalogue and CrossAsia database. Moreover, the East Asia Department has recently acquired the posthumous collection of the late Professor Hans-Jürgen Zaborowski (1948–2021), which contains approximately 500 pre-modern Korean manuscripts. These manuscripts are currently in the process of being catalogued. It will be intriguing to see what unique treasures the collection reveals. For more information on the Zaborowski collection, please contact the subject specialist for Korean Studies at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Jing Hu at Jing.Hu@sbb.spk-berlin.de.
Inside the stacks with the Zaborowski collection. – Photo: Lukáš Kubík
With fellow koreanist Ms Hu Jing from the Korea section of the East Asia Department of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.. – Photo: Lukáš Kubík
Further reading:
Recap Hackathon zur Layouterkennung tibetischer Handschriften und Blockdrucke
/in Aktuelles, Digitalisierung, Handschriften, Newsletter 33, Veranstaltungen/by Antje ZiemerAm 22.11. fand in Dresden ein Hackathon, organisiert von Cloud & Heat in Zusammenarbeit mit AI Insights Saxony, statt. Einer der beiden Use cases wurde vom CrossAsis Team zur Verfügung gestellt: Die Layouterkennung tibetischer Handschriften und Blockdrucke. Ziel war es, die einzelnen Elemente auf den Seiten zu erkennen. Dazu gehören der Schriftblock, tibetische und ggf. chinesische Seitenzahlen sowie Illustrationen. Um den Hacker:innen die Besonderheiten vormoderner tibetischer Handschriften und Blockdrucke besser erläutern zu können, haben wir auch
Ausstellung tibetischer Blockdrucke und Handschriften während des Hackathons
einige Objekte nach Dresden geschickt, die den Teilnehmer:innen in einer kleinen Ausstellung präsentiert wurden. Es wurden verschiedenste Objekte gezeigt, um die Vielfalt der tibetischen Schriftkultur abzubilden. Die Objekte wurden mit regem Interesse begutachtet und ein Plan entwickelt, um die gesteckten Ziele zu erreichen.
Im Laufe des Tages entstand ein Tool auf der Basis eines bereitgestellten Large Language Modells, dass das Layout tibetischer Texte relativ zuverlässig erkannt hat. Belohnt wurden die Mühen mit einem CrossAsia Beutel, gefüllt mit einigen Mitbringseln.
Doch das Interesse, sich mit tibetischer Layouterkennung zu beschäftigen, ist noch nicht erloschen, sodass einige Teilnehmer:innen des Hackathons weiterhin an diesem Projekt arbeiten wollen.
Wir danken Cloud & Heat für die Einladung und Nico Hoffmann für die Initiative und die Idee für die Kooperation!
Netzwerkstörungen bei Zugriff auf Ressourcen aus VR China
/in Aktuelles/by Duncan PatersonLiebe Alle,
momentan kommt es zu stark verlangsamten Ladezeiten beim Zugriff auf lizenzierte Datenbanken aus der VR China (z. Bsp. bei CNKI) . Gemeinsam mit den Anbietern suchen wir nach der Ursache für diese Netzwerkstörungen, um diese zu beheben. Sobald die gewohnte Servicequalität wiederhergestellt ist werden wir diesen Post updaten.
Wir bitten die Unannehmlichkeiten zu entschuldigen.
Ihr/Euer
X-asia Team
UPDATE 13.12.24 Die Ressourcen des Anbieters CNKI sind wieder erreichbar, es gibt allerdings weiterhin Probleme bei Zugängen anderer Anbieter. Wir arbeiten weiterhin an der Behebung des Problems.
Dear all,
We are currently observing significantly slower loading times when accessing licensed databases from the People’s Republic of China (e.g. CNKI). We are working with the providers to locate the cause of these network disruptions in order to resolve them. As soon as the usual quality of service is restored, we will update this post.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Yours
X-asia team
UPDATE 13.12.24: CNKI ressources are accessible again. Some issues remain with other providers. We continue to work on solving these issues.