6th International Symposium Oriental Studies

65 The 6 th International Symposium on Oriental Ancient Documents Studies Tatiana Pang Three Imperial Patents from the Collection of the Institute of Oriental ManuscriptsRAS The Manchu collection of the Institute of Oriental manuscripts, RAS, holds 17 Manchu-Chinese imperial patents gaoming which bestow the Qing officials titles and ranks for various heroic deeds and devoted service to the dynasty. Usually the texts are written on multicolored silk scroll and contain two imperial orders — one concerns promotion to the owner of the scroll, the other — to his wife. A rare set of three scrolls given to three generations of one family is a rare example of the functioning of the Qing dynasty hereditary patent system. All of them bare the same date — the 15 th day, 1 st moon, 30 th year of Badarangga doro (March 1, 1904) and are the latest dated scrolls in the Manchu collection of the IOM RAS. The first patent (call number — B 94 mss) was given to Gong Wenjai, who was awarded the title of the general of second rank ( horon gungge jiyangjiyun ) for his brave participation in the campaign against southern rebels. His wife from the Li clan was promoted to the title unenggi hehe. Both of them are praised for their filial piety and ceremonial sacrifices in memory of Gong’s parents. The second patent (call number — B 106 mss) is given to Gong Wenjai’s deceased parents — his father Wang Zongfu is posthumously awarded with the title horon gungge jiyangjiyun and his mother from the Zhou clan is given a title of unenggi hehe . The third patent (call number — B 107 mss) bestows the same titles to Gong Wencai’s grandparents: his grandfather Ming Xian and his grandmother from the Xiao clan. The deceased parents and grandparents of Gong Wenjai are praised for bringing up a brave and pious descendant, they are posthumously promoted in rank and “presented” official ceremonial dress. Naturally, the real dresses were not made, but new portraits of parents and grandparents in new official dresses with proper insignia were painted for the family ancestral hall.