Chinese : Zhapu xiaojixiao Dešun zhi fumu

Chinese

<p style='text-align: justify;'>In the Qing empire, officials routinely issued documents in Manchu and Chinese. This scroll is an example of such a document, a certificate to the parents of a successful army officer named Dešun. The scroll is in excellent shape and has a wooden roller. It is a good example of the professional multilingualism of the Qing as well as the significance of its military.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'> The Manchu text in the middle of the scroll reads: japu i funde bošoku ‘the lieutenant from Zhapu garrison’; doro eldengge i tofohoci aniya juwan biyai juwan ‘[Emperor] Daoguang 15, 10th month, 10th [day]’; dešun i ama eme ‘the father and mother of Dešun’. (Many thanks to Alice Crowther for providing these careful readings and translations.)</p><p style='text-align: justify;'> Note that one should not assume that such bilingual texts mirror one another more or less verbatim; they might be two different versions directed towards different audiences.</p>