Historical research requires the use and analysis of historical sources. Research up to the present has suggested that the Chinese-Language Archives of the Qing Dynasty were written under the pretension that a world order based on Sino-centric thought was in place and that the archives therefore concealed and distorted the facts. However, the fabrication of descriptions in the Manchu-Language Archives has for the most part not been investigated. Therefore, in this paper, I will analyze the Manchu-Language Archives that record the meetings between Qing bureaucrats and Tibetan high priests. I will then reveal that the following fabrications can be seen in the descriptions described below.
In a meeting between the Dalai Lama and the resident official dispatched to Tibet by the Qing court in the latter half of the reign of the Qianlong emperor, the Dalai Lama was bestowed with an imperial edict and an imperial gift while he was seated. The resident official dispatched to Tibet by the Qing court then received a katag while kowtowing, as is the custom in Tibetan Buddhism. However, if the actions taken by the Qing dynasty in accordance with the customs of Tibetan Buddhism had been recorded, the concept that the Qing dynasty revered the Tibetan high priests and the supreme authority of the emperor would have been negated. Consequently, in the Manchu-Language Archives, the Qing dynasty treated the existence of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama as someone who is subordinate to the emperor. Moreover, it is thought that by describing this warm reception as a special blessing from the emperor where the Tibetan high priests were deeply grateful and obedient to the emperor’s will, Qing dynasty created the appearance of the supreme authority of the emperor.
The meeting formalities between Qing bureaucrats and the Tibetan high priests changed significantly at the end of the Qianlong emperor’s reign. Thereafter, the Dalai Lama rose from his seat to meet the resident official dispatched to Tibet by the Qing court, and the resident official dispatched to Tibet by the Qing court met the high priests without kowtowing. As we enter the reign of the Jiaqing emperor, however, the high priests are described in the Manchu-Language Archives by the resident official dispatched by the Qing court as performing deep bowing and a movement where they bowed three times and touched their head to the ground nine times. It is believed that this is not a factual description but was used to clarify the lower position of the Tibetan high priests with respect to the emperor in the context of Sino-centric ideology. This description of paying homage to the emperor is a far cry from the fabrications in the Manchu-Language Archives from the latter half of the reign of the Qianlong emperor.