Editing Manchu language (section)

=== Decline of use ===
Manchu began as a primary language of the [[Qing dynasty]] Imperial court, but as Manchu officials became increasingly [[Sinicization|sinicized]], many started losing the language. Trying to preserve the Manchu identity, the imperial government instituted Manchu language classes and examinations for the [[Eight Banners|bannermen]], offering rewards to those who excelled in the language. Chinese classics and fiction were translated into Manchu and a body of [[Manchu literature]] accumulated.{{sfnb|von Möllendorff|1890}} As the [[Yongzheng Emperor]] (reigned 1722–1735) explained, <blockquote>"If some special encouragement ... is not offered, the ancestral language will not be passed on and learned."<ref name="rhoads">Edward J. M. Rhoads, ''Manchus & Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861–1928.'' University of Washington Press, 2000. Pages 52–54. {{ISBN|0-295-98040-0}}. Partially available [https://books.google.com/books?id=QiM2pF5PDR8C on Google Books]</ref> </blockquote>Still, the use of the language among the bannermen declined throughout the 18th century. Historical records report that as early as 1776, the [[Qianlong Emperor]] was shocked to see a Manchu official, Guo'ermin, not understand what the emperor was telling him in Manchu, despite coming from the Manchu stronghold of Shengjing (now [[Shenyang]]).<ref>Yu Hsiao-jung, [http://lacito.vjf.cnrs.fr/colloque/diaporamas/yu2.pdf Manchu Rule over China and the Attrition of the Manchu Language] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619102136/http://lacito.vjf.cnrs.fr/colloque/diaporamas/yu2.pdf |date=19 June 2013 }}</ref> By the 19th century, even the imperial court had lost fluency in the language. The [[Jiaqing Emperor]] (reigned 1796–1820) complained that his officials were not proficient at understanding or writing Manchu.<ref name="rhoads" />

By the end of the 19th century, the language had declined to such an extent that even at the office of the Shengjing general, the only documents written in Manchu (rather than Chinese) would be the memorials wishing the emperor long life; during the same period, the archives of the [[Hulan District|Hulan]] banner detachment in Heilongjiang show that only 1% of the bannermen could read Manchu and no more than 0.2% could speak it.<ref name="rhoads" /> Nonetheless, as late as 1906–1907, Qing education and military officials insisted that schools teach Manchu language and that the officials testing soldiers' [[marksmanship]] continue to conduct an oral examination in Manchu.<ref>Rhoads (2000), p. 95.</ref>

The use of the language for the official documents declined throughout Qing history as well. In particular, at the beginning of the dynasty, some documents on sensitive political and military issues were submitted in Manchu but not in Chinese.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/17/world/asia/18manchu_side.html|title=Manchu Language Lives Mostly in Archives|last=Lague|first=David|date=17 March 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=8 August 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Later on, some Imperial records in Manchu continued to be produced until the last years of the dynasty.<ref name="rhoads" /> In 1912 the Qing was overthrown, most Manchus could not speak their language, and the [[Beijing dialect]] replaced Manchu.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=93onvmXF1r0C&pg=PA209|title=Books in Numbers: Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Harvard-Yenching Library : Conference Papers|date=2007|publisher=Chinese University Press|isbn=978-9629963316|editor-last=Idema|editor-first=Wilt L.|volume=8 of Harvard-Yenching Institute studies|page=209|issue=Issue 8 of Harvard–Yenching Library studies}}</ref>