The Manchu Reading of Jinpingmei: Commentary, Encyclopedism, and Translingual Practices in Early Eighteenth-Century China

Abstract:This article examines the notorious, but little-studied Manchu translation of Jinpingmei. I argue that the translation embraces multiple levels of translingual literacy, embodied in the philological reading aids provided throughout the text. The forms of commentary contained within require a reconsideration of Manchu reading practices and allow for a comparison with approaches to Sinitic writing and vernacular reading across early modern East Asia.