ABSTRACT
Wei Xiangqian 魏象乾 became a member of the Eight Banners,211 although ethnically he was a Han Chinese. He passed the imperial examination and gained his Jinshi degree in 1739, with a specialization in translation.212 He was subsequently assigned a post in the Veritable Records Office as a compiler and editor in the Sino-Manchu Translation Office. In 1740, he wrote a short treatise titled On Translating into Manchu 繙清說 (Fan Qing shuo), to discuss the translation of Han writings into Manchu, the official language of the Qing Dynasty.213 The treatise also touches upon issues relating to translating in general. A rare contribution to discussions on translation in the early Qing Dynasty, it survives in only a single copy.
