Professor Elliott's interest in East Asia began at Yale, where he earned his BA and MA. After several years of study and archival research in Taiwan, the PRC, and Japan, he earned his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in the history of the last imperial dynasty, the Qing. A leading figure in what is sometimes called the "New Qing History," he is among the very few historians in the United States trained in the use of Manchu-language sources, upon which his first book, The Manchu Way (Stanford, 2001), is largely based. His second book, a biography of the Qianlong emperor, was published in 2009. He is at work on a new book examining the connections between the Manchu empire and modern China.

His research on the Manchus has led to an interest in the construction of ethnicity as a comparative historical problem, especially in the context of other conquest dynasties (Liao, Jin, Yuan), but also elsewhere around the world. His other teaching and research interests include relations between China and Inner Asia, the history of the frontier, the Silk Road, early modern cartography, and gender and women's history. Professor Elliott also oversees the Department's instruction in Manchu, Mongolian, and Uyghur. A member of the Committee on Inner Asian and Altaic Studies, Professor Elliott is chair of the PhD Committee on History and East Asian Languages. In 2010-11, he is Acting Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World. Pearson-Longman, 2009.

New Qing Imperial History: The Making of Inner Asian Empire at Qing Chengde. Co-edited with James Millward, Ruth Dunnell, and Philippe Forêt. RoutledgeCurzon, 2004.

The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China. Stanford University Press, 2001.

The Archives of the Bordered Red Banner: Research Guide to the Qing Eight Banners and Catalogue of Materials in the Toyo Bunko. Co-edited with Kanda Nobuo, et al. Toyo Bunko, 2001.

Selected articles and book chapters

“Shindai Manshūjin no aidentitii to Chūgoku tōchi”「清代満洲人のアイデンティティイと中国統治」 (Manchu identity and rule in the Qing). In Okada Hidehiro, ed., Shinchō to ha nani ka『清朝とは何か』(What was the Qing?), Special Number 16 of Kan: History, Environment, Civilization (Tokyo: Fujiwara shoten, 2009), pp. 108-123.

“Manshū tōan to shin Shinchō shi” 「満洲档案と新清朝史」 (Manchu archives and the new Qing history). In Hosoya Yoshio, ed., Shinchōshi kenkyū no aratanaru chihei 『清朝史研究の新たなる地平』(New perspectives on Qing historical research) (Tokyo: Yamakawa, 2008, pp. 124-139.

“The Manchus as Ethnographic Subject in the Qing.” In Joseph Esherick, Madelein Zelin, and Wen-hsin Yeh, eds., Empire, Nation, and Beyond: Chinese History in Late Imperial and Modern Times. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 2006.

"Manwen dang'an yu xin Qingshi" 「滿文檔案與新清史」 (Manchu archives and the new Qing history). National Palace Museum Quarterly 『故宮博物院季刊』, December 2006.

"La Chine moderne: les mandchous et la définition de la nation." Annales: Histoire, Sciences Sociales, November-December 2006.

"Ethnicity in the Qing Eight Banners." In Pamela Kyle Crossley, Helen Siu, and Donald Sutton, eds., Empire at the Margins: Culture, Ethnicity, and Frontier in Early Modern China. University of California Press, 2006.

"Whose Empire Shall It Be? Manchu Figurations of Historical Process in the Early Seventeenth Century." In Lynn Struve, ed., Time and Temporality in the Ming-Qing Transition (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005), pp. 30-72.

"Highlights of the Manchu-Mongolian Collection." Co-authored with James Bosson. In Patrick Hanan, ed., The Treasures of the Yenching. Harvard-Yenching Institute, 2003.

"The Eating Crabs Youth Book." In Susan Mann and Yu-yin Cheng, eds., Under Confucian Eyes: Documents on Gender in East Asian History. University of California Press, 2001.

"The Manchu-Language Archives of the Qing and the Origins of the Palace Memorial System." Late Imperial China 22.1 (June 2001).

"The Limits of Tartary: Manchuria in Imperial and National Geographies." Journal of Asian Studies 59.3 (August 2000).

"Manchu Widows and Ethnicity in Qing China." Comparative Studies in Society and History 41.1 (January 1999).

"Chūgoku no dai'ichi rekishi tōankanzō naikaku to kyūchū Manbun tōan no gaijutsu" (An outline of the Manchu holdings of the Grand Secretariat and Imperial Palace archives at the No. 1 Historical Archives, Beijing). Tōhōgaku 85 (January 1993).

"Bannerman and Townsman: Ethnic Tension in Nineteenth-Century Jiangnan." Late Imperial China 11.1 (June 1990).

GENERAL EXAMINATION FIELDS

Chinese and Inner Asian History

Candidates shall demonstrate mastery of the history of relations between China and Inner Asia from the 8th through the 20th centuries and have a broad familiarity with China-Inner Asian history in the ancient period. Topical and chronological emphases in the field may be tailored to the candidate's interests. The candidate should be familiar with the relevant historiographical, theoretical, and interpretive issues, should be well versed in the principal secondary sources for the study of the field in English and Chinese, and should demonstrate an ability to use pertinent primary sources for research. Some knowledge of scholarly trends in Japanese is also expected. Students for whom this is the primary field should be conversant as well with the various traditions (German, French, Russian) of European scholarship.

Primary Research Language

The primary research language is classical Chinese. Depending on the subfield, some students may in addition want to offer standard Manchu and/or classical Mongolian. Competency may be demonstrated through translations and seminar work.

Manjuristics

Candidates shall be expected to demonstrate mastery of Manchu political, social, and institutional history as well as the history of the development of the Manchu language and Manchu literature from the 16th through the 20th centuries. The candidate shall also demonstrate a good knowledge of the primary sources for work in these areas and an ability to use those sources critically. In addition, the candidate shall show familiarity with the pertinent scholarly traditions in Chinese, English, Japanese and either German or Russian.

Primary Research Language

The primary research languages are classical Chinese and standard Manchu, with Old Manchu a secondary required research language. Competency will be demonstrated through translations for seminars and research papers. Reading knowledge of Japanese, along with German and/or Russian, is also expected.

Uyghur 120a. Intermediate/Advanced Uyghur

Manchu A. Elementary Manchu

Mongolian 120a. Intermediate Written Mongolian

SPRING COURSES

History 2624b. Research Methods in Late Imperial Chinese History II: Seminar

Uyghur 120b. Intermediate/Advanced Uyghur

Manchu B. Elementary Manchu

Mongolian 120b. Advanced Written Mongolian

RELATED LINKS

高王凌讲新清史

Zhongguo minzu bao 中国民族报, "美国的新清史� �究," 22 March 2010

Interview with Mark Elliott, Zhongguo shehui kexue bao 中國社會科學� �, (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences News), December 2009.

Same interview, Liaoning University Archives Study blog

Report on lecture given at CASS Institute for Borderland Studies, 8 December 2009.

Artx.cn blog entry, 我们如何认识中国：多民族国家还是汉族国家？

Manchu Studies Home Page

“A Manchu Strange Tales, by Jakdan.” China Heritage Quarterly 19 (September 2009). (search under "New Scholarship)

Online version of 滿文檔案與新清史, posted on Wangfu luntan 往復論壇. Published version in National Palace Museum Quarterly『故宮博物院學術季刊』２４卷２期 (Dec 2006).

孫衛國（南開大學歷史系）著，“滿洲之道與滿族化的清史 － 讀歐立德教授的《滿洲之道：八旗制度與清代的民族認同》