Etymology of The Ethnic Name
The actual etymology of the ethnic name "Manju" is debatable. According to Qing Dynasty's official historical record, the Researches on Manchu Origins, the ethnic name came from Mañjuśrī. Qianlong Emperor also supported the point of view and even made few poems about it.
Meng Sen, a famous scholar of Qing study, agreed, too. On the other hand, he thought the name "Manchu" is also related to Li Manzhu, the chieftain of Jianzhou Jurchen. It was just the most respectful appellation in the society of Jianzhou Jurchens in Meng's mind.
Another scholar, Chang Shan, thinks Manju is a compound word. "Man" was from the word "mangga" (ᠮᠠᠩᡤᠠ) which means strong and "ju" (ᠵᡠ) means arrow. So Manju actually means "intrepid arrow".
There are other hypothesis, such as Fu Sinian's "etymology of Jianzhou"; Zhang Binglin's "etymology of Jianzhou"; Isamura Sanjiro's "etymology of Wuji and Mohe"; Sun Wenliang's "etymology of Manzhe"; "etymology of mangu(n) river" and so on.
Read more about this topic: Manchu People
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