Bureau of Translators
Subordinated to the Hanlin Academy was the Bureau of Translators (Chinese: 四夷館/ 四译館; pinyin: Si Yi Guan; Wade–Giles: Ssŭ I Guan). Founded in 1407, after the first expedition of Zheng He to the Indian Ocean, the Bureau dealt with the memorials delivered by foreign ambassadors and trained foreign language specialists. It included departments for the Jurchen, "Tartar" (Mongol), Tibetan, "Huihui" (Persian, Arabic, or Turkic) and Burmese languages, as well as for the languages of the "Hundred of Tribes" (Bai yi, i.e., ethnic groups on China's southwestern borders), "Gaochang" (people of Turfan, i.e. Uyghurs), and Xitian (西天; (India?)). In 1511 and 1579 departments for the languages of Ba bai (八百; Lao) and Thailand were added, respectively.
Read more about this topic: Hanlin Academy
Famous quotes containing the words bureau of and/or bureau:
“We know what the animals do, what are the needs of the beaver, the bear, the salmon, and other creatures, because long ago men married them and acquired this knowledge from their animal wives. Today the priests say we lie, but we know better.”
—native American belief, quoted by D. Jenness in “The Carrier Indians of the Bulkley River,” Bulletin no. 133, Bureau of American Ethnology (1943)
“If this bureau had a prayer for use around horse parks, it would go something like this: Lead us not among bleeding-hearts to whom horses are cute or sweet or adorable, and deliver us from horse-lovers. Amen.... With that established, let’s talk about the death of Seabiscuit the other night. It isn’t mawkish to say, there was a racehorse, a horse that gave race fans as much pleasure as any that ever lived and one that will be remembered as long and as warmly.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)