• Acta Via Serica
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.87-120
• /
• 2020

This article introduces the texts of Manchu shamanistic prayers recorded in a manuscript by Sergei A. Polevoi, a Russian and an American Sinologist from the first part of the twentieth century. The Manchu original text of these prayers (but not the Polevoi's variant) was recently published by Ye (2018), which, however lacks detailed linguistic analysis. Polevoi's texts are in the slightly outdated romanization of Manchu with no linguistic analysis, translation, and commentary that are provided below by the author. While this publication will be of minor interest to the specialists on Manchu shamanism, it would be important to linguists specializing in the Manchu and Tungusic languages and philology, as the text reflects in all probability the eighteenth century Manchu preserved in romanization, and, therefore priceless for the linguistic analysis.