Overview
Kaihu, literally “opening a household,” was an adjustment of household registration and dependent status within Qing Eight Banners society. It concerned, among others, persons and descendants formerly registered under the households of princes, officials, or other Bannermen. Permission to establish a separate household could bring a different degree of legal or administrative independence. The term has no connection with opening a modern bank account and does not automatically mean departure from Banner registration or appointment to public office.
Historical Background
The fiscal treatise of the Draft History of Qing describes cases in which such status changes arose from military achievement, recognized service, technical skill, or a master's petition acknowledging generations of faithful service. The court distinguished authorization to register separately, authorization to become ordinary civilian subjects, and permission described only as kaihu. Those decisions did not necessarily have identical legal effects. Whether an individual acquired fully recognized Banner status or permission to leave the Banner system must be determined from the order and the date involved.
Sources and Interpretation
Banner population reviews recorded household heads, relatives, and dependent people. In the Qianlong period, officials were instructed to examine the backgrounds of persons classed as regular Bannermen, separately registered households, or dependents, including evidence for three generations and contracts concerning purchase, transfer from Shengjing, or voluntary submission. These procedures reveal the layered character of Banner household status. A biography mentioning kaihu should specify the person's former registration and the terms of approval wherever possible; it should not silently transform that status change into transfer between Banners or imperial grant of a surname.
Sources and Bibliography
Links reproduce references supplied with the Chinese editorial manuscript; they do not establish that every individual statement has undergone independent archival verification.
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