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Laibao: Imperial Household Administrator and Grand Secretary

English editorial translation of the Chinese source entry

Laibao, courtesy name Xuepu, belonged to the Hitara clan and began his career within the Imperial Household Department. He served under the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong emperors. Early appointments included treasury service and guard duties; under Yongzheng he held the departm…

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Source-based English editorial manuscript · Historical details subject to final source verification.

From household service to high office

Laibao, courtesy name Xuepu, belonged to the Hitara clan and began his career within the Imperial Household Department. He served under the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong emperors. Early appointments included treasury service and guard duties; under Yongzheng he held the department's chief administration on multiple occasions, although his career also included removal and later reinstatement. The department administered palace supplies, imperial finances, and associated personnel. Its service system should not be treated as identical to the regular provincial bureaucracy.

Administrative proposals and banner registration

Early in the Qianlong reign Laibao addressed matters including copper procurement and the allocation of water between grain transport and agricultural irrigation. He proposed official purchase arrangements for imported copper after its arrival, illustrating how a household official might participate in broader fiscal affairs. In 1740 he became president of the Board of Punishments. He was subsequently transferred from his earlier household affiliation into the Plain White Manchu Banner, with a company-level banner unit arranged under his family's management. This change in registration matters: his early household status should not be applied indiscriminately to every stage of his life.

Later career

Laibao also served as president of the Boards of Rites and Personnel, Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall, and in the Grand Council. He died in 1764, aged eighty-four, and received the posthumous name Wenduan. His board presidencies, grand-secretary appointment, banner affiliation, and posthumous title each describe a different dimension of his position.

Sources and Bibliography

  1. Historical source 1 — zh.wikisource.org
  2. Historical source 2 — zh.wikisource.org
  3. Historical source 3 — zh.wikisource.org

Links reproduce references supplied with the Chinese editorial manuscript; they do not establish that every individual statement has undergone independent archival verification.