Laosa of the Gūwalgiya Clan

Lineage and military specialization

Laosa belonged to the Gūwalgiya clan, whose ancestral residence is given as Anchulaku. After joining Nurhaci, he was registered in the Manchu Bordered Red Banner. He participated in the conquest of Liaodong in 1621 and subsequently accompanied Hong Taiji in campaigns toward Mongol territories and Ming frontier positions. His military rewards included grades conventionally translated as assistant commander and deputy commander, awarded in recognition of service.

The early banner army organized selected troops into a vanguard formation known as gabsihiyan, and Laosa served as one of its commanders. His tasks involved advance reconnaissance, identifying routes, assessing enemy movements, and assisting detachments, not simply charging first in every engagement. Biographical records describe operations with small mounted units during the Dalinghe campaign and toward Chahar, including reconnaissance, relief, and support duties.

Rewards and death

Laosa received the warrior honorific Šo'on Kolo Baturu but also suffered reduction of hereditary military rank and loss of the title after misconduct in military operations; the honours were later restored. He was killed during the Jinzhou campaign in 1641. The court granted a posthumous third-grade amban janggin rank, which passed to his son Chengni, and subsequently awarded Laosa the posthumous name Zhongyi in the Shunzhi period. Chengni's later death in battle at Hengzhou belongs to the next generation and must not be conflated with his father's death at Jinzhou.