Zu Dashou

Overview

Zu Dashou, courtesy name Fuyu, was a native of Liaodong and a military figure in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. He served as the Ming general in Ningyuan and Jinzhou. In the fifth year of the Tiancong reign (the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign), Dalinghe City was besieged by the Later Jin army. After running out of food, Zu Dashou surrendered and was subsequently allowed to go to Jinzhou to defend the city for the Ming dynasty again. His experience involved two surrenders and a period of returning to the Ming side in between, and cannot be compressed into a single surrender followed by continuous service in the Later Jin army. In the seventh year of the Chongde reign, Jinzhou was besieged for a long time, and Zu Dashou surrendered to the Qing again, belonging to the Han Army Plain Yellow Banner and still receiving the rank of general. The Han Army Eight Banners were part of the Qing Dynasty's Eight Banners system, with their own banner colors and military and political organization; the general was a military post held by the individual, and banner affiliation and official position were not interchangeable. Dalinghe and Jinzhou were both located in the military struggle area of ​​western Liaoning between the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the siege of the city, reinforcements, and food supplies directly influenced his choice. After the Qing army entered the pass, Zu Dashou came to Beijing and died in the thirteenth year of the Shunzhi reign. Historical records also document the positions and successions of many of Zu's relatives, among whom the relationships between adopted sons and biological relatives differed. Zu Dashou's two surrenders, his Qing Dynasty banner affiliation, and his whereabouts in his later years can be distinguished from the later official careers of the Zu family.