Shang Yan and Luo

Overview

Shang Yanheluo was a member of the Dong'e clan of the Manchu Plain Red Banner during the early Qing Dynasty. He was of the same clan as Heheli and lived in Dong'e for generations. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, he led his clan to submit to the Qing. Volume 8 of the official clan genealogy compiled during the Qianlong reign, *The General Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that he was wounded in the eye during the campaign against Beijing as a Cavalry Captain; he was the second to scale the city walls at Lushun, and was promoted to Yunqiwei (a cavalry captain); he was also promoted to Third-Class Light Cavalry Captain for his meritorious service in the campaign against Heilongjiang.

Cavalry Captain, Yunqiwei, and Light Cavalry Captain were hereditary military ranks, not official titles for three different combat units. The original text clearly states that he was the second to scale the city walls; this order should be retained and not rewritten as "first to scale the walls." His injury and combat experience are relatively clear, but his specific battalion rank is not given, and he was not appointed a Zuo Ling (a military rank) due to his ennoblement.

His grandson, Haishan, inherited the title, but had no heirs, so it was passed to his uncle, Waixi, and then inherited by Lhasali, Zhekune, and other descendants. Zhekune was stripped of his posthumous honors and reduced to the rank of Third-Class Light Cavalry Captain; subsequently, succession occurred through uncles, brothers, and nephews, making it impossible to compress into a single line of father-to-son inheritance. Furthermore, Sun Kurtai, who gained half a promotion from Zuo Ling in the Heilongjiang campaign, is an independent hereditary official; the change in title under the original system still needs verification. Clan members such as Heshan, who served as Cannon Officer, and Kajili, who served as Doctor, did not hold concurrent positions. The Dong'e settlement, the original names, and the complex succession procedures are all pending verification.