Guo He

Overview

Guo He was a member of the Hesheli clan of the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Manchus during the early Qing Dynasty. His family had lived in Hada for generations and submitted to the Qing during the Tiancong era. Volume 9 of the official clan genealogy compiled during the Qianlong reign, *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that his grandson, Dengku, served as a cavalry officer in campaigns in Yunnan and Jiangxi. He later died in battle against Ma Bao's forces in Shaozhou, Guangdong, and was posthumously awarded the title of Yunqiwei (a military rank). His son, Suozhu, inherited this title.

A cavalry officer was a junior officer in the Eight Banners' cavalry battalion, while Yunqiwei was a posthumously awarded hereditary military rank; the place of death could not be changed to one's ancestral home. Suozhu inherited this title and served in campaigns against Galdan, earning further military merit and being promoted to Qiduwei (a hereditary merit rank). This title was then passed down to his son Changlu and his descendant Manse. Therefore, the final nobility ranks include both the posthumous title bestowed by Dengku and the new merits of Suozhu, and cannot be solely attributed to Guo He or Dengku.

The Tiancong era typically corresponds to 1627-1636. When Huang Taiji used this era name, the Later Jin had not yet entered the Central Plains; Guo He's submission to the Qing Dynasty did not coincide with the time his grandson and great-grandson served in the campaigns. The clan entry lists the Hesheli clan, but one cannot simply assume the surname Guo based solely on the first character of the given name. The original entry does not record the individual's official position, nor does it provide a complete paternal lineage or the dates of each appointment. The article presents the process by which a branch of the family, descendants of the surrendered clan, rose from low-ranking military posts to hereditary titles and were promoted for new merits. The specific ancestral site of the Hada family still awaits verification in local gazetteers.