Suiban

Overview

Suiban 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 Harmin for generations and submitted to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty. Volume 10 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 granted the hereditary title of "Defense Officer," responsible for guarding the imperial tombs. His grandson, Forty-Nine, inherited this title during the compilation process; his great-grandson, Liubao, held a seventh-rank official position, Yindeng held the same defense officer position, and his great-great-grandson, Marhushan, served as a military officer.

This entry explicitly connects defense officer with hereditary title, and the original terminology must be retained. It cannot be uniformly rewritten as Yunqiwei or other noble titles according to the common practice of later defense officer positions. Guarding the imperial tombs is related to the military affairs of the tomb-guarding system, but the original text does not specify which tomb it refers to; "Forty-Nine" is a personal name, not forty-nine heirs.

His younger brother, Sukesang'a, served as the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Department. His great-grandson, Guanbao, served as a first-class guard. Guanbao's descendants later belonged to the Bordered White Banner; the change of banner affiliation is limited to this branch and cannot be used to change the banner of the entire Suiban clan. Niyahan, a descendant of the clan, served as a Zuo Ling (military officer), and Yingshou, a great-grandson, served as a deputy captain of the infantry and concurrently as a Zuo Ling. These distinctions must be made between him and his brother's branch. The modern location of Harmin, the early hereditary defense system, and the timing of the official banner relocation still await verification from the original inscriptions and archives. The main text focuses on the individual's role in guarding the tomb and the succession by his descendants, recording only the rank of the position without supplementing the official title.