Gu Qi

Overview

Gu Qi was a member of the Irgen Gioro clan in the early Qing Dynasty, originally from Yehe. He submitted to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of its rule and served as an infantry officer. The official clan genealogy of the Qianlong era, *The General Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, Volume 12, lists the Plain White Banner first, and at the end, it records that his descendants now belong to the Mongol Banner of the same banner, having been transferred from the Bordered White Banner. Here, both the banner color at the beginning of the entry and the explanation of the descendants' transfer should be retained; the modern ethnic identity of all ancestors should not be changed simply because of the "Mongol Banner," nor should the changes in the time of banner reorganization be ignored.

His son, Zheng Gu, and grandson, Dong Se, both served as cavalry officers; his great-grandson, Dong Ke, served as a cavalry officer and a departmental commander, participating in the battle of Shaozhou, Guangdong, and died in action, posthumously awarded the title of Yunqiwei. The position of infantry officer was related to infantry management, while the position of cavalry officer was related to banner camp military affairs; the departmental commander retained its appointed nature and should not be reduced to an unconditionally appointed commander. Specific military achievements belong to Dong Ke and should not be included in Gu Qi's personal experience.

The title of Yunqiwei was a hereditary post for meritorious officials, later inherited by Dong Ke's grandson Jinbao and great-grandson Baoding; this differed from the succession of the positions of Bujunxiao or Xiaoqixiao. The genealogy clearly states the generational order but does not list the names of the fathers of each person, and the paternal lineage cannot be fabricated independently. The modern Yehe site can be linked to the Yehe Manchu Town in Siping, but this is still insufficient to pinpoint Gu Qi's village of residence; the date of his relocation, term of office, and date of death all require verification through the original inscription and archives.