Tang Gushan

Overview

Tang Gushan is a member of the Irgen Gioro clan of the Plain White Banner, recorded in Volume Thirteen of the official clan genealogy *General Genealogy of the Eight Banners Manchu Clans*, compiled during the Qianlong reign. His family had lived in Ula for generations, and the year of his submission is unknown.

He participated in the battles of Jinzhou and the conquest of the Central Plains as a Director-General in the Ministry of Works, and was awarded the rank of Cavalry Captain. Due to his satisfactory performance during his tenure as Director-General, he was promoted to Cloud Cavalry Captain, and later further promoted by imperial decree.

Military merit, performance evaluation, and imperial decree are different bases for awarding titles and cannot all be attributed to military achievements.

The Ministry of Works was in charge of engineering and other administrative affairs. The title of Director-General was an official title from the early Qing dynasty; the ministry's name and structure were later adjusted. When interpreting this official title, the characteristics of the era should be retained, and it should not be directly replaced with the later fixed rank of Langzhong.

Cavalry Captain, Cloud Cavalry Captain, and Light Cavalry Captain were hereditary titles for meritorious officials and should not be mistakenly considered as third-level administrative positions within the Ministry of Works.

The second son, Sunbulu, and his son, Huase, successively inherited the title. After the additions granted by imperial decree were removed, Jin Ding inherited the title of Yunqiwei, and Shutonga inherited the title of Qiduwei, respectively.

This was a system of hereditary titles and ranks; it was not permissible for each of the two sons to inherit the complete old title, nor could it be automatically stated that they would succeed as officials in the Ministry of Works.

The eldest son, Suerhutu, and the third son, Songnu, once served as Langzhong (a mid-level official), and the grandson, Zhushan, once served as Yuanwailang (another mid-level official). Their respective departments were not recorded, so they were not appointed to the Ministry of Works.