Zhan Tai

Overview

Zhan Tai was a member of the Irgen Gioro clan of the Plain Red Banner during the early Qing Dynasty. His family had lived in Tieling for generations and submitted to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty. Volume 15 of the official clan genealogy, *The General Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, compiled during the Qianlong reign, records that he served as a third-class guard. His son, Ningtahai, and grandson, Shuoerdai, also served as third-class guards. The fact that three generations held the same official title is a confirmed characteristic of the family's official appointments, but there is no written evidence that each person inherited the same position, so it cannot be directly stated as three generations of hereditary guards.

Guards were mostly part of the guard system under the Qing Dynasty's princely residences, responsible for accompanying and protecting the emperor. The third rank was a rank-based designation, belonging to a different official system than the emperor's third-class bodyguards. The rank and number of guards under a princely residence were constrained by the princely status system, but the original entry does not specify which princely residence the three men served in, nor does it follow the general system of assigning them to a princely residence, its subordinates, or their specific actions.

The Plain Red Banner was part of the Eight Banners system, the Irgen Gioro clan was a family identity, and Tieling was a historical ancestral residence. Banner affiliation cannot be equated with a modern administrative region. Even if there is an existing area with the same name in Tieling, one cannot designate a village without verification by local gazetteers. The original official only indicates that he/she served there; the paternal lineage for three generations, the dates of office, and the scope of residence still need to be verified by the original inscriptions, prefectural archives, and local historical materials.