Akuz

Overview

According to the appendix to the Irgen Gioro clan in Volume 15 of the *General Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, Akuzha's branch was registered as a bondservant of the Bordered Yellow Banner, residing in "Wali Lake," and categorized under "Returning from Tiancong." "Returning from Tiancong" is a grouping for this branch in the genealogy; Tiancong was the reign title of Huang Taiji. The original entry did not specify the year or month, so the timeframe cannot be narrowed further. Being a bondservant of the Bordered Yellow Banner indicates the banner affiliation of this branch at the time of compilation; "bondservant" refers to a subordinate status within the Eight Banners and the Imperial Household Department system, and cannot be simply equated with a modern-day household servant, nor can it be inferred that an individual's legal status remained unchanged. The genealogy records his resume as follows: Sun Gabula was originally the head of the Imperial Kitchen. The kinship hierarchy and statuses such as "former" and "current" are retained as in the original entry; at this stage, Akuzha's official position, rank, or birth and death are not inferred from the official positions of his descendants. The relevant institutional terms should be understood according to the Qing Dynasty context: the head of the imperial kitchen was in charge of the staff and food supply affairs, and the specific service location still needs to be verified with the archives of the Imperial Household Department. "Wali Lake" retains the historical place name spelling in genealogical records; there may be different places with the same name, different spellings, and changes in jurisdiction, so it cannot be directly matched with a certain administrative region today.