A Er Fa

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*, Alfa's branch was registered as the Plain White Banner, residing in "Zhakumu," and was categorized under "Year of Arrival Unknown." The genealogy records his career as follows: his son, Wuge, originally served as an Assistant Minister; his grandson, Canglin, originally served as a Registrar; and his great-grandson, Songde, originally served as a Clerk. The kinship hierarchy and statuses such as "former" and "current" are retained as in the original entries. At this stage, Alfa'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: "bithesi (clerk)" (bithesi in Manchu) refers to a clerk responsible for translation, copying, archiving, and document circulation; "bithe" means written text, and "bithei" is the genitive form of "written text," and these should not be confused with official titles; "yuanwailang" (yuanwailang) was usually a subordinate official below the "langzhong" (langzhong) in a central government office, but since the original text did not specify the office, it can only be interpreted as a general rank and clerical nature; "dianji (registrar)" (dianji) usually refers to those in charge of registers, documents, or institutional materials, and the specific institution and rank should be investigated separately. "Zakumu" retains the historical place name spelling from genealogical records; different places, spellings, and changes in jurisdiction are all possible, and it cannot be directly equated to a specific administrative region today.