Hershheng

Overview

Heshiheng was a member of the Bordered Blue Banner of the Ayan Gioro clan, as recorded in Volume 18 of the *the Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*. The original genealogy records him as "a person from the eastern region," of the same clan as Tunzhuhu. He himself served as a third-class guard, but the year of his submission is unknown. On the same page, Tunzhuhu is also related to Zhahai as a member of the same village and clan. However, the descriptions of place names are not entirely consistent. Therefore, whether "Eastern" is the complete name, a missing character, or a transcription issue should be verified by examining the image first; kinship cannot be used to directly change the name for identification. A third-class guard was a rank of guard officer, mainly found in the official system of princely residences, and was not the same as the third-class bodyguards serving the emperor. The number and structure of personnel also differed between different residences. The original entry did not specify the residence, so it cannot specify the clan member served. The Bordered Blue Banner in the Eight Banners indicates banner affiliation, not the rank of a third-class guard; the two belong to organizational identity and official appointment information, respectively. The official genealogy's use of "former post" only indicates previous service, and cannot determine the reason for retirement, dismissal, or death. This position of Heshchen himself can be written, but there is no evidence to suggest that he added military merits or other official titles to the descendants of Tunzhuhu.