Hu Xibu

Overview

Hu Xibu was a member of the Yehe Nara clan of the Bordered Red Banner, whose ancestral home was in Yehe. The year he submitted to the Qing dynasty is unknown. Volume 22 of the official Qing dynasty genealogy, *The Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that he served as a Qiduwei; his sons, Menggu Erdai and Huase, served as vice-commanders; his grandsons, Xingbao, Sibao, Niule, and Sulba, served as cavalry captains; his great-grandson, Saike, served as a lieutenant; Chang'an was the governor of Zhejiang at the time of the compilation; Changjun was the prefect; and his great-great-grandson, Changmin, was a hereditary official. The ranks of Qiduwei and vice-commander belonged to the military administration of the Eight Banners, while guards and prefects were found in the system of princely residences. The governor of Zhejiang was a provincial-level administrative official, and the prefect managed the administration of a prefecture, differing from the authority of banner officers; a hereditary official was a status obtained through patronage or other familial connections, not necessarily a prefectural governorship. The mother genealogy also contains the near-homophone entry "Hu Xibu," which cannot be merged solely based on similar pronunciation. Information regarding the original banner affiliation, descendants, and ancestral residence should be preserved independently. Hu Xibu's verifiable position was Xiaoqi Xiao, and his governorship of Chang'an belonged to his great-grandson's generation.