Leng Sengji

Overview

Leng Sengji was a member of the Yehe Nara clan, a bondservant of the Plain Yellow Banner, in the early Qing Dynasty. His family had lived in the Yehe region for generations and submitted to the Qing during the Tiancong era. Volume 22 of the official Qing clan genealogy, *the Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that he served as the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Department; his son, Fobao, served as the Inner Steward; his grandson, He Cheng, served as an Assistant Secretary during the compilation of the genealogy; and Yun Sheng also served as an Inner Steward. Bondservants were a specific social group within the Eight Banners with a specific hierarchical relationship and cannot be simply equated with modern domestic workers. The Imperial Household Department handled the imperial finances, court services, and related personnel affairs, and the Grand Steward was within its management system; the Inner Steward managed the bondservants, servants, and related affairs under his jurisdiction, and should not be understood as a local county official. An Assistant Secretary was a title for a department-level official; the original genealogy did not specify the institution to which He Cheng belonged, and it cannot be concluded that he also served in a department of the Imperial Household Department based solely on the positions of his grandfather and father. Tiancong was the reign title used by Huang Taiji before he entered the Central Plains. This entry preserves clues about the bondservant status, the stage of submission, and the court administration and civil service of three generations. However, the specific start and end dates of Leng Sengji's tenure as the head of the Imperial Household Department and the evolution of official titles at that time still need to be supplemented by official documents.