Haita

Overview

Haita was a member of the Hadanara clan of the Bordered Yellow Banner in the early Qing Dynasty. He was the son of Wangxi, the uncle of Wu Erhuda, and his family had lived in Hadan for generations. Volume 23 of the official Qing Dynasty genealogy, *the Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that he was originally a guerrilla commander in Guangning. When Nurhaci captured Guangning, Haita and Darhu, the grandson of his uncle Samuhatu, surrendered and were both awarded the rank of Second-Class Qingche duwei (hereditary merit rank). Haita was later demoted to Qiduwei (hereditary merit rank) due to some incident, and his son Gadahun inherited the position. He was further promoted by imperial decree and, due to meritorious service in the battles of Jiangxi and Huguang, was promoted to First-Class Qingche duwei (hereditary merit rank) and appointed as a military officer. His original position as a guerrilla commander in Guangning indicates that Haita already held a military rank before surrendering. The guerrilla commander and the later hereditary rank cannot be considered as a natural promotion within the same system; Qingche duwei (hereditary merit rank) and Qiduwei (hereditary merit rank) were hereditary ranks for meritorious officials in the Qing Dynasty, while a military officer was an actual banner officer. After Gadahun, the position was inherited by relatives such as Sangge and Zhaoxiang. The original genealogy also separately lists the arrangements for the lineage of Darhu who had no heirs and for succession. Haita and Darhu were both those who welcomed the surrender, but each had their own independent hereditary titles and succession relationships. The military achievements in Jiangxi and Huguang belonged to Gadahun and could not be attributed to Haita himself; the dates of his demotion and various promotions still need to be compared with the official records.