Sabitu

Overview

Sabitu was a member of the Huifa Nara clan of the Bordered Blue Banner in the early Qing Dynasty. He was the grandson of Wang Jinu and lived in Huifa. His family submitted to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty. Volume 24 of the official Qing Dynasty clan genealogy, *the Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that his grandson, Ligu, participated in the Zhoushan campaign in Zhejiang as a Qiduwei (hereditary merit rank). He was wounded and captured a ship, and for his meritorious service, he was awarded the title of Yunqiwei (a military rank). Later, he served as a Langzhong (a military officer), and was in charge of the zuoling (a military unit). Ligu was then appointed acting commander of the Hujun (a military unit) and sent to Shaanxi to participate in the campaign against Wang Fuchen. He died in battle against Wu Guogui's forces in Changsha and was posthumously awarded the title of Qiduwei (a military rank). His grandsons, Hazhahai and Hushita, successively inherited this title. The wounding and capturing of the ship, the appointment as a high-ranking military officer, and the death in Changsha are specific experiences of Ligu and cannot be attributed to Sabitu himself. The positions of Qiduwei (hereditary merit rank), Hujun captain, and Hujun commander belonged to different military units and ranks; "appointed" indicated a temporary appointment. Yunqiwei and Qiduwei were hereditary military ranks, while Langzhong was a department-level administrative official. The original genealogy also records Menggetu, a descendant of Sabitu's brother Hushibu, as a supplementary candidate. A supplementary candidate's status was related to the imperial examinations and differed from an already held official position. His family's lineage involves military service, civil service, and imperial examination qualifications, and should be understood separately according to generation and branch.