Mo Shi

Overview

Mo Shi was a member of the Huifa Nara clan of the Bordered Red Banner, whose ancestral home was Huifa. The year he submitted to the Qing dynasty is unknown. Volume 24 of the official Qing dynasty genealogy, *The Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that he served as a sixth-rank official in charge of ceremonies. His son, Jingjia, participated in the wars in Zhejiang and Fujian as a military officer, and was awarded the title of Yunqiwei for his military merits. After his death, the title was inherited by his eldest son, Miao Xiao. His second son, Altai, served as a third-class guard at the time of compilation. Ceremonies were officials related to etiquette, and different ranks existed within the institutions of princes and nobles. This entry clearly states he was a sixth-rank official, but it does not specify the prefecture or office where Mo Shi served, so it cannot be used to determine a particular prince's residence based on his rank. Military officers were a basic-level military position in the Eight Banners' military corps, while third-class guards usually belonged to the guard system of princes' residences; the two should be distinguished from ordinary palace guards. Yunqiwei was a hereditary title, awarded here for Jingjia's military merits. Miao Xiao inherited this hereditary title, but the original text does not mention that he also simultaneously succeeded his father as a military officer. The ceremonial duties of Moshi, Jingjia's expedition, and the different identities of his two grandsons form a three-generation family narrative, but cannot be pieced together to represent Moshi's own career advancement; the specific dates of the battles in Zhejiang and Fujian still need to be verified.