Tsermuteh

Overview

Tsermuteh was a member of the Fuca clan of Feiyou City under the Plain White Banner in the early Qing Dynasty, originally serving as a local chieftain. Volume 25 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners* records that, due to oppression by Ula Beile Buzhantai, he petitioned to relocate his family to submit to the Qing. Nurhaci ordered Beile and others to lead 3,000 soldiers to welcome him. Tsermuteh led his army to Feiyou City, gathered the population of nearby villages, and led 500 households to submit, forming a Zuoling (military unit) under his command. Here, "chieftain" refers to the local leader, while "Beile" was the title of a tribal leader before the Qing conquest of China and cannot be directly interpreted as a later imperial title. "500 households" refers to a population migration unit and should not be interpreted as 500 soldiers; "Zuoling" also refers to the basic banner unit and its administrators. Later, Sobixi served as Zuoling, and there are records of Sobodo and Yangshu holding the positions of Qiduwei and Zuoling. Guanghai held the position of Yunhuishi and Zuoling; Yunhuishi was a ceremonial officer, while Qiduwei was a hereditary title, and they cannot be considered the same position. His brother Beihe and nephew Duikana's various branches hold different positions. The original genealogy's description of the reasons for oppression and submission reflects an official stance and should retain its source attribution; the location of Feiyou City and the specific year of submission still need to be supplemented with evidence.