Engebu

Overview

Engebu was a member of the Yehe Fuca clan, a bondservant of the Bordered Yellow Banner, during the early Qing Dynasty. He submitted to the Qing during the Tiancong era. The official Qing clan genealogy, *The Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, Volume 25, records that he served as a zuoling (banner-company commander), as did his son Luodai; his grandsons Nuokai and Walda served as Hujunxiao (military officers), Feiyanggu as a zuoling, Tongbao as a Zhushi (official in charge), and Bursai as a third-class imperial bodyguard; his great-grandson Erge served as a second-class imperial bodyguard, and Sange as a scribe. Bondservants were a specific status within the Eight Banners, and zuoling managed corresponding grassroots units. It was impossible to retain only the Bordered Yellow Banner while omitting bondservant information, nor could one be designated as a staff member of a department of the Imperial Household Department without institutional evidence. Hujunxiao were junior officers in the Hujun Battalion, imperial bodyguards were Qing court guards, Zhushi were department-level administrative officials, and scribes were officials handling written documents—their duties differed. Tiancong was the reign title of Huang Taiji before his conquest of China. The fact that both father and son served as zuoling (military commanders) is one of the two confirmed appointments, but the brief description does not explicitly state the hereditary process of the same zuoling, so it cannot be supplemented by the applicant. The second and third entries here refer to the names of the great-grandsons. Fei Yanggu must also be identified according to banner affiliation, clan, and generation, and cannot be merged with other clan members based on the same name.