Garse

Overview

Garse was a member of the Wanyan clan of the Bordered Yellow Banner during the early Qing Dynasty. The official Qing Dynasty genealogy, *The Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, Volume 28, lists various localities and records that he was from the Jiamuhu area. His grandson, Yase, served as a scribe; his great-grandsons, Serdu, Erdu, and Liushitu, served as clerks; Erdu as assistant commanders; Liushitu as second-class imperial bodyguards; Sahalian as a Qiduwei; and Keerdu as a scribe; his great-great-grandson, Mingtai, also served as a scribe. The concluding section records his submission to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty.

A scribe was an official who handled Manchu and Chinese documents; the Manchu transliteration is bithesi. A clerk handled the receipt, dispatch, and disbursement of official documents. Although both titles involved written administration, their responsibilities differed and they could not be arbitrarily interchanged. Assistant commanders and cavalry captains were military officers within the banner system, while second-class imperial bodyguards participated in the emperor's guard duties and were not the same as the guards of princes' mansions.

The original genealogy distinguished generations by grandson, great-grandson, and great-great-grandson. Liushitu is listed as a complete name and cannot be broken down into a single person who is sixty years old. The fact that multiple people served as clerks indicates the appointment of family descendants within the Qing dynasty's administrative system, but it does not support the assumption that they worked in the same agency or were jointly responsible for a particular translation task. The location of Jiamuhu, the agency to which the official was affiliated, the location of the assistant commander, and the years of service are yet to be verified. Garsai's own official title was not supplemented by later generations.