Li Kai

Overview

Li Kai was a member of the Lijia clan of the Plain Yellow Banner during the early Qing Dynasty. The official Qing Dynasty compilation, *The Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, Volume 33, records him as a native of the Fola region. His great-great-grandson, Nikada, served as a military officer, and Sangge as a zuoling (military commander). His fourth-generation descendant, Yazhu, served as a military assistant commander, Xiteku as a wing commander, and Yingzhu as a cavalry officer. His fifth-generation descendant, Hanban, served as a military assistant commander at the time of compilation. The end of the compilation states that he submitted to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty.

The zuoling was in charge of the Eight Banners' basic household registration and military records. Military officers and military assistant commanders were responsible for leading and guarding different levels of the military. The cavalry officer belonged to the cavalry system. The duties of the military officers included guarding the palace gates and escorting the emperor during his travels. The wing commander is an official title with an institutional context; when the specific department is not specified in the original text, it is not supplemented as a wing commander of the imperial mausoleum or a wing commander of a hunting ground.

Li Kai appears with a name similar to a Han Chinese name, but the Lijia clan section and banner information cannot be used to definitively classify him as a Han Chinese military clan member based solely on the shape of the characters. The multiple military positions held by his descendants do not prove that he was a commanding officer. The positions of the Foala, the Sitku Wing Commander, and the intergenerational lineage are yet to be verified. The current and former positions are understood according to the time of the original book's compilation. Military affairs of great-great-grandchildren and later generations are not included in his personal experience.