Chan Chu

Overview

Chan Chu was a member of the Sakda clan of the Plain Yellow Banner during the early Qing Dynasty. Volume 35 of the officially compiled *General Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners* records that his family originally lived in Jilin Ula. He surrendered to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty and, as a non-official, distinguished himself in the campaign against Heilongjiang, earning the rank of Qiduwei. This non-official status was within the banner system, while the rank of Qiduwei was a hereditary title awarded for merit, not automatically conferred upon him based on his previous command of a battalion.

Chan Chu had no heir, so his younger brother's son, Liudan, inherited the title. Liudan received three imperial edicts that elevated him to Second-class Qingche duwei. Liudan's eldest son, Saibitu, inherited the title and served as a deputy commander. He was wounded in a campaign against Shaanxi and retired due to illness. When his son, Chang'an, succeeded him, the imperial edict portion was removed. Saibitu later died from his wounds, and it was decided that he would be posthumously awarded the title of Yunqiwei, which was then passed on to Chang'an. This illustrates that the ancestral rewards, imperial edicts, and new titles bestowed by his father each had their own sources.

His younger brother, Zhizhang, also served as a seventh-rank official and died in battle while campaigning in Yunnan, forming another branch of the Yunqiwei lineage. The location of Wula in Jilin can be referenced to the relevant ruins area of ​​Wula Street in Longtan District of Jilin City today, but the specific old residence cannot be determined. The place name "Pingjing Prefecture" originally recorded, the Liudan script, and the relationship of collateral inheritance are yet to be verified. A seventh-rank official could not arbitrarily determine his post.