Zhuntai

Overview

Zhuntai was a member of the Sakda clan of the Bordered White Banner during the early Qing Dynasty. Volume 35 of the official Qing Dynasty genealogy, *The Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that he originally lived in Jiyan. He submitted to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty and participated in the siege of border cities as a non-official. Later, during the campaign against Datong, he was the first to scale the walls of Shenjing City and died in battle, receiving the posthumous title of Qiduwei. His son, Yeersu, inherited the title. The two sieges and the posthumous reward are attributed to his personal achievements, and the order of his ascent is preserved as originally recorded.

"Non-official" indicates a status within the banner where he did not hold a corresponding official position. "Cadre Captain" was a hereditary title awarded for merit, and the posthumous conferment was a reward. Yeersu was promoted to Second-class Qingche duwei through three imperial edicts and served as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Ningguta. The Deputy Commander-in-Chief was responsible for banner affairs and military administration, and could not be combined with a hereditary title.

Yersu's grandson, Chanbao, inherited the title but was dismissed due to some incident, and it was then passed to a collateral branch, Kulene. The circumstances of having no heir, being dismissed, or inheriting through collateral channels are different and cannot be simplified into a typical father-son chain; the place of office in Ningguta cannot be changed to the ancestral home of Zhuntai Jiyan. The location and kinship of Jiyan, Biancheng, and Shenjingcheng are yet to be verified, and the official positions of sons and grandsons do not belong to the individuals themselves.