Shang Jiertu

Overview

Shang Jiertu was a member of the Saimile clan of the Plain Red Banner. Volume 36 of the official Qing dynasty genealogy, *The Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that he lived in the Heilongjiang region and submitted to the Qing during the Tiancong era. Saimile is the Manchu surname listed in the genealogy, while Shang Jiertu is a personal name; it cannot be arbitrarily changed to the Han surname Shang based on the first character. Tiancong was the reign title of Huang Taiji's Later Jin dynasty, indicating that his submission occurred before the conquest of China.

His great-great-grandson, Yaqina, served as a Qiduwei; his fourth-generation descendant, Wuluntai, served as a deputy commander of the Imperial Guard; and his fifth-generation descendant, Erhenuo, served as a military captain. The cavalry and the Imperial Guard each had their own military organization, with the Qiduwei responsible for their respective units. The deputy commander of the Imperial Guard and the military captain also held different positions. The "deputy" in the official title indicates the rank and cannot be omitted arbitrarily while still being considered the same title.

The Eight Banners system linked military organization with personnel status; therefore, banner affiliation and actual military rank needed to be verified separately. This section preserves clues about ancestral allegiance and descendants' official positions. The official titles of descendants cannot be attributed to Shang Jiertu himself, and the ancestral home in Heilongjiang cannot be traced back to the location of the garrison office. Different generations cannot be used to calculate specific birth dates. The date of allegiance, ancestral village, and descendants' work units and appointments are subject to verification using original inscriptions and archives.