Sengsai

Overview

Sengsai was a member of the Zakuta clan of the Plain White Banner. Volume 36 of the official Qing dynasty clan genealogy, *The Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that he lived in the Songhua River region and surrendered to the Qing dynasty along with his brothers at the beginning of the dynasty. Sengsai is a personal name here; the character "Seng" alone cannot identify him as a monk. Songhua River is a regional ancestral name; the specific settlement requires further evidence.

His grandsons, Choerbu and Erbu, served as cavalry commanders. His fourth-generation descendant, Suzhu, also served as a cavalry commander. The original genealogy details his younger brothers and descendants separately. Shumulu is a younger brother's name here; its similarity to another Manchu surname does not change the affiliation of this branch of the Zakuta clan. The cavalry commanders managed the corresponding banner troops; the fact that his descendants held this position does not indicate that Sengsai himself also held it.

His younger brother, Feiyang Echajian, served as a vanguard commander. His great-grandson, Neixi, died in battle in Huguang as a military officer and was posthumously awarded the title of Yunqiwei, which was subsequently inherited by Sige and Deshou. The positions of Vanguard Commander and Guard Commander were substantive, while the Yunqiwei was a hereditary title. The deaths in this battle belonged to a collateral branch of the family, not to the monks of the Sai clan; the lineage of the younger brothers cannot all be counted as their own descendants. The individual characters in the younger generation's names, ancestral home locations, and inheritance relationships need to be verified against the original printed source; missing characters will not be filled in based on conjecture.