Wolik

Overview

Wolik was a member of the Bayara clan of the Plain White Banner. Volume 38 of the official Qing dynasty genealogy, *The Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that his family had lived along the Songhua River for generations, but the date of their submission is unknown. The Plain White Banner belonged to the Eight Banners organization; ancestral home and the date of submission are separate pieces of information. The fact that the previous section of the same volume recorded submission at the beginning of the dynasty does not automatically mean that the same date should be added to this entry.

The original genealogy records that his grandsons, Gashida and Qifali, served as second-class imperial guards, and Shaoxi as a military officer; his great-grandson, Weite, served as a first-class imperial guard, Anabu also served as a first-class imperial guard, and Lengbao as a cavalry officer. Imperial guards were responsible for palace security and escort duties; first-class and second-class were different ranks. Military officers and cavalry officers belonged to their respective military units and could not be collectively referred to as imperial guards.

Different ranks of imperial guards do not necessarily indicate that someone was promoted sequentially, as these titles belonged to different grandsons or great-grandsons. The fact that multiple family members entered the imperial guard and banner system does not prove that Wolik himself held the same position. The former and current officials listed in the genealogy reflect the information recorded at the time of its compilation, not their current positions. The punctuation of the names of the two grandchildren, their terms of service as guards, their ancestral home locations, and the dates of their submission require verification from the original engravings and archives.