Xunzaqi

Overview

Xunzaqi was a member of the Zhangjia clan of the Bordered Yellow Banner. Volume 40 of the official Qing dynasty genealogy, *the Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records him as the great-grandson of Zhangku, the second son of Mudu Bayan. His family had lived in the Zhangjia area of ​​Ma'erdun for generations. At the beginning of the Qing dynasty, he led his descendants to submit to the Qing, and during the Tiancong era, he was appointed a zuoling (military officer). However, submission and appointment are two separate events; the appointment during the Tiancong era cannot be directly rewritten as submission.

His eldest son, Sultai, served as a minister in the Imperial Stables. His second son, Dartai, initially served as a Baoyi zuoling, and later received the title of Yunqiwei (a military rank) for overseeing palace construction. The Imperial Stables managed matters such as imperial horses, and the Baoyi zuoling was a managerial position within the Baoyi system, while Yunqiwei was a hereditary title; awards for construction projects cannot be equated solely with military merit. Dartai's son, Doute, inherited the position and was granted the title of Qiduwei by imperial decree. His successor, Hada, became the Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard.

The Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard was responsible for commanding the imperial guards and other imperial troops, and was different from the officials of the Imperial Stables. The original genealogy also lists the positions of descendants such as acting military commander, second-class imperial guard, and scribe. The status of acting commander must be retained and cannot be uniformly changed to official appointment. The characters of Ma'erdun Zhangjia place name, Dou Te Tiao Zhong Gong Ling, etc., the lineage of each generation, and the date of the palace construction supervision need to be verified with the original engraving and archives.