Baise

Overview

Baise was a member of the Ningguta clan of the Bordered Yellow Banner. Volume 41 of the official Qing dynasty genealogy, *The Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that the family had lived in Ningguta for generations and submitted to the Qing dynasty at its inception. Ningguta here refers to their ancestral home, and the Bordered Yellow Banner was part of the Eight Banners organization. Since later generations fought in Yunnan, Yunnan cannot be rewritten as Baise's ancestral home.

His fourth-generation descendant, Surma, participated in the war against Chahar's Burni as a military officer. He distinguished himself at Dalu and was awarded the title of Yunqiwei (hereditary merit rank). Later, he participated in battles at Shimenkan and Huangcaoba in Yunnan, earning the title of Qiduwei and becoming a military commander. Military officer and military commander were different substantive positions within the military organization, while Yunqiwei and Qiduwei were hereditary titles. Military merit conferment and actual promotion must be explained separately.

Surma's position was inherited by his son, Surtai, who served as a third-class imperial bodyguard. The title was later passed to Yongshou. Imperial bodyguards belonged to the imperial guard system and were not simply another way of writing "military commander." Yongshou's inheritance of the hereditary title did not automatically grant him his father the position of imperial bodyguard. The genealogy also lists descendants of the Chief Secretary, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Defense Commander, Assistant Commander, and Clerk, which cannot be combined with Bai Se's own resume. The affiliated units, dates of succession, complete lineage, and ancestral home of each position are yet to be verified.