Tuhene

Overview

Tuhene 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 he was a native of Ningguta, surrendered to the Qing dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty, and originally served as a vanguard officer. The vanguard was a specific military unit in the Qing dynasty, responsible for advance and combat duties; the vanguard officer was an actual position, not a modern school teaching post.

His son, Zhaqina, served as a principal officer; his grandson, Zhesune, served as a Blue-Lanyard Guard; and his great-grandson, Niuniu, served as a cavalry officer in the campaign against Galdan, achieving the rank of Yunqiwei for meritorious service at Zhaomodo. His brother, Tongzheng, inherited this title, and Tongzheng also served as a third-class guard. The principal officer was an administrative position, while the Blue-Lanyard and third-class guard positions belonged to the imperial guard system, and the cavalry officer position belonged to the corresponding banner unit; they could not be uniformly converted into the same military rank.

The Yunqiwei was a hereditary title. Tongzheng's inheritance of it and his appointment as a third-class guard are two different records and do not indicate that the guard position was inherited from his elder brother. Niu Niu's military achievements belong to his great-grandson, not to Tuhene himself; the fact that his ancestor served as a vanguard officer does not prove that all his descendants belonged to the vanguard battalion. The official office to which the official belonged, the term of office of the person in charge of the vanguard officer, the year and month of Niu Niu's expedition, and the ancestral home in Ningguta are pending verification from the original printed source and archives.