Kong Guoluo

Overview

Kong Guoluo was a member of the Manchu Xitala clan, belonging to the Bordered Blue Banner. He was a fifth-generation descendant of Angguo Duli Bayan and served as a scribe. Volume 43 of the official Qing dynasty compilation, *the Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, also records that his son, Liushi, served as an assistant minister, and his grandson, Maizhu, served as a Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall and concurrently Minister of Personnel. Here, "Liushi" is placed in the position of a name and should be understood as such, not as Kong Guoluo taking office at the age of sixty.

A scribe was an official in the Qing dynasty responsible for handling documents and translations; the Manchu transliteration is bithesi. Their work was related to the Qing dynasty's use of Manchu and Chinese languages ​​for administrative affairs, and was not that of a modern private secretary. An assistant minister was a department head within a ministry, while a Grand Secretary participated in national affairs and the processing of imperial edicts; the Ministry of Personnel was responsible for the selection, appointment, and evaluation of officials. Thus, the positions of the three generations in this entry can be distinguished: Kong Guoluo was a scribe, his son was a department head, and Maizhu entered the high-level administrative ranks.

After Maizhu's death, he was granted a state funeral and posthumously honored with the title Wengong. Kong Guoluo's great-grandson, Fuyan, served as a third-class imperial bodyguard; Fushu served as a treasurer; and Fuliang was a fifth-rank official at the time of compilation. The treasurer was responsible for managing the treasury of their subordinate institution, and the fifth rank was merely an official title; the original text does not specify Fuliang's exact title. This entry also includes the military positions of several nephews and grandchildren, reflecting that this branch of the family did not exclusively follow the civil service path. The specific government offices and dates of service for Kong Guoluo's clerk position are yet to be verified.