Ulhan Clan

Overview

The Ulhan clan is a Manchu surname listed in Volume 53 of the officially compiled *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, and they originally resided in the Liaohe region. The main biography of Hartu records him as a bondservant of the Bordered White Banner, but the year of his submission is unknown, and it is noted that he was transferred from the Plain White Banner. This indicates that his branch had changed banner affiliation, and his Bordered White Banner identity cannot be traced back indefinitely to all his early experiences.

Hartu's grandson, Huibao, served as a military officer, participating in campaigns in Zhejiang and Fujian. He fought in Zhuji and later relieved a siege at Quanzhou by capturing a bridge, for which he was awarded the rank of Qiduwei. This hereditary title was first inherited by his son, Meiji, and after Meiji was dismissed, it was passed on to his uncle's son, Suozhu. Military officer was a substantive military rank within the military system, while cavalry captain was a hereditary title awarded for merit; dismissal and succession must be understood separately.

The appendix clearly states that Dali was of the same clan as Hartu, and he served as a third-class bodyguard. His descendants included cavalry captains, bodyguards, eighth-rank officials, and county magistrates. The status of a bondservant did not limit their official duties to a single type of corvée labor; a county magistrate was a local administrative official, while a guard was a military officer under the prefecture. The electronic version of the Dali Banner is written as "Xiangyue Banner," but the character form is questionable and needs to be verified against the original engraving before it can be corrected; the specific ancestral home and the date of the change of affiliation along the Liao River also need to be verified.