Gulaku

Overview

Gulaku is a figure listed in Volume 54 of the Qing Dynasty official genealogy book, *the Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, under the surname Sakcha. He belonged to the Plain Red Banner and lived in Nimachasu Village. He submitted to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty and served as a cavalry officer. His son, Weng Ada, and grandson, Huashan, both served as infantry officers.

The cavalry officer was a low-ranking officer in the Eight Banners' cavalry organization, involved in troop management and training. The infantry officer belonged to a different infantry organization, and the Beijing infantry system was linked to city gates, patrols, and troop management. The grandfather's cavalry officer position and his son's and grandson's infantry officer positions were not the same; therefore, the three generations cannot be recorded as a single, continuously inherited military rank.

Sakcha is listed as a Manchu surname in the original book, and the clan's general description mentions Suifen and other areas. The Gulaku branch specifically refers to Nimachasu Village. The ancestral residence record, including both the region and village name, should be preserved as a whole, without transferring Susu Village to a modern, near-homophone village. The Plain Red Banner was a designation, not an administrative affiliation of the village. The original text does not record the individual's military unit, term of office, or succession quota, and the person with the same name, Hua Shan, cannot be directly merged into other clans; the modern location of the ancestral home is yet to be determined.