Sanbao

Overview

Sanbao is a bondservant of the Plain Yellow Banner under the "Meileng Clan" entry in Volume 58 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, whose ancestral home was in Yehe. This entry records that he himself served as a head herdsman, unlike other figures in the same volume whose only listed positions are those of their descendants; his group is listed as those who came to the court during the Tiancong era.

The original text records that his son, Guanbao, served as an inner steward; Qian Lihun served as a treasurer; and Shenbao served as the head of the tea service. His great-grandson, Baozhu, also served as the head of the tea service, and Guanyinbao served as a scribe when compiling the genealogy. The positions of head herdsman, head of the tea service, and inner steward cannot be simply categorized as the same; they respectively involved the management of livestock, the affairs of the imperial tea service, and the management of the bondservants and servants under their jurisdiction.

His status as a bondservant of the Plain Yellow Banner, his own position as head herdsman, and his descendants' roles as officials in the inner court constitute the core of this biographical information. The genealogy does not provide Sanbao's birth and death dates, length of service, or direct promotion relationship with the head of the tea house, so it is impossible to infer from the official positions of his children and grandchildren that he himself had undertaken the same duties in the palace.