Meng’eluo Clan (Romanization Provisional)

Overview

The Meng’eluo clan is listed in Volume 58 of the official genealogy of the Manchu clans of the Eight Banners, compiled during the Qianlong reign. Their ancestral home was in Hurha and Alai. Eshi, a member of the Meng’eluo clan in the Bordered Yellow Banner, resided in Hurha, surrendering to the Qing dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty. Eshi served as a guide officer (ZhangJing), and their grandson, Aiha, served as a stable master (GuChang). Kodo, another member of the Meng’eluo clan in the Bordered Red Banner, resided in Alai; the year of their surrender is unknown, and their grandson, Bentai, served as a third-class guard (HuWei). The unusual initial written character in the source headword is not, on its own, evidence that the clan should be classified as Mongol.

The title "Guide Officer" (XiangXiangZhangJing) relates to guiding troops and travelers, "Stable Master" (GuChang) is a stable management position, and "Third-Class Guard" (SanDengHuWei) is a military officer serving in the princely court. While all three titles may have involved military or court activities, their duties differed. Aiha cannot be written as a successor to his grandfather as a guide officer, nor can the position of stable master (GuChang) be used to infer that herding was the entire clan's profession.

The genealogical records separately document the banner affiliation, ancestral home, and submission information of Eshi and Kodo, but do not explain their specific kinship. The Kodo branch cannot be assigned Eshi’s early submission date. The affiliation and actual assignment of the guide officer, the location of Alai, the Manchu surname, and the term of office of his descendants still need to be verified; Hurha is a broad historical region and is insufficient to directly identify a modern village.