Bilule Clan

Overview

The Bilule clan is a Manchu surname recorded in Volume 59 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, an official compilation of the Qianlong Emperor's reign. Their ancestral home was Suwan. Eheda of the Bordered Yellow Banner submitted to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty. His son, Sele, served as a Qiduwei; Wu Erqin and Salpo served as infantry captains; his grandson, Fulong'e, served as a guard captain; and his great-grandson, Mada, served as a Qiduwei.

This set of information includes both members of the same generation holding different military positions and records of several generations of descendants serving under the banner system. Cavalry captains participated in training and management within the Eight Banners' basic military organization; infantry captains served the infantry system; and guard captains commanded their subordinate guards and undertook tasks such as guard duty and accompanying troops on campaigns. These three titles were not interchangeable, nor could they be combined into the official positions Eheda himself held.

Suwan is the ancestral home, the Bordered Yellow Banner is the organizational affiliation, and Bilule is the surname; these clues help identify the family, but the genealogy does not provide specific company numbers or a complete migration route. The fact that both father and son, or grandfather and grandson, held military positions does not directly prove that these positions were hereditary military achievements or inherited from father to son. The specific settlement of Suwan, the birth and death dates of Eheda, the positions held by each person, and the records of military achievements still need to be verified. The surname is not added to the records of people from adjacent clans based on their experiences.