Nerch

Overview

Nerhe, originally named "Nerhe," was a Manchu bannerman of the Muld clan during the early Qing Dynasty. Volume 61 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners* states that Muld was a Manchu surname, with its members residing in the Dalinghe area. It also records Nerhe as a member of the Bordered White Banner, who submitted to the Qing Dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty. His grandson, Nantai, once held a seventh-rank official position. The entry does not list Nerhe's specific official position.

The Dalinghe River is an important river in western Liaoning, its basin including Chaoyang and Beipiao. Local government records confirm the modern geographical context of this river system. However, the "Dalinghe area" in the clan genealogy may not refer to the entire river or a specific administrative region today. The exact settlement of the Nerhe family remains uncertain, and it cannot be used to claim he participated in the battle at the castle of the same name.

The Bordered White Banner was one of the Eight Banners. Banner affiliation indicated the military and administrative control of a military household; clan name and place of residence respectively indicated kinship and historical region. The record of Nantai's seventh-rank official position only provides the rank, without specifying the official title or distinction between principal and subordinate officials. In the Qing Dynasty, different civil and military officials could be ranked under the same grade, so Nantai cannot be classified as a certain type of clerk, much less have his grandson's grade been attributed to Nerhe. The term "early Qing Dynasty" only retains the early concept of submission from the original text and cannot be applied to a single year.