Ding Clan

Overview

The Ding family is mentioned in Volume 74 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, under the section on Nikan surnames within the Manchu Banners, primarily recording the Ding Chongde family. Ding Chongde belonged to the Plain Yellow Banner's bondservant class and lived in Liaoyang; the year of his submission is unknown. His grandson, Ding Yingyuan, served as a court official, and his great-grandson, Ding Zaobao, served as the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Department. Due to old age, he requested retirement, but the original book records that he still received a first-rank salary when the genealogy was compiled.

This record separates his official position from his salary: Ding Zaobao had already retired, and the first-rank salary is a clearly recorded salary in the original genealogy; it cannot be used to rewrite that he was still in office at that time, or to generalize all Grand Stewards of the Imperial Household Department as first-rank officials. The Imperial Household Department was responsible for the imperial family's supplies, finances, ceremonies, and construction, and its Grand Steward coordinated corresponding policies and duties.

Other descendants of the Ding family include his great-grandson Ding Song, who served as a scribe; Ding Gui, who served as a Blue-Lanyard Imperial Guard; and his fourth-generation descendants Ding Jie, who was a hereditary scholar, and Ding Sui, who was a student of the Imperial Academy. The term "bithesi" is a transliteration of the Manchu word, and its main function was handling documents and translations. "Yinsheng" and "Jiansheng" referred to qualifications and educational status, not actual official positions. This entry shows a family writing system that lists official appointments and qualifications side-by-side; the original printed edition style, salary basis, and term of office still need to be verified.