Zhao Qixin

Overview

Zhao Qixin (originally written as "ZhaoQiXin") appears in the Zhao family entry of Volume 76 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*. He was a bondservant of the Plain Red Banner, and his family had lived in Tieling for generations before surrendering to the Qing dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty. The original text does not provide Zhao Qixin's official position or birth and death dates, but focuses on recording the official positions held by his son and grandson in the local administrative system.

His son, Zhao Peng, served as a county magistrate. His grandson, Zhao Shichang, served as a county assistant, and Zhao Shisheng served as a county magistrate. County magistrate and county assistant are different local titles; the latter was a county-level assistant position. They cannot be considered the same position simply because they both belonged to the prefectural and county administrative system. The genealogy also does not specify which county each of the three served in, so it cannot be concluded that they were from the same family within the same county government.

Although Zhao Qixin's entry is short, it provides clues about his Plain Red Banner bondservant status, his ancestral home in Tieling, and his early surrender, and identifies the fact that his descendants entered the local bureaucratic system. "Returning to the country at the beginning of the dynasty" is only a general period, not a specific year; also, Zhao Peng and Zhao Shichang and Zhao Shisheng belong to two generations of father and sons, so the grandchildren cannot be written as Zhao Qixin's biological sons. Before further local chronicles or appointment and dismissal records are available, this article should retain these clear facts and not expand them into a biographical account of political achievements.