Xu Jie

Overview

Xu Jie is a member of the Bordered Yellow Banner, listed in the Xu family entry of Volume 77 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*. His family had lived in Fushun for generations, but the year of their submission is unknown. This genealogy is an official clan document compiled during the Qianlong reign. This volume includes Han surnames within the Manchu banner system; one cannot conclude that Xu Jie belonged to the Han banner system solely based on his Han surname.

The original text records that his grandson, Xu Zhaolin, served as an Assistant Minister, and his great-great-grandson, Xu Min, served as a Military Officer. "Great-great-grandson" refers to a great-great-grandson, not a grandson; the fact that both grandson and great-great-grandson held different positions does not mean the original text recorded all the intermediate generations connecting them. Xu Jie's own official position is not recorded.

An Assistant Minister was a staff member in an official government office, with positions in various departments of the Imperial Household Department and other central government offices. It was a civil service title, and specific responsibilities depended on the institution to which it belonged; Xu Zhaolin's office is not recorded, and one cannot infer his department or specific duties based on general regulations.

The Guardsman School was a military post within the Guardsman organization, involved in guarding, escorting, and managing related officers and soldiers. The Bordered Yellow Banner was one of the Upper Three Banners, and its bondservant members had ties to the Imperial Household Department; however, the specific battalion and rank of the Guardsman with the same name still need further clarification. Fushun is the family's former residence explicitly stated in the original text, which differs from the locations where the two descendants served; the year of their return is unknown and should be preserved, and the time of their submission cannot be supplemented by local early Qing history.