Zheng Du

Overview

Zheng Du is a member of the Bordered Yellow Banner under the Zheng family, as recorded in Volume 77 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*. His family had lived in Tieling for generations, but the year of their submission is unknown. Official genealogies compiled during the Qianlong reign record that his son, He Se, served as a stable master, and his great-grandson, Sandase, served as a scribe during the compilation. "He Se" should be retained as a personal name and not created as such simply because it resembles a color.

The stable master was responsible for the management of horses and stable affairs. The *Draft History of the Qing Dynasty* lists officials such as the stable master, horse herder, and saddle master in the Imperial Stables system, indicating that there were specific responsibilities for herding, stables, and saddlery. The stable master was not a general term for all horse administration officials. The specific official position He Se held is not recorded, so it is impossible to supplement the list of horses under his jurisdiction and his employing institution based on general regulations.

The scribe is a transliteration of the Manchu word *bithesi*, which can be interpreted as a clerical official responsible for copying, registering, organizing, or handling matters related to Manchu and Chinese characters. The office where Sandase served is unclear, and his official title cannot replace his specific document output; the duties of his sons in horse administration and the document work of his great-grandsons had different contents.