Zai Yunlong

Overview

Zai Yunlong was a prominent figure in the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Qing Dynasty, whose family had lived in Shenyang for generations. The year of their submission to the Qing court is unknown. Volume 77 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners* records his family under the entry for the "Dai Clan." Therefore, while retaining the character "Zai" in the original electronic text, attention should also be paid to using "Dai" in the surname heading. Without further original printings or other evidence, it is inappropriate to arbitrarily rewrite his name uniformly as "Dai Yunlong."

The genealogy does not list Zai Yunlong's official positions; the listed titles primarily belong to his descendants: his grandson Zai Qifu held an eighth-rank official position; Dai Qizhang and Dai Qiyu served as cavalry commanders; his great-grandson Wu Ertai served as a scribe; and his great-great-grandson Qi Keteng is recorded as a third-class imperial bodyguard. The "eighth-rank official" designation only indicates rank without specifying exact duties. Furthermore, the positions of cavalry commander, scribe, and imperial bodyguard represent different banner affairs, clerical, and guard duties, and cannot be considered as the same person's promotion process.

This record proves the banner affiliation, ancestral residence, and some of the official positions listed in the genealogy of Zaiyunlong's family, but it cannot prove that Zaiyunlong himself ever held the aforementioned official positions, nor can it be used to fabricate a name change or adoption process simply because later generations have different surnames. In formal research, the characters used in his name and the names of related descendants should still be compared with the original engraved image for verification.