Heng Youde

Overview

Heng Youde was a bondservant under the Plain White Banner during the Qing Dynasty. His family had lived in Shenyang for generations, but the year of their submission is unknown. The *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, Volume 78, under the entry for the Heng family, records that his grandson, Wulin, served as a third-class imperial bodyguard at the time of compilation, while Sandase served as an assistant secretary. The original text uses "grandson" to refer to this group of names, so Sandase should not be mistaken for Wulin's son.

A third-class imperial bodyguard was one of the ranks of palace guards in the Qing Dynasty. The *Draft History of the Qing Dynasty* classifies bodyguards into first, second, and third classes, as well as those with blue feathers, etc. A third-class bodyguard was usually ranked as a fifth-rank official. Their duties included rotating shifts, guarding the palace, and escorting imperial entourages. The rank description cannot replace information about Wulin's specific office, term of office, and assignments.

An assistant secretary was a staff member in an official department, and such positions existed in various departments of the Imperial Household Department and other central government offices, differing from the work system of imperial bodyguards. The original entry did not specify which department Sandase served in, so it only states the type of official title, without presuming he belonged to a particular ministry or department, nor does it include his unrecorded administrative duties in his biography.

The Plain White Banner was one of the three banners under the Imperial Household Department. "Bundier Guanling Xiaren" indicates Heng Youde's low-level subordinate status, not a record of his official appointment as an "Inner Guardian." Shenyang was the political center of the early Qing Dynasty and the present-day capital of Liaoning Province; therefore, the original book's family ancestral home and the places where his two grandchildren served must be distinguished.