Peng Xuan

Overview

Peng Xuan appears in Volume 78 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, under the entry for the Peng family. He belonged to the Bordered Yellow Banner's bondservant bannermen, and his family had lived in Shenyang for generations. The year of their submission is unknown. This book is an official clan genealogy compiled during the Qianlong reign, and this volume includes Han Chinese surnames within the Manchu banner system. The origin of the Peng family's Han surname and their respective banner affiliation should be understood separately.

The original record states that his grandson, Peng Zhuang, served as a military officer, and Wu Ge served as a second-class imperial bodyguard. Wu Ge and Peng Zhuang are listed as grandchildren; the former should not be mistakenly written as a descendant of Peng Zhuang. A second-class imperial bodyguard was a rank within the palace guards, while a military officer was a military rank within the Imperial Guard organization; their organizational structure and duties differed.

The *Draft History of the Qing Dynasty* classifies second-class imperial bodyguards as a fourth-rank official, with duties including rotating guard duty and escorting. The Imperial Guard system had organizational levels such as Imperial Guard Commander, Deputy Commander, and Military Officer. The specific military unit affiliation of Peng Zhuang is not recorded, so his rank cannot be directly assigned to him based on ordinary Eight Banners official positions with the same name, nor can the two men's appointments be considered as a promotion or demotion of the same position.

"Qigu" here refers to the bondservant system, not ceremonial musicians as understood literally in modern terms. The bondservant members of the Bordered Yellow Banner had a background serving the Imperial Household Department, and "bondservant qiguren" was Peng Xuan's subordinate status, not a record of his official position in the original text. Shenyang, as the family's former residence, must be distinguished from the actual place of office of his grandchildren.