Tu Biyuan

Overview

Tu Biyuan was a bondservant under the Plain White Banner during the Qing Dynasty. His family had lived in Tieling for generations, but the year they submitted to the Qing Dynasty is unknown. The entry for the Tu family in Volume 78 of the official genealogy of the Eight Banners Manchu Clans, compiled during the Qianlong era, uses a variant character for "Tieling." The main text uses the legible form of "Tieling," and the variant characters in the original book still need to be verified during the final proofreading. The original book does not record Tu Biyuan's official positions, but it lists the positions held by his descendants in Sichuan and Jiangxi.

His son, Tu Lang, served as the Circuit Intendant of Eastern Sichuan; his grandson, Tu Yingtai, served as the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangxi; and Tu Yongtai served as a County Magistrate. The Circuit Intendant of Eastern Sichuan was a local official title and should not be understood as a specific road. The Provincial Surveillance Commissioner was a provincial-level judicial and disciplinary official, listed as a third-rank official in the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty," involved in criminal trials and provincial judicial affairs. The County Magistrate was a county-level official responsible for handling corresponding grassroots administrative matters.

The family's former residence in Tieling should be separated from the areas where Tu Lang and Tu Yingtai served: the former is the place of origin in the genealogy, while the latter refers to the administrative region indicated by their official positions. The original article did not list the specific term of office and jurisdiction of the Chuandong Circuit, nor did it record Tu Yingtai's cases or achievements; therefore, his judicial achievements will not be added.