Taiji

A Mongol noble designation

Taiji was a designation used within Mongol aristocratic institutions under the Qing, divided into recognized grades and sometimes held alongside duties as a jasagh or assistant in banner administration. It was neither an ordinary Chinese civilian magistracy nor equivalent, merely because of a similarity of sound, to the Chinese title 'crown prince'. Not every person called taiji was a designated successor to an imperial throne.

Grades and duties

The Da Qing huidian zeli describes four grades of taiji, with court insignia and ceremonial privileges compared to those of officials from the first through fourth civil-service grades. Such ceremonial equivalence did not mean that a first-grade taiji served as an actual first-rank central official. Regulations also governed the recognition of sons, succession, and advancement for meritorious service. Effective authority over a Mongol banner required an additional relevant appointment, such as jasagh or an assistant role.

Different Mongol groupings, including the Khorchin, had their own lines of noble descent and service. The designation tabunang also appears in some Mongol communities, among them the Tümed Left Wing and Kharachin. Early Manchu princely biographies occasionally apply taiji to figures such as Ajige. Such usage must be situated historically rather than reading all pre-conquest examples through the fully developed later banner regulations. A biography should identify a person's community, grade, and any administrative charge separately.