Subahai

Overview

Su Bahai was a member of the Zhangjia clan, a bondservant of the Bordered Blue Banner. The character "Su" retains its original spelling. Volume 40 of the Qing Dynasty official clan genealogy, *the Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*, records that the family resided in Lianhua Village, but the date of their assimilation is unknown. Lianhua Village was the original ancestral home name in the genealogy and cannot be designated as a modern village with the same name without geographical evidence; nor should records from other branches of the same surname be used if the date of assimilation is unknown. His son, Subai, served as a zuoling (military officer), his grandson, Su Lan, served as a Third-Class Guard, and his great-grandson, Liushi, served as a Military Officer. zuoling managed the basic organizational structure within the banner, Third-Class Guards belonged to the guard system of princely residences, and Military Officers belonged to the military guard system; these three positions were not interchangeable. Liushi here refers to the great-grandson's name, not his age, nor does it indicate sixty Military Officers. Bondservants had a specific affiliation and were not equivalent to ordinary modern employees; the official positions held by descendants and this status need to be explained separately. The genealogy records list the official positions of the ancestors' sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons, but cannot be compiled to show the continuous tenure of Su Bahai himself; the inherited hereditary positions are also different from these actual appointments. The modern location of Lianhua Village, the specific affiliation of the bondservant, the royal palace to which the third-class guards belonged, and the successive appointments await verification of the original inscriptions and archives.