Herji Clan

Overview

The Herji clan is a Manchu surname listed in Volume 59 of the official genealogy of the Manchu clans of the Eight Banners, compiled during the Qianlong reign. They were originally from the Changbai Mountains. During the Tiancong reign of Emperor Tiancong, Yimang'a of the Plain Yellow Banner submitted to the Qing dynasty. His son, Naqin, served as an infantry officer; his grandson, Baozhu, served as an eighth-rank official; Yaqina served as a deputy commander of the Imperial Guard; and his great-grandson, Hebin, served as a scribe.

The infantry officer served in the infantry organization, involved in city defense and patrol duties; the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard assisted in managing the subordinate Imperial Guards; and the scribe was an official responsible for drafting and translating documents (called bithesi in Manchu). The eighth-rank official is only recorded by rank; the original text does not provide Baozhu's specific title, so a specific official position cannot be filled in based on rank.

This information indicates that members of the same family from different generations entered the military and administrative systems, and the positions of all descendants cannot be attributed to Yimang'a. Tiancong refers to the reign title of Emperor Hong Taiji during the Later Jin period (1627-1636), providing only the period of submission, and cannot be used to deduce the specific years of service for each descendant. The ancestral home area of ​​Changbai Mountain is quite extensive. The specific villages, Manchu surnames, government offices where they were preserved, and individual resumes still need to be verified. They will not be directly merged with other surnames with similar characters.