Zongwu

Overview

Zongwu appears in Volume 79 of the Qing Dynasty official genealogy, *the Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*. The original entry for Zongwu consisted of basic information including banner affiliation, ancestral home, date of submission, and posthumous official positions held by his descendants. According to the original entry, Zongwu was a member of the Plain Blue Banner, residing in Dalinghe, but the year of his submission is unknown. The genealogy subsequently preserves the following chain of relatives and official positions: his son, Zongyouli, was originally a military officer (guard-unit officer). The original entry only states "Plain Blue Banner person," without specifying whether he was a bondservant or a Han soldier. Volume 79 includes related figures under the category of "Tainikan" (Tai Ni Kan), but this classification cannot replace the banner affiliation description for each entry. The genealogy states "year of submission unknown," therefore, the year of a descendant's official position cannot be used to deduce the year of the ancestor's submission. "Dalinghe area" is a historical geographical description in the genealogy, which can establish a broad connection with areas of the same name today, but is insufficient to pinpoint a specific modern village or town. A military officer (guard-unit officer) was a junior officer in the military guard, responsible for duties such as guarding and escorting; when the genealogy does not record personal deeds, common duties should not be written as actual achievements.