Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty

The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) of China developed a complicated peerage system for royal and noble ranks.

Rule of inheritance

In principle, titles were downgraded one grade per generation of inheritance.

Occasionally, a peer could be granted the "perpetual heritable" privilege (世襲罔替), which allowed the title to be passed down without downgrading. Throughout the Qing dynasty, there were 12 imperial princely families who enjoyed this privilege. They were known as the "Iron Cap Princes".

The noble titles were inherted through a system of loose primogeniture: The eldest son from the peer's first wife was usually the heir apparent, but inheritance by a younger son, a son of a concubine, or brother of the peer was not uncommon. Non-heir sons of imperial princes were entitled to petition for a lower title, according to his birth (by the chief consort, secondary consort or concubines) and his father's rank, than the one they would have received had they been the heir. Non-heir sons of other peers were also occasionally granted a lower title.

Whether imperial or not, the inheritance or creation was never automatic, and must be approved either by the Emperor, the Ministry of Personnel, or the Imperial Clan Court. Imperial princes, notably, must pass exams in equestrianship, archery and the Manchu language to be eligible for titles.

Grading system

Yunjiwei ("Sub-Commander of the Cloud Cavalry") was originally a military rank created in the Sui dynasty, but it was later turned into a military honour in the Tang dynasty as part of the xunguan (勳官) system. The Qing dynasty abolished the separate military honour system and merged it into the nobility rank system, using Yunjiwei as the lowest grantable rank of nobility, and the basic unit of rank progression.

For example, a Yunjiwei who received another grant of Yunjiwei became a Jiduwei. A First Class Duke plus Yunjiwei was the equivalent of 23 grants of Yunjiwei.

Titular names

Historically, Chinese noble titles were usually created with a fiefdom (食邑 shíyì) each, even though the fief may only be nominal. The Qing dynasty ended this tradition; with only a few exceptions, no fief was ever named. Instead, noble titles were created without a name, or were bestowed a titular name (美號 meihào). These names were usually descriptive of the peer's merit, virtue, or the circumstances leading to his ennoblement.

Titular names were unique for imperial princes, while non-imperial peers' titular names may overlap. Following the Ming dynasty tradition, single-character names were reserved for qinwangs, while junwangs used two-character names. All other peers normally had two-character names, but may receive up to four characters.

Since noble titles were primarily awarded for military service, the titular names predominantly described martial virtues, e.g. 忠勇公, Zhongyong Gong, "Loyal and Brave Duke". However, a particularly common titular name was 承恩公, Cheng'en Gong, "Duke Who Receives Grace", which was frequently granted to the Empress' family members.

Imperial clan

Eight Privileges

At the top of the imperial hierarchy, the highest six ranks enjoyed the Eight Privileges (Chinese: 八分; pinyin: bafen; Manchu: jakūn ubu). These privileges were: red carriage wheels, purple horse reins, heated carriages, purple cushions, gemstone mandarin hat crests, two-eyed peacock feathers on mandarin hats, using leather whips to clear paths, and employing eunuchs. (Peacock feathers, however, were prohibited for princes above beizi and direct imperial clansmen.)

The Eight Privileges entitled the prince to participate in state councils and share in spoils. However, the prince was also bound to reside in the capital and render service to the imperial court.

Male members

The four ranks above were granted solely to direct male-line descendants of the Emperor. These titles below were granted to cadet lines of the imperial clan.

The above six ranks are titles that enjoy the Eight Privileges (入八分). The titles below do not enjoy the Eight Privileges (不入八分) and have no imperial duties.

All of the above titles rank above the chaopin (超品), the grades of ordinary officials. The ranks below are ranked first to fourth degree respectively. The first three jiangjun ranks are each further subdivided into four grades: First Class plus Yunjiwei, First Class, Second Class, and Third Class.

Regardless of title and rank, an imperial prince was addressed as Age (阿哥), Manchu for "Lord" or "Commander".

Female members

The following titles were granted to female members of the imperial clan:

Princesses' consorts

Others

At the beginning of Qing dynasty, prior to the formalisation of the rank system, there were also non-standard titles used, such as:

Non-imperial nobility

Standard non-imperial titles

The following are the nine grades of the peerage awarded for valour, achievement, distinction, other imperial favour, and to imperial consort clans.

The above three ranks are all ranked above the chaopin (超品). The four following ranks were all evolved from leadership ranks in the Manchu banner army, originally called ejen (額真, Manchu "Master", "Lord") and later janggin (章京, Manchu "General", from Chinese jiangjun).

All of the above ranks are sub-divided into four grades; in order: First Class plus Yunjiwei, First Class, Second Class, and Third Class.

Pre-standard non-imperial titles

At the beginning of the Qing dynasty, during Nurhaci's and Huangtaiji's reigns, the noble ranks were not yet standardised. There were several titles created that did not fit into the above system, mostly for defectors from the Ming dynasty. These titles were similar to the titles used in the Ming dynasty, and lack the Manchu nomenclature and the grade system introduced later.

Additionally, there were banner offices that later evolved into hereditary noble titles. Despite being used as noble titles, these offices continued to exist and function in the banner hierarchy. To distinguish the noble titles from the offices, they were sometimes called "hereditary office" (世職) or "hereditary rank" (世爵).

Notable titles

Civil titles

With a few exception, the above titles were in principle created only for military merits. There were also titles for civil officials.

While there were a few Manchu civil titles, but the most important civil titles followed the Han confucian tradition, derived from high bureaucratic offices that evolved into sinecures. E.g. taibao (太保; "Grand Protector"), shaoshi (少師; "Junior Preceptor"), taizi taifu (太子太傅; "Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince").

These titles were non-heritable.

Ranks of vassal and tributary states

The Qing court also granted titles to princes of its vassal and tributary states, mainly in Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet.

The ranks roughly mirrored those of the imperial clan, with a few differences:

The Taiji and Tabunang are equal in rank, and both subdivided into five degrees: Jasagh, First Class, Second Class, Third Class, and Fourth Class. Jasagh ranked above the chaopin system while the rest were equivalent to the first to fourth grades under the chaopin system.

Under the tusi system, the Qing dynasty also recognised various local tribal chieftainships of ethnic minority tribes. This was mainly applied in the mountain regions of Yunnan, but also in western and northern borderlands.

The Qing had two vassals in Xinjiang, the Kumul Khanate and the Turfan Khanate.

The vassal titles were generally inherited in perpetuity without downgrading.

Other honours and privileges

In addition to systematised rank titles listed above, there were also other honorific titles and privileges, mostly non-heritable:

Etymology of Manchu titles

With a few exception, most Manchu titles ultimately derived from Chinese roots.

See also

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