Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/610

 humous name, Wu Huang-ti 武皇帝, which in 1662 was altered to Kao (高) Huang-ti. Nurhaci was buried east of Mukden in the mausoleum known as Fu-ling 福陵.

Nurhaci had three wives and a number of concubines. His first wife, née Tunggiya 佟佳 (maiden name Hahana Jacing 哈哈納扎青) gave birth to his eldest daughter (1578–1652, wife of, q.v.), and to his older sons, in 1580 and Daišan in 1583. What became of Hahana Jacing is not recorded. Nurhaci's second wife, née Fuca 富察 (maiden name, Gundai 袞代), had a son by her first husband before she married Nurhaci. Between the years 1587 and 1596 she gave birth to several sons and a daughter (see under ). As Nurhaci grew richer and more powerful he took a number of concubines, some being daughters of tribal chiefs. But despite her low birth and previous marriage, his second wife remained in her superior position until 1620 when she was accused of hiding valuables for herself and of flirting with Daišan. She was divorced and later was murdered by her own son, Manggûltai. But at the time of her downfall she was still referred to as Da Fujin 大福晉 (wife, empress) while her rivals were referred to as Fujin (secondary wives). Nurhaci's third wife was Empress who in or after 1620 was elevated from her status as concubine. She, likewise, is referred to in old Manchu records as Da Fujin. However, in 1636, after Abahai became Emperor in fact as well as in name, and after many Chinese customs had been adopted, he conferred the posthumous name, Empress Hsiao-tz'ŭ (see under ), on his own mother who had been a secondary wife in her day, but he gave no such title to the three wives of Nurhaci. The title, Empress Hsiao-lieh, was conferred on Nurhaci's third wife by her own son,, in 1650; but as this title was revoked in 1651, only Abahai's mother was recognized as Empress. In later years the Manchu word, fujin, was deliberately mistranslated fei 妃 or concubine, and so all three of Nurhaci's wives became known as fei while Abahai's mother alone was referred to as Huang-hou 皇后, or Empress.

Of Nurhaci's sixteen sons, the following eight—,, , , , , , and —rendered distinguished service as founders of the dynasty. Other sons of Nurhaci are: the third, Abai 阿拜 (1585–1648); the fourth, Tanggûldai 湯古代 (1585–1640); the sixth, Tabai 塔拜 (1589–1639); the ninth, Babutai 巴布泰 (1592–1655); the tenth, Degelei (see under ); the eleventh, Babuhai 巴布海 (1596–1643); the thirteenth, Laimbu 賴慕布 (1611–1646); and also a certain Fiyanggû (see under ). The sons, Cuyen, Manggûltai, Degelei, Babuhai, Ajige, and Fiyanggû, were either executed or were posthumously condemned.

Nurhaci had four younger brothers, the most illustrious being, father of Amin and. The other three brothers were Murhaci 穆爾哈齊 (1561–1620), who was posthumously made a beile in 1653; Yarhaci 雅爾哈齊, who was posthumously given the rank of a prince of the second degree; and Bayara 巴雅喇 (1582–1624), who was also raised posthumously to a beile in 1653. Šurhaci and Murhaci were born of the same mother as Nurhaci. Murhaci was a brave warrior and among his eleven sons, the fourth, Udahai 務達海 (d. 1655), and the fifth, Handai 漢岱, were both generals in the early Ch'ing period. Bayara's son, Baiyintu 拜音圖, was a supporter of Dorgon. In 1652, when members of Dorgon's clique were persecuted, Baiyintu was imprisoned and deprived of his status as an Imperial Clansman, and his family was reduced to the rank of commoners. Not until 1799 was their status as Imperial Clansmen restored.

There are at least four official editions of Nurhaci's life under the title Shih-lu 實錄, or "Veritable Records". The first contains pictures of incidents in his life, especially of the battles he fought and won. It was completed in 1635 with short explanations of the pictures; and was partly revised in 1781 under the title, 滿洲實錄圖 Man-chou shih-lu t'u, or T'ai-tsu shih-lu t'u, 8 chüan, the illustrations being drawn by Mên Ying-chao 門應詔 or 召, 兆, a bannerman who later became prefect of Ning-kuo-fu, Anhwei (1787–93). This revised edition of 1781 was reproduced in 1930. The second Shih-lu, entitled Ch'ing (清) T'ai-tsu Wu Huang-ti shih-lu, 4 chüan, was completed on December 11, 1636 and was published in 1932. These first two versions were carefully preserved in the palace, virtually as forbidden books, because they disclose many Manchu customs which would be considered uncivilized from the Chinese point of view. They reveal the real origin of the Aisin Gioro family and show that they had been subject to Ming rule. Moreover, the choice of words for transliterating Manchu 598