Niohuru
The Niohuru (Manchu: ᠨᡳᠣᡥᡠᡵᡠ ; Chinese: 鈕祜祿; pinyin: Niǔhùlù; Wade–Giles: Niu3-hu4-lu4; lit.: 'wolf' in Manchu) were a prominent Manchu clan during the Qing dynasty. The clan had inhabited the Changbai Mountains since as early as the Liao dynasty. The clan was well known during the Qing dynasty for producing a variety of consorts of all ranks for emperors, several of whom went on to become mothers to reigning emperors. Prominent people who belonged or trace heritage to the Niohuru clan including famed Manchu warrior Eidu, his son the high official Ebilun, the Empress Dowager Ci'an, the infamous corrupt official Heshen, and the contemporary concert pianist Lang Lang.
Distribution
Written records of the Niohuru clan dates back to the Liao dynasty (907–1125), when it was known as the Dilie clan (敌烈氏) by Chinese transliteration. The current transliteration Niohuru came into being during the Ming dynasty. The Niohuru clan inhabited the Changbai mountains region of present-day Jilin province in northeast China (otherwise known as "Manchuria"), and also on the banks of the Songhua River and Mudan River.
According to members of the clan who attempted to re-trace their genealogy, the common primogenitor of the vast tribe date back to one Sohoji Bayan (honorific Su Gung), who was six generations removed from Eidu, the first eminent Niohuru clan member in recorded Qing history.[1] The Niohuru were widely distributed throughout the territory of the Manchu empire, and each of the Eight Banners had some Niohurus among their ranks.
Towards the end of the Qing dynasty and particularly after the founding the Republic of China in 1912, many Manchus adopted single-character Chinese surnames based on their clan origin. The Niohuru were known to have adopted to two versions, "Niu" (钮), which could be found in the modern province of Jiangxi[2] in addition to Manchuria; and "Lang" (朗). Lang sounded like "wolf" in Chinese (狼), roughly corresponding to the Manchu root word Niohe for Niohuru meaning "wolf".[3]
Niu 钮 is on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.
Notable figures
Males
- Eidu (1562–1621), Manchu noble, close associate of Nurhaci
- Daqi (達啟), Eidu's second son
- Turgei (圖爾格; 1594–1645), Eidu's eighth son; officer of Manchu armies during the reign of Hong Taiji
- Ebilun (d. 1673), Eidu's 16th son by Mukushen; served as one of the Four Regents of the Kangxi Emperor
- Necin (訥親; d. 1749), Ebilun's grandson; Manchu overseer of the Board of War during the Qianlong era
- Alingga (1670–1716), Ebilun's seventh son; official at the court of the Kangxi Emperor
- Heshen (1750–1799), infamous official of the late Qianlong era
- Fengšeninde (丰紳殷德; 1775–1810), Heshen's first son
- Sihung Lung (1930–2002), Taiwan actor
- Niu Maosheng (born 1939), Governor of Hebei
- Larry Hsien Ping Lang (born 1956), Hong Kong economist
- Doze Niu (born 1966), Taiwan director
- Lang Lang (born 1982), internationally renowned concert pianist
- Prince Consort
| Date | Prince Consort | Princess |
|---|---|---|
| 1608 | Daqi | Nurhaci's fifth daughter (1597–1613) by mistress (Giyamuhut Gioro Zhenge) |
| Eidu | Nurhaci's fourth daughter (Mukushen; 1595–1659) by mistress (Giyamuhut Gioro Zhenge) | |
| 1621 | Turgei | |
| 1790 | Fengšeninde | Princess Hexiao (1775–1823), the Qianlong Emperor's tenth daughter by Consort Dun (Wang) |
| 1863 | Jalafungga (扎拉豐阿; d. 1898) | Princess Shouxi (1842–1866), the Daoguang Emperor's eighth daughter by Noble Consort Tong (Šumuru) |
Females
- Imperial Consort
| Imperial Consort | Emperor | Sons | Daughters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mistress | Nurhaci | 4. General Tanggūdai (1585–1640) 6. Duke Tabai (1589–1639) | |
| Primary consort (1593–1612) | Hong Taiji | ||
| Empress Xiaozhaoren (1653–1678) | Kangxi Emperor | ||
| Noble Consort Wenxi (d. 1694) | 10. Duke Yun'e (1683–1741) | ||
| Empress Xiaoshengxian (1692–1777) | Yongzheng Emperor | 4. Qianlong Emperor (1711–1799) | |
| Concubine Cheng (d. 1784) | Qianlong Emperor | ||
| Empress Xiaoherui (1776–1850) | Jiaqing Emperor | 3. Miankai, Prince Dunke (1795–1838) 4. Mianxin, Prince Ruihuai (1805–1828) | |
| Imperial Noble Consort Gongshun (1787–1860) | 5. Mianyu, Prince Huiduan (1814–1865) | ||
| Empress Xiaomucheng (1781–1808) | Daoguang Emperor | ||
| Empress Xiaoquancheng (1808–1840) | 4. Xianfeng Emperor (1831–1861) | 4. Princess Shou'an (1826–1860) | |
| Noble Consort Cheng (1813–1888) | |||
| Consort Xiang (1808–1861) | 5. Yicong, Prince Dunqin (1831–1889) | 5. Princess Shouzang (1829–1856) | |
| Empress Xiaozhenxian (1837–1881) | Xianfeng Emperor |
- Princess Consort
| Princess Consort | Prince | Sons | Daughters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary consort | Prince Murhaci | ||
| Mistress | Changning, Prince Gong | 6. (1684–1712) | |
| Primary consort | Yunli, Prince Guoyi | ||
| Secondary consort | Yunbi, Prince Xianke | 3. General Hongkang (1747–1814) | 4. Lady (b. 1738) |
| Primary consort | Yongrong, Prince Zhizhuang | 5. Mianqing, Prince Zhike (1779–1804) | 5. Princess (b. 1776) |
| Yonglin, Prince Qingxi | |||
| Miankai, Prince Dunke | |||
| Yihe, Prince Zhongduan |
See also
References
- Hoong Teik Toh (2005). Materials for a Genealogy of the Niohuru Clan: With Introductory Remarks on Manchu Onomastics. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 4–. ISBN 978-3-447-05196-5.
- Pamela Crossley (2002). Manchus: People of Asia (reprint, illustrated ed.). Blackwell Publishers. p. 55. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
When they were young, Alechi saved Nurhaci's life by killing a wild hyena.
- Edward J. M. Rhoads (2001). Manchus & Han: ethnic relations and political power in late Qing and early republican China, 1861-1928 (reprint, illustrated ed.). University of Washington Press. p. 56. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
and when the ancient and politically prominent Manchu lineage of Niohuru adopted the Han-style surname Lang, he ridiculed them for having "forgotten their roots." (The Niohuru, whose name was derived from niohe, Manchu for wolf," had chosen Lang as their surname because it was a homophone for the Chinese word for "wolf.")
| Eight Great Clans of Manchu Nobility | |
|---|---|
| Tunggiya | Gūwalgiya | Nara | Aisin Gioro | Tatara | Niohuru | Šumuru | Hešeri |