House of Aisin-Gioro - governed Manchuria, China and Manchukuo

The House of Aisin-Gioro governed Manchuria from 1616 to 1912, China from 1644 to 1912, and Manchukuo from 1932 to 1945. The Aisin Gioro were leaders of the Jianzhou Jurchens, one of the three major Jurchen tribes of the time, during the Ming dynasty. In 1616, the tribe founded the Later Jin dynasty, which was later called the Qing dynasty in 1636. In 1644, Manchu bannermen were able to break through the Great Wall's gates, overthrow the Ming, and take control of China. The Qianlong Emperor, who reigned & ruled from 1735 to 1796, was the pinnacle of the dynasty. Following this reign, there was a century of steady deterioration. Following an insurrection led by Sun Yat-Nationalist sen's Party, the House lost power in 1912. Puyi, the final Aisin-Gioro emperor, reigned in the Forbidden City until 1924 when the Articles of Favorable Treatment were repealed. Thus, China's last imperial dynasty was the Qing.

Aisin is a Japanese word that is meaning "gold." Its Chinese equivalent is "Jin." The surname Gioro alludes to the clan's ancestral home in Heilongjiang's Yilan County. "Aisin Gurun" was the reigning clan of the Jin dynasty from 1115 until 1235. To follow the collapse of the prevalent Qing Empire, most of the clan's members adopted Chinese surnames, such as Jin, Zhao, Ai, Luo, Bai, and Hai.

There was no automatic succession mechanism in place for the Aisin-Gioro, such as primogeniture or a rule of succession. Instead, an emperor would issue a secret decree naming a successor. Following the emperor's death, the decree would be read in front of senior clan members. An emperor might have a large number of songs from numerous women. The Qing dynasty was deposed in 1912, and China was declared a republic. The last emperor, Puyi, was allowed to keep his imperial title in the Forbidden City until the Articles of Favorable Treatment were abolished in 1924. He moved to Changchun, northeastern China, to serve as chief executive (from 1932 to 1934) and then emperor (from 1934 to 1945) of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state. 

Chieftains of the Jianzhou Jurchens

From 1571 to 1583

Name: Taksi

Name of Era: Xuan emperor

Remarks: 1st head of the House.
The ancestor of the clan who is the son of Giocangga & also the father of Nurhaci

From 1583 to 1616

Name: Nurhaci

Remarks: Son of Taksi. Unified the Jianzhou Jurchens in 1588.

Khans of the Later Jing

From 1616 to 1626

Name: Nurhaci

Name of Era: Abkai fulingga

Remarks: Founder of dynasty

From 1626 to 1636

Name: Hong Taiji

Name of Era: Hong Taiji

Remarks: Eighth son of Nurhaci

Qing Emperors

From 1636 to 1643

Name: Hong Taiji

Name of Era: Chongde emperor

Remarks: Proclaimed the "Great Qing Empire" in 1636

From 1644 to 1661

Name: Fulin

Name of Era: Shunzhi emperor

Remarks: First to rule in Beijing. Ninth son of Hong Taiji

From 1661 to 1722

Name: Xuanye

Name of Era: Kangxi emperor

Remarks: Longest reign. Third son of the Shunzhi emperor.

From 1723 to 1735

Name: Yinzhen

Name of Era: Yongzheng emperor

Remarks: Fourth son of the Kangxi emperor

From 1736 to 1796

Name: Hongli

Name of Era: Qianlong emperor

Remarks: Fourth son the Yongzheng emperor

From 1796 to 1820

Name: Yongyan

Name of Era: Jiaqing emperor

Remarks: Fifteenth son of the Qianlong emperor

From 1821 to 1850

Name: Minning

Name of Era: Daoguang emperor

Remarks: Second son of the Jiaqing emperor

From 1851 to 1861

Name: Yizhu

Name of Era: Xianfeng emperor

Remarks: Fourth son of the Daoguang emperor

From 1862 to 1875

Name: Zaichun

Name of Era: Tongzhi emperor

Remarks: The first son of the Xianfeng emperor

From 1875 to 1908

Name: Zaitian

Name of Era: Guangxu emperor

Remarks: Second son of Yixuan

From 1908 to 1912; 1917

Name: Puyi

Name of Era: Xuantong emperor

Remarks: The first son of Zaifeng

Heads of the House since 1912

From 1912 to 1967

Name: Puyi

Remarks: Deposed as Chinese emperor in 1912. Removed from the Forbidden City in 1924. Emperor of Manchuria from 1934 to 1945.

From 1967 to 1994

Name: Prince Pujie

Remarks: Brother of Puyi

From 1994 to 2015

Name: Jin Youzhi

Remarks: Prince Puren, half brother of Puyi

From 2015 to Present

Name: Jin Yuzhang

Remarks: Son of Puren

A succession statute adopted by Puyi in 1937 determines the most recent heads of the House. This is in line with what relevant news stories and reference books have done in the past. The legislation stipulated that the succession be passed down from father to son. In the absence of male issues, brothers may succeed. Pujie got priority over Jin Youzhi since he was a full sibling.

The Aisin-Gioro claimed descent from Bukri Yongon, a renowned thirteenth-century warrior. Bukri Yongon was created from a virgin birth, according to Emperor Hongtaiji. Enggulen, Jenggulen, and Fekulen, three celestial maidens, were swimming near the Changbai Mountains in a lake named Bulhri Omo, according to tradition. Fekulen ate a piece of crimson fruit that a magpie dropped near him. She became pregnant with Bukri Yongon after that. Nurgaci founded the Aisin-Gioro clan in 1601 as part of a reform of Jurchen society. The people were militarized, and his supporters were enlisted in the flag system. The Gioro family was split up. Aisin was given to those who descended from Taksi, Nurgaci's father (gold). Other Gioros, such as Silin Gioro (Superior Gioro), Irgen Gioro (Inferior Gioro), and Tongyan Gioro, were allocated to other clans by Nurgaci (miscellaneous Gioro).

Many clans were formed as a group of unrelated individuals (mukun) utilizing a geographic origin name such as a toponym for their Hala when Nurhaci reformed the Jurchens into the Eight Banners (clan name). The Manchu were created in the same way. Thus, even though Aisin-inhabitants Gioro's were ethnically diverse, the entire community was labelled "Manchu" in 1635.

Expansion under Nurhaci and Hong Taiji

The Jianzhou tribe's Aisin Gioro clan gained power among the competing Jurchen tribes of the northeast under Nurhaci and his son Hong Taiji, then expanded its dominance into Inner Mongolia through fighting and alliances. To replace the small hunting squads utilized in his early operations, Nurhachi developed massive, permanent civil-military organizations known as "banners." A flag was made up of smaller companies; it consisted of about 7,500 soldiers and their families, including slaves led by a chieftain. Each banner was recognized by a coloured flag, either simple or with a border design that was yellow, white, blue, or red. Originally, there were four Manchu flags, then eight; when the Manchu invaded more territories, additional banners were produced. Finally, there were eight Manchu, Mongol, and Chinese banners, one for each ethnic group. By 1648, only about a sixth of the bannermen claimed Manchu heritage. A multiethnic army headed by Manchu aristocrats and Han Chinese generals conquered the Ming dynasty during the Qing dynasty. The Army of the Green Standard was formed from Han Chinese troops and became a kind of imperial constabulary force stationed across China and on the borders.

Jurchen was changed to Manchu to disguise the fact that the Manchus' forefathers, the Jianzhou Jurchens, were controlled by the Chinese. The two original copies of "Qing Taizu Wu Huangdi Shilu" and "Manzhou Shilu Tu" (Taizu Shilu Tu) were meticulously hidden in the Qing palace, prohibited from public access since they revealed that the Ming dynasty had governed the Manchu Aisin Gioro family. Joseon's Koreans reference the Jurchen inhabited areas north of the Korean peninsula, above the rivers Yalu and Tumen, as "superior country" (sangguk), which they dubbed Ming China during the Ming dynasty. To disguise their past subordinate connection with the Ming, the Qing purposefully removed references and material from the History of Ming that portrayed the Jurchens (Manchus) as subject to the Ming dynasty. Because of this, the Ming Veritable Records were not utilized to source information about Jurchens during the Ming reign in the History of Ming. Because the Qing ruling family refused to state in the Mingshi that the Qing founders were Ming China's subjects, this historical revisionism served to dispel the allegation of insurrection. The Qing Yongzheng Emperor sought to rewrite history by stating that the Aisin Gioro were never subjects of previous dynasties and empires, alleging that Nurhaci took Ming titles such as Dragon Tiger General (longhu jiangjun) to "please Heaven."

To form political marriage connections, the Qing emperors arranged marriages between Aisin Gioro noblewomen and foreigners. During the Manchu invasion of the Ming Empire, the Manchu rulers offered to marry their princesses to Han Chinese military commanders serving in the Ming Empire to persuade them to surrender or defect to their side. Princesses of the Aisin Gioro were also married to Mongol princes to create ties between the Manchus and Mongol tribes. By giving him a post in the Manchu banners, the Manchus could persuade one Han Chinese commander, Li Yongfang, to defect to their side. Li Yongfang has been married the daughter of Abatai, a son of Nurhaci, the founder of the Qing dynasty. Many more Han Chinese deserted to the Manchu side after abandoning their posts in the Ming Empire. In 1632, a proposal by Yoto, a nephew of Manchu ruler Hong Taiji, resulted in over a hundred (1,000) marriages between Han Chinese men and Manchu women. According to Hong Taiji, intermarriage between Han Chinese and Manchus may reduce ethnic tensions in regions already held by the Manchus and enable Han Chinese to forget their ancestral roots more readily. Han Chinese males who surrendered or defected to the Manchu side were also married to Manchu noblewomen. The sons of Han Chinese generals Sun Sike, Geng Jimao, Shang Kexi, and Wu Sangui married Aisin Gioro women. E'fu rank was bestowed on the husbands of Manchu princesses. Geng Zhongming, a Han bannerman, was dubbed "Prince Jingnan," and his grandkids Geng Jingzhong, Geng Zhaozhong, and Geng Juzhong, respectively, married Hooge's daughter, Abatai's granddaughter, and Yolo's daughter. Sun Cheng'en, Sun Sike's son, married Heshuo Princess Quejing, the Kangxi Emperor's fourth daughter. Aisin Gioro Suyan, the Imperial Duke Who Assists the State, had a daughter who married Han Chinese Banner General Nian Gengyao.

Haplogroup C3b2b1*-M401(xF5483) has been discovered as a potential Aisin Gioro marker, and it is found in eleven ethnic minorities in northern China, mostly missing in Han Chinese. The Aisin Gioro family's haplogroup C3b1a3a2-F8951 migrated to southeastern Manchuria after moving from their origins in the Amur river's middle reaches, deriving from ancestors linked to Daurs in the Transbaikal area, according to genetic tests. The C3c-M48 subclade of C3 is primarily found among Tungusic spoken peoples, which differs significantly from the Aisin Gioro's C3b1a3a2-F8951 haplogroup, which comes from Mongolic speaking populations like the Daur. Tungusic people, the Jurchen (Manchus). The C3b1a3a1-F3796 (C3*-Star Cluster) haplogroup of the Mongol Genghis Khan is a fraternal "brother" branch of the Aisin Gioro's C3b1a3a2-F8951 haplogroup. Seven individuals who claimed Aisin Gioro ancestry were tested genetically, with three of them displaying verified genealogical information for all of their ancestors up to Nurhaci. Three of them were discovered to be members of the C3b2b1*-M401(xF5483) haplogroup, with two of them providing verified family trees. The other four people who were tested were unrelated.

The Daur Ao clan has the unique haplogroup subclade C2b1a3a2-F8951, the same haplotype as Aisin Gioro, which considers both Ao and Aisin Gioro separated from a common ancestor only a few millennia ago. N1c-M178, C2a1b-F845, C2b1a3a1-F3796, and C2b1a2-M48 are among the haplogroups carried by other members of the Ao clan. The Daur Ao and Aisin Gioro clans in northeast China are the major bearers of haplogroup C2b1a3a2-F8951. Aisin Gioro's C2b1a3a2-F8951 haplogroup is a fraternal branch of the Mongolic C2*-Star Cluster (C2b1a3a1-F3796) haplogroup.

The Aisin Gioro dynasty had just 29,000 members when the Qing dynasty fell in 1912, in stark contrast to the more prolific and productive Ming dynasty before it, whose reigning House of Zhu had 0.2 million (200,000) members by the time the Ming dynasty fell. On average, Manchu monarchs had smaller harems and reproduction than Ming emperors, and they taxed Chinese peasants less to support the harem. The daily spending of the Ming Wanli emperor's harem was more than the yearly cost of the Qing Yongzheng emperor's harem. Since Nurhaci's ancestor created the Aisin Gioro clan, there had been six generations of Aisin Gioro before Emperor Shunzhi's reign. At the commencement of the Qing, Aisin Gioro's number should have been 3,000 or 3,125, based on a low estimate of tribal chief fecundity of 5 sons per man. This meant that China's population growth equalled the Aisin Gioro clan's rate of increase for male members with the same surname from the beginning of the Qing to the end of the Qing dynasty, which was a factor of ten higher than the original number at the start of the Qing dynasty. When non-male line descendants of the Qing imperial dynasty via Aisin Gioro females who did not carry the family name on to their children were included, the growth rate was barely two times that of China's general population.

By 1604, the Ming imperial Zhu family had a population of over 80,000, with 62,000 in the year 1594, 28,492 in the year 1569, 28,840 in the year 1562, 19,611 in the year 1553, 2,495 in the year 1506–1521, 127 in the year 1403–1424, and 58 in the year 1368–1398. The Qing Empresses were notoriously infertile, and after an emperor died, the empress usually had no sons. The Tongzhi Emperor was the only son of the Xianfeng Emperor who survived. Both the Guangxu and Tongzhi emperors were childless. The primary branch of Aisin Gioro had 378 members in 1660 and 29,292 members in 1915. Around 300,000 to 400,000 ethnic Manchus in China have the surname Aisin-Gioro. In contrast, another 3.8 million have the surname Jin, the most popular Sinicized version, which key imperial family members like Jin Yuzhang have adopted. This puts the number of persons who might be patrilineal descendants of Nurhaci at 4.2 million. However, this figure should be used with care because non-Manchu ethnic groups (particularly Koreans) also use the surname Jin (Kim) for unallied reasons.

Iron-cap Princes & Their Descendants

According to Qing dynasty imperial custom, princes' sons do not automatically get their fathers' names in the same rank as their fathers. For example, Yongqi's title was "Prince Rong of the First Rank," but when it was passed down to Mianyi, it was modified to "Prince Rong of the Second Rank." In other words, when the title is passed down down the generations, it is reduced by one level but never falls below the rank of kesi-be tuwakiyara gurun-de aisilara gung (second class imperial duke). However, 12 princes were given the shi xi wang ti (perpetual heritability, also known as "iron-cap") prerogative, which ensured that their titles could be passed down through the generations without being downgraded.

The following is a list of the 12 "iron-cap" royal peerages. They have several names since some of them were renamed at different times.

• Prince Zheng / Prince Jian, Jirgalang line (1599–1655), Taksi descendent
• Prince Li / Prince Xun / Prince Kang, Daian line (1583–1648), Nurhaci descendent
  • Yoto line (1599–1639), descendent of Nurhaci, Prince Keqin / Prince Cheng / Prince Ping / Prince Yanxi
    • Shuncheng, of the Lekdehun line (1619–1652), was a descendant of Nurhaci.
• Prince Rui, descendent of Nurhaci, from the Dorgon line (1612–1650).
• Prince Yu of the Dodo line (1614–1649), a Nurhaci descendent
• Prince Su / Prince Xian, the descendant of Hong Taiji, from the Hooge line (1609–1648).
• The line of Šose ( from 1629 to 1655), the descendant of Hong Taiji, was Prince Chengze / Prince Zhuang.
• Prince Yi of the Yinxiang line (1686–1730), Kangxi Emperor's descendant
• Prince Qing of the Yikuang line, the descendant of Qianlong Emperor (1838–1917).
• Prince Gong, a descendant of Daoguang Emperor Yixin (1833–1898), was born in the line of Yixin (1833–1898).
• Prince Chun of the Yixuan line, a descendant of Daoguang Emperor (1840–1891)

Prominent Political Figures

• Nurhaci's second son, Daišan (1583–1648), took part in the Qing conquest of the Ming.
• During the Shunzhi Emperor's early reign, Jirgalang (1599–1655), Nurhaci's nephew, was co-regent with Dorgon.
• Nurhaci's 12th son, Ajige (1605–1651), took part in the Qing conquest of the Ming.
• During the Shunzhi Emperor's early reign, Dorgon (1612–1650), Nurhaci's 14th son, was Prince-Regent and de facto ruler.
• Nurhaci's 15th son, Dodo (1614–1649), took part in the Qing conquest of the Ming.
• Yinsi (1681–1726), the eighth son of the Kangxi Emperor and Yinzhen's rival for the throne, was banished from the Aisin Gioro clan afterwards.
• Yinxiang (1686–1730), Yinzhen's supporter and the 13th son of the Kangxi Emperor.
• Yinti (1688–1756), the 14th son of the Kangxi Emperor, Yinzhen's rival for the throne, claimed legitimate successor to the throne
• Duanhua (1807–1861), regent for the Tongzhi Emperor and descendant of Jirgalang, was deposed in the Xinyou Coup in 1861.
• Duanhua's brother Sushun (1816–1861), regent for the Tongzhi Emperor, was deposed in the Xinyou Coup in 1861.
• Zaiyuan (1816–1861), regent for the Tongzhi Emperor and descendant of Yinxiang, was deposed in the Xinyou Coup in 1861.
• During the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor, Yixin (1833–1898), the Daoguang Emperor's sixth son, served as Prince-Regent.
• Yikuang (1838–1917), Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet, was a descendant of Yonglin.
• Yixuan (1840–1891), the Guangxu Emperor's biological father, was the seventh son of the Daoguang Emperor.
• Yicong's son, Boxer Rebellion commander Zaiyi (1856–1922)
• Zaize (1876–1929), a sixth-generation (6th) descendant of the Kangxi Emperor, served in the Imperial Cabinet as Finance Minister and Minister of Salt Policy.
• Yikuang's son Zaizhen (1876–1947), court minister
• Yixuan's son Zaifeng (1883–1951), Puyi's biological father, was Prince-Regent throughout Puyi's reign.
• Yixuan's sixth son, Zaixun (1885–1949), served in the Imperial Cabinet as Navy Minister.

20th Century - Present

• Pujin (1893–1966), also known as Pu Xuezhai, was a Chinese painter and guqin player who was the grandson of Yicong (Prince Dun)
• Puru (1896–1963), a Taiwanese calligrapher and artist, was Yixin's grandson (Prince Gong)
• Jin Guangping (1899–1966), a Jurchen and Khitan linguist, was born Aisin-Gioro Hengxu.
• Yoshiko Kawashima (1907–1948), a spy for the Japanese Empire during the Sino-Japanese War, was born Aisin-Gioro Xianyu.
• Pujie (1907–1994), Puyi's younger brother, was a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference member and the Aisin-Gioro clan's titular leader from 1967 until 1994.
• Qigong, an artist and calligrapher, descending from the Prince He peerage, lived from 1912 until 2005.
• Yuyan, a calligrapher and distant nephew of Puyi, lived from 1918 until 1997.
• Jin Qicong (1918–2004), Jin Guangping's son, was a Jurchen and Manchu language historian and academic.
• Yoshiko Kawashima's younger sister, Jin Moyu (1918–2014), was a schoolteacher and was born Aisin-Gioro Xianqi.
• Jin Youzhi (1918–2015), Puyi's half-brother and titular leader of the Aisin-Gioro clan from 1994 to 2015, was born Aisin-Gioro Puren.
• Sanxian player and Chinese painter Aisin-Gioro Yuhuan (1929–2003).
• Jin Yuzhang (born 1942), the son of Jin Youzhi, is the governor of Beijing's Chongwen District and the Aisin-Gioro clan's titular leader since 2015.
• Jin Pucong (born 1956), a Taiwanese politician who claims to be a descendant of the Aisin Gioro clan.
• Jin Qicong's daughter, Aisin-Gioro Ulhicun (who was born in 1958), is a historian and scholar of the Jurchen, Manchu & Khitan languages.
• Jin Xin (who was born in 1976) & the daughter of Jin Yuzhang, the Aisin-Gioro clan's nominal leader since 2015.
• Zhao Junzhe (born 1979), a football player descended from Boolungga, Nurhaci's grandpa Giocangga's sixth sibling.
• Actress Ariel Aisin-Gioro (born 1983)