Biography of Nurhaci: The True Story of the First Emperor of the Qing Dynasty

Author: Yan Chongnian
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not available
Features: Ta Kesi, who lived in Hetu Ala, had five sons and one daughter. His principal wife was the daughter of Aguda, the Duzhu of Hada, surnamed Xitala, with the given name Muzhi. Xitala bore three sons and one daughter: the eldest Nurhaci, the third Shurhaci, the fourth Yalhaci, and a daughter. Later, the Qing dynasty honored Xitala as the Empress Dowager Xuan. Ta Kesi's concubine, Na Laha, named Kengjia, was a clan member raised by the Hada Begler Wan, known for her harshness, and she bore only one son, the fifth Bayala. Ta Kesi's another wife, Li Jia, the daughter of Gulu Li, also bore one son, the second Murhaci. Ta Kesi's family was a middle-class household among the Jurchen people at that time. The household kept some Ahas. "Aha" is the Manchu pronunciation of aha. Sometimes it was also called Booi Aha or Booi, with the Manchu form being booiaha or booi. Ahas, Booi Aha, or Booi were slaves or servants. They fetched water, chopped firewood, ground rice, cooked meals for their masters, and farmed in the fields, plowing and harvesting in spring and autumn. In addition to farming, they engaged in gathering, herding, fishing, and hunting. Like other Jurchen families, Ta Kesi lived in mud-brick houses surrounded by wooden fences. The south, north, and west sides of the room were built with mud bricks to form a heated platform (commonly known as "zhuangwei"). The windows were latched from the outside, and paper was pasted outside the windows. The chimney, called Hulan, was made of hollow round wood and placed at the back. The interior layout was later recorded by Yang Bin: "The doors were mostly southeast, the heated platform was 15 inches high, surrounding the south, north, and west sides, with the east left empty. Stoves were built at the heads of the south and north platforms, with men and women on each side. At night, the south was considered the most honored, followed by the west, and the north was the least honored." The west wall of the platform was used to worship ancestors, with an incense tray placed there. In the southeast corner of the courtyard, a wooden pole over ten feet tall, known as the "soro ganzi," was erected for worshipping heaven and gods. This custom influenced the Qing army after entering the pass, such as the three heated platforms in the south, north, and west of the Kunning Palace in the Forbidden City of Beijing, with paper pasted outside the windows, and a divine pole in the southeast of the palace.
Ta Kesi followed Shamanism. Shamanism is a primitive religion widely practiced among the Manchu-Tungusic-speaking peoples in northeastern China. The Manchu form of "Shaman" is saman, meaning witch. Shamanic rituals combined with pole-worshiping heaven, later developing into "tangzi" (shamanic temples). "Tangzi is where shamans worship, mainly to worship heaven." At that time, the Jurchen custom was for men to shave their heads and wear long braids, dressed in robes with front-long and back-short sleeves (commonly known as "madi"), belted at the waist, and wearing boots. Women had bound feet and wore long robes with narrow sleeves, later known as qipaos. The Jurchen people, both men and women, were skilled in horseback riding and archery. When children were born, bows and arrows were hung at the door, symbolizing their future as excellent archers. Boys around six or seven years old practiced archery with "feilan." The Manzhou Yuanliu Kao·Guosu records: "Children used as bows, called feilan, and carved willow and reed into arrows, called noukan, with feathers made from pheasant and chicken feathers." As they grew older, they rode horses and bent bows to shoot in the mountains and forests. Women were also fond of horseback riding and archery, with a heroic and spirited demeanor. After archery, children would gather to play "lolo," a game in Manchu called lolo, often won by wit. Nurhaci grew up in such an environment in his youth.