Hohori

Biography

Family Background and Leadership of the Donggo Tribe Hohori’s ancestors originally lived among the Warka and later moved to the Donggo region, where they formed the Donggo tribe and took the place-name as the designation of their group. His grandfather Kece bayan, his father Elgi, and his elder brother Tunzhulu Bayan were successive tribal chieftains. The , citing the biography of Hohori in the Draft History of Qing, records that the Donggo tribe had a feud with Ahana, the chieftain of Zhangjia city. The two sides raided one another; the Donggo attacked Ningguta, while Ningguta drew on Hada forces to retaliate. This was the tribal background before Hohori succeeded to the chieftainship. In 1586, the fourteenth year of Wanli, Hohori, aged twenty-six, succeeded his elder brother as chieftain of the Donggo tribe. After Nurhaci began raising forces, he became aware of the strength of the Donggo troops and sought to win Hohori over. Two years later, when Nurhaci married a daughter of Hurgan, a beile of Hada, Hohori was invited to accompany the party with troops. Hohori led thirty horsemen as escort and, after returning, brought his followers over to Nurhaci. Nurhaci gave his eldest daughter Donggo Gege to Hohori in marriage. The sources state that Hohori already had a wife before his submission. ### Military Activities after Submission After his submission, Hohori participated in Nurhaci’s military operations against other Jurchen groups. In 1601, the twenty-ninth year of Wanli, when the Yellow, Red, White, and Black Banners were first organized, Hohori’s followers were placed in the Red Banner, and he served as its commander. After the Eight Banners system was reorganized in 1615, the forty-third year of Wanli, his followers belonged to the Plain Red Banner. In 1608, the thirty-sixth year of Wanli, Hohori accompanied Nurhaci on a campaign against Ula. In 1611, the thirty-ninth year of Wanli, he and Eidu and Hūrhan were ordered to campaign against the Hürha route of the Weji tribe and captured Jakuta. In 1613, the forty-first year of Wanli, Nurhaci again campaigned against Ula. Nurhaci had initially hoped that Bujantai would repent and submit, but Hohori and the other beile strongly urged an attack. Ula city was subsequently taken and Bujantai fled to Yehe. These are representative campaigns explicitly recorded in the sources; they do not justify expanding the account to claim that Hohori participated in every campaign of Jurchen unification. ### The Five Councilors and the Battle of Sarhu In 1616, the first year of Tianming, Nurhaci established Later Jin and appointed Hohori, Eidu, Fiongdon, Hūrhan, and Anfiyanggû as the Five Councilors, who participated in affairs of state. The sources record that the Five Councilors took part in military and state administration. Later Jin government also involved the beile and Nurhaci himself, so the Five Councilors are not described here as an independent or sole decision-making body. In 1619, the fourth year of Tianming, Hohori participated in the Battle of Sarhu. The , citing the Draft History of Qing, states that he “followed in defeating the Ming military commissioner Yang Hao,” and, citing Xiaoting Zalu, also records a later claim that the victory over the Ming army was connected to the strength of Hohori’s troops. The latter is Zhaolian’s retrospective appraisal. The statement that the victory was “entirely due to the duke’s troops” is therefore not treated as a quantifiable battlefield fact, nor is it used to claim that Hohori alone formulated or determined the overall strategy. ### The Shenyang-Liaoyang Campaigns, the Zhenjiang Assignment, and Death In 1621, the sixth year of Tianming, Hohori took part in the capture of Shenyang and Liaoyang and was granted the hereditary rank of third-class zongbingguan for his service. A rebellion later occurred in the Zhenjiang area, and Nurhaci ordered Hohori and the fourth beile Hong Taiji to lead troops to suppress it. The , citing the Old Manchu Chronicles, records an order dispatching three thousand troops, but the passage does not clearly give a Gregorian year, so no date is added to the timeline here. In 1624, the ninth year of Tianming, Hohori was ordered to garrison Haizhou and was later replaced by military commander Bushan. He died in the eighth month of the same year; the sources give his age as sixty-four. Nurhaci mourned his death and lamented that the ministers who had fought alongside him had died before him. The quoted words are preserved in the Draft History of Qing and are presented as a historical-source narrative. Under Emperor Taizong of Qing, Hohori was elevated to Third-Class Duke. In 1655, the twelfth year of Shunzhi, Emperor Shizu of Qing posthumously gave him the name Wenshun and had a stone inscription erected to commemorate his service. In 1731, the ninth year of Yongzheng, the designation Yongqin was added to his title. These were posthumous honors and should not be conflated with offices that he held during his lifetime.

Major Activities

Leading the Donggo Tribe in Submission In 1588, the sixteenth year of Wanli, Hohori led his people in submitting to Nurhaci, changing the relationship between the Donggo tribe and the Jianzhou forces. Zhaolian’s Xiaoting Zalu describes Nurhaci receiving him with the courtesies due a guest, arranging a marriage alliance with a princess, and Hohori leading his people in submission. It also claims that Hohori brought more than fifty thousand troops. That figure appears in a later account, and the provides no independent verification, so it is not used as a definite troop strength. What can be confirmed is that Hohori changed from a tribal chieftain into an important subordinate of Nurhaci and also became his son-in-law. ### Campaigns against Ula and the Eastern Jurchen Groups Hohori accompanied the campaign against Ula in 1608, the thirty-sixth year of Wanli; captured Jakuta with Eidu and Hūrhan in 1611, the thirty-ninth year of Wanli; and again advocated continued attack during the Ula campaign of 1613, the forty-first year of Wanli. These episodes reflect his military role first as a tribal chieftain and later as a Later Jin general. For the campaign of 1613, the sources connect the advice of Hohori and other beile with Nurhaci’s eventual decision to attack. This account keeps the advice, the ruler’s decision, and the military result distinct and does not attribute the entire destruction of Ula to Hohori alone. ### Role as a Five Councilor and the Shenyang-Liaoyang Campaigns After the establishment of Later Jin, Hohori participated in state affairs as one of the Five Councilors. In 1619, the fourth year of Tianming, he fought under Nurhaci in the Battle of Sarhu. In 1621, the sixth year of Tianming, he was granted the hereditary rank of third-class zongbingguan after the capture of Shenyang and Liaoyang. His military office, consultative political role, and marriage connection together shaped his position in the Later Jin polity, but the available sources do not provide specific records of deliberations and therefore do not support further inferences about his personal decision-making authority over individual policies.

Personal Relations

• Kece bayan: grandfather; the sources identify him as a chieftain of the Donggo tribe.
• Elgi: father; the sources identify him as a chieftain of the Donggo tribe.
• Tunzhulu Bayan: elder brother; Hohori succeeded him as chieftain of the Donggo tribe.
• Donggo Gege: wife and eldest daughter of Nurhaci; later enfeoffed as Princess Duanzhuang of the First Rank.
• Hohori’s first wife: her name is not clearly recorded; a story in Zhaolian’s later notebook Xiaoting Zalu that she led members of the tribe to confront Hohori after his remarriage is discussed under “Anecdotes and Allusions.”
• Yashitan: eldest son; the states that he rose to the office of company captain.
• Dojiri (also written Dojiri): second son; the states that he served as deputy banner commander (meiren-i ejen) of the Plain Red Banner and was the grandfather of Consort Ningque.
• Yaxinga: third son; the states that he rose to the office of guards regiment commander.
• Hošotu: fourth son; the states that he served as gūsa i ejen (banner commander) of the Plain Red Banner, was made Third-Class Duke, and married a daughter of Daišan.
• Dulei (also written Dulei): fifth son; the states that he was made Second-Class Earl and married a daughter of Daišan.
• Nurhaci: ruler of Later Jin and Hohori’s father-in-law; appointed Hohori one of the Five Councilors and mourned him after his death.
• Hong Taiji: beile of Later Jin and Nurhaci’s successor; was ordered with Hohori to deal with the rebellion in the Zhenjiang area and, after succeeding to the throne, elevated Hohori’s noble rank.
• Eidu and Hūrhan: colleagues; both were among the Five Councilors and campaigned with Hohori on the Hürha route.
• Fiongdon and Anfiyanggû: colleagues; served with Hohori among the Five Councilors of Later Jin.
• Daišan: beile of Later Jin; Hohori joined him and other beile in strongly urging an attack on Ula.
• Bujantai: chieftain of Ula; the Ula campaign in which Hohori participated ended with Bujantai fleeing to Yehe.
• Yang Hao: Ming military commissioner in Liaodong; Later Jin defeated the Ming forces under his command in the Battle of Sarhu.
• Chen Liangce and Mao Wenlong: figures connected with the Zhenjiang incident; the sources state that Chen Liangce defected to Mao Wenlong and that Later Jin sent Hohori and Hong Taiji to suppress the local rebellion.

Anecdotes

His First Wife’s Confrontation Zhaolian’s Xiaoting Zalu recounts that after Hohori submitted to Nurhaci and married Nurhaci’s eldest daughter, Hohori’s first wife heard of the marriage and came with members of the tribe to demand an accounting. Nurhaci reportedly intervened and reconciled the parties. In the available source set, this detail comes from a later Qing notebook and is not independently corroborated by the relevant Draft History of Qing biography or the short another account text. It is recorded here as a traceable later anecdote, without treating its precise circumstances or the participants’ motives as uncontested fact.

Historical Assessment

The Draft History of Qing records that Nurhaci mourned Hohori after his death and described him as a minister who had stood beside him in friendship and battle. In discussing the Five Councilors, Zhao Erxun places Hohori together with Anfiyanggû and Hūrhan and credits them with assisting Nurhaci in the establishment of Later Jin. Zhaolian’s Xiaoting Zalu emphasizes Hohori’s role in his submission and in the Battle of Sarhu, but statements such as “more than fifty thousand troops” and “entirely due to the duke’s troops” are later descriptions and praise that lack independent cross-checking in the local source set. They are therefore not treated here as definite quantitative claims or conclusions about his contribution to the battle. The two available source texts do not provide verifiable material for a modern scholarly assessment, so generalized claims such as “modern researchers generally believe” are not retained from earlier drafts.