Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Yangginu
YANGGINU 楊吉砮, d. 1584, and his elder brother Cinggiyanu 清佳砮, d. 1584, belonged to the widely scattered Nara clan and were beile of the Yehe tribe. Chinese accounts, dating from the Ming period, refer to them as Yang-chia-nu 仰加奴 and Ch'êng-chia-nu 逞加奴 respectively—or together as "The Two Nu" (二奴). According to the Pa-ch'i Man-chou shih-tsu t'ung-p'u, or genealogy of the Eight Banners (see under Anfiyanggû), they were not related by blood to the Nara clan that embraced the Ula, Hoifa, and Hada tribes, but were descendants of a Mongol invader from the Tumed tribe, Singgen Dargan, who had exterminated a group of Manchus and had adopted their clan name, Nara. The same source adds that the tribal name 'Yehe' was derived from the Yehe river on which they settled. This interpretation was partly substantiated by the fact that the word 'Yehe' is Mongol, whereas the names 'Hada', 'Hoifa', and 'Ula' are Manchu. At the same time, it appears improbable that the adjective yehe, "great", could have been descriptive of the small tributary of the Liao along which the group settled. It seems more likely that the Yehe tribe, "the great tribe", gave its name to the river. Yangginu's grandfather (or father) was Cukungge 褚孔格, son of a bandit, named Cirgani 齊爾噶尼, who was executed by the Chinese in the early part of the Chêng-tê period (1506–1522). The Shan-chung wên-chien lu, compiled by P'êng Sun-i [q. v.], gives the bandit's name as Socangga. Cukungge himself was executed by Wangji wailan (see under Wan) in 1513. Independent Chinese sources differ as to whether Cukungge was the grandfather or the father of Yangginu. The Ch'ing-shih kao, or Draft History of the Ch'ing Dynasty, printed in 1927–28, makes both statements (chüan 229/4b, grandfather; 229/2a, father).
After the death of Cukungge, Yangginu and his brother divided the Yehe tribe between them and established two cities—Cinggiyanu occupying the western one. They traded with the Chinese at Chên-pei kuan 鎭北關, commonly called the North Pass, to the northeast of K'ai-yüan, but frequently joined the Chien-chou leader, Wang Kao (see under Nurhaci) in raids on Liaotung. For a long time they were subservient to the Hada chieftain, Wan [q. v.], who married one of their sisters, though they continued to be mindful of their tribal duty of avenging the death of their ancestor, Cukungge, at the hands of Wan's uncle. As Wan's power declined Yangginu took a Mongol "princess" in marriage and gradually asserted the independence of Yehe from Hada control. After the death of Wan in 1582, the Yehe leaders took advantage of the rivalry among Wan's sons to increase their power. Nurhaci [q. v.], who was then at the outset of his career, sought one of Yangginu's daughters in marriage and received the promise of the youngest when she should be old enough. This daughter was taken to Nurhaci in 1588 by Yangginu's son and she became his wife (Empress Hsiao-tz'ŭ, see under Abahai).
In 1583 Yangginu and Cinggiyanu invaded Hada with the aid of a large force of Mongols and destroyed much of Menggebulu's territory (see under Wan). They went on to attack the South Pass where the Chinese markets for trade with the Hada were located. The Ming general, Li Ch'êng-liang [q. v.], who had maintained friendly relations with the Hada since the time of Wan, came to the Hada's rescue, and in 1584, by a ruse, lured the two Yehe leaders and many of their followers into the North Pass where they were murdered by the Chinese. Li Ch'êng-liang then invaded Yehe and forced the people to declare a truce with the Hada. Cinggiyanu's son, Bujai (see Bujantai), and Yangginu's son, Narimbulu [q. v.], succeeded as beile of the Yehe tribe.
[1/229/4b].
George A. Kennedy