Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Yoto
YOTO 岳託, d. 1638, age 41 (sui), was a member of the Imperial Family and the eldest son of Daišan [q. v.]. From 1621 to 1629 he was constantly engaged in fighting, and in 1626 received the rank of beile for his services in the expedition led by his father Daišan against the Mongolian tribe of Jarut. In the invasion of Korea in 1627 he was the fifth ranking beile, and after the surrender of the Korean king, Li Tsung (see under Abahai), he supported Jirgalang's [q. v.] arrangement of a peace treaty, as opposed to Amin's [q. v.] project for further invasion. After taking an active part in the operations against the city of Ning-yüan, he returned in 1630 to be garrison commander of Shên-yang. On the organization of the Six Ministries in the Manchu Administration in 1631, he was put in charge of the Ministry of War, and presented memorials to Abahai [q. v.] urging conciliatory and constructive measures towards the conquered Chinese population. From 1632 to 1635 he accompanied the various expeditions against the Chahar Mongols, although prevented by sickness from playing an active part. In 1636 he received the title Ch'êng Ch'in-wang 成親王, but four months later was condemned to death for hiding the treacherous designs of Manggûltai [q. v.] and his own younger brother Šoto (see under Dorgon), and for instigating dissention between Jirgalang and Haoge [q. v.]. Although pardoned, he was degraded to beile and in the following year to beise for another offense. Despite this he was, in 1638, put in command of the right wing of the army against the Ming troops and died in action at Ch'iang-tzŭ-ling 牆子嶺. His death was deeply mourned by Abahai who gave him posthumously the title K'o-ch'in Chün-wang 克勤郡王. A memorial was erected in 1688 at his grave near Mukden, and in 1778, by order of Emperor Kao-tsung, a tablet to his honor was placed in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
[1/222/9b; 2/3/1a; 3/8/16a; 34/123/1a.]
George A. Kennedy