Yende's youngest son, A-li-kun (see under Fu-hêng), was the eleventh duke. He inherited that rank in 1759 after assisting Fu-tê [q. v.] in rescuing Chao-hui [q. v.] at Yarkand. He died of an illness early in 1770 while serving under Fu-hêng in the campaign against Burma. His son, Fengšengge 豐昇額 (d. 1777, posthumous name 誠武), inherited the dukedom in 1770 and took part (1770–76) in the second Chin-ch'uan war (see under A-kuei). For his brave exploits another designation was added to his dukedom in 1775, so that the title read Kuo-i Chi-yung kung (繼勇公). He was also made a viscount, a rank inherited by his younger brother, Buyendalai 布彥達賚 (d. 1800, posthumous name 恭勤), who was the father of Emperor Hsüan-tsung's first wife.
Fengšengge was the last of the descendants of Ebilun to have an illustrious career in the government or in the army. In the eighteen-fifties, when Sai-shang-a (see under Ch'ung-ch'i) was sent by Emperor Wên-tsung to command the armies against the Taiping rebels, he was given the sword of Ebilun as a symbol of authority. It was one of the few occasions in which the memory of Ebilun and the great family of Eidu was revived.
[1/255/6a; 2/6/17a; 3/269/41a; 4/5/2a; 7/3/4a; 9/3/1a; 11/7/1a; 34/137/24a; China Review, vol. IX, 1880–81, p. 170.]
Ê-êr-t'ai. See under O-êr-t'ai.
Ê-êr-tê-ni. See under Erdeni.
EIDU 額亦都, 1562–1621, Aug. 1, Manchu officer, was a member of the important Niohuru (鈕祜祿) clan which settled just north of the Korean border. His grandfather had established a home in a valley of the Yengge 英額 ("wild grape") range which formed the easternmost spur of the Long White Mountains (長白山) in the southeast of the present province of Kirin. Eidu's parents were murdered in a feud while he was still very young, and he himself escaped only through the protection of a neighbor who concealed him. At the age of twelve he took revenge by killing the murderer, after which he fled to the home of an aunt who was married to the chieftain of the fortress of Giyamuhû (嘉木瑚). Here he became a close friend of the chieftain's son, Gahašan hashû 噶哈善哈斯虎 (d. 1584), who later married Nurhaci's sister, or cousin. In 1580 Nurhaci, then twenty-one years old, passed through Giyamuhû and stopped at the chieftain's home. The eighteen year old Eidu was so impressed by his qualities of leadership that he immediately attached himself to him and remained his close associate for more than forty years. In 1583 he accompanied Nurhaci on his initial expedition against Nikan Wailan [q. v.], proving himself an able fighter. Four years later he captured the town of Barda, and received from Nurhaci the title of baturu, "conquering hero." After a long and successful career of military achievement he was attached in 1615 to the Bordered Yellow Banner, and made one of the five principal dignitaries in the government which was organized in the following year. In 1617 he captured a number of Ming fortresses in company with Anfiyanggû [q. v.], and in 1619 was in the forefront at the decisive battles waged by Nurhaci against the three armies of Yang Hao [q. v.]. He was richly rewarded for his services and given a sister of Nurhaci as one of his wives.
Eidu's second son, Daki 達奇 was brought up in the royal establishment, and married the fifth daughter (1597–1613) of Nurhaci. But Daki acquired an arrogant attitude towards the sons of Nurhaci, and this moved the devoted Eidu to adopt drastic measures. One day, at a family banquet to which all his sons were gathered, he seized the arrogant Daki and, drawing his dagger, addressed the assembly on the duty of respect toward superiors. Then warning them that all who disobeyed should "spill their blood on the same dagger", he led Daki into a side room and put him to death. This unnatural act made a profound impression on Nurhaci who called Eidu his most patriotic officer and bitterly mourned his death in 1621.
In 1634 Eidu was posthumously given by Emperor T'ai-tsung (i.e. Abahai, q.v.) the rank of a viscount which was first inherited by his sixteenth son, Ebilun [q. v.]. In 1636 the same emperor posthumously raised Eidu's rank to a duke (non-hereditary) with the designation, Hung-i kung 弘毅公, entered his name in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and moved his tomb near to that of Nurhaci. A stone tablet was erected in front of the tomb in 1654. The rank of viscount, inherited by Ebilun, was taken from him in 1637, owing to a misdemeanor, but was restored in 1713 and given to his son, Yende (see under Ebilun). After Yende was made a duke in 1724 the title of viscount was inherited by other branches of Eidu's family.
Eidu had sixteen sons, among whom the most
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