Ebilun

Who was Ebilun?

Ebilun was a minor Manchu noble who worked as one of the Four Regents and an assistant minister for the young Kangxi from 1661 to 1667, during the Qing Dynasty.

Ebilun was from the Niohuru clan, which lived north of the Korean border belonged to the Bordered Yellow Banner. He was the sixteenth and last son of Eidu, who had been a close associate of Nurhaci. Ebilun's mother was a sister of Qing founder Nurhaci. In 1634, the second Qing emperor Hong Taiji gave Eidu a posthumous rank of viscount, which Ebilun immediately inherited but lost in 1637 after he tried to interfere in a trial involving his niece. In 1643 he followed Abatai in forays inside North China and was credited with the capture of several towns. In 1645 and 1646, Ebilun served under Lekedehun in campaigns to dislodge Ming loyalist He Tengjiao 何騰蛟 from Hubei and was rewarded with a minor hereditary rank. Yet his position was not solid because, as a member of the Yellow Banners, he was treated with suspicion by Dorgon ––the Prince Regent of the Shunzhi Emperor ––whose power base was in the White Banners. In 1648 during the persecution of Hooge, Ebilun's nephew accused Ebilun of having opposed Dorgon during the 1643 succession. Ebilun was sentenced to death, but his penalty was commuted. Nonetheless, half of Ebilun's property was confiscated and his minor title was revoked.