Imperial and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty

The Qing dynasty of China developed a complicated peerage system for imperial and noble ranks.

Rule of inheritance

In principle, titles were downgraded one grade for each generation of inheritance.

Direct imperial princes with the Eight Privileges were downgraded for four generations, after which the title can be inherited without further downgrades.
Direct imperial princes without the Eight Privileges were downgraded until the rank of feng'en jiangjun, which then became perpetual.
Cadet line imperial princes and lords were downgraded until they reached feng'en jiangjun, which could be further inherited three times before the title expired completely.
For non-imperial peers, the title could be downgraded to en jiwei before becoming perpetually heritable.

Occasionally, a peer could be granted the privilege of shixi wangti, which allowed the title to be passed down without downgrading. Throughout the Qing dynasty, there were 12 imperial princely families that had this privilege. They were known as the "iron-cap princes".
The noble titles were inherited through a system of loose primogeniture: The eldest son from the peer's first wife was usually the heir apparent, but inheritance by a younger son, a son of a concubine, or brother of the peer was not uncommon. According to their birth and their father's rank, non-heir sons of imperial princes were also entitled to petition for a lower title than the one they would have received had they been the heir. Non-heir sons of other peers were also occasionally granted a lower title.
Whether imperial or not, the inheritance or bestowal was never automatic, and had to be approved by the Emperor, the Ministry of Personnel, or the Imperial Clan Court. Imperial princes, upon reaching adulthood at the age of 20, had to pass tests in horse-riding, archery and the Manchu language before they were eligible for titles. Imperial princesses, other than the Emperor's daughters, were usually granted titles upon marriage, regardless of age. Princesses' titles were also usually fixed after they were granted, and were not affected by changes in their fathers' nobility ranks.

Grading system

Yunjiwei was originally a military rank created in the Sui dynasty, but it was later turned into a military honour in the Tang dynasty as part of the xun guan system. The Qing dynasty abolished the separate military honour system and merged it into the nobility rank system, using yunjiwei as the lowest grantable rank of nobility, and the basic unit of rank progression.
For example, a yunjiwei who received another grant of yunjiwei became a jiduwei. A first-class duke plus yunjiwei was the equivalent of 23 grants of yunjiwei.

Official rank (''pin'')

The Qing dynasty, much like previous dynasties, used an "official rank" system. This system had nine numbered ranks, each subdivided into upper and lower levels, in addition to the lowest "unranked" rank: from upper first pin, to lower ninth pin, to the unranked, for a total of 19 ranks. All government personnel, from the highest chancellors to the lowest clerk, held an official rank ex officio, which determined their salary, uniform, privileges and order of precedence.
This pin system existed in parallel to the noble ranks detailed in this article. Many higher noble titles ranked above this system. And while some titles corresponded to a pin, they were considered equivalents of convenience rather than actual official ranks.

Titular names

Historically, Chinese noble titles were usually created with a shiyi each, although the fief could be only nominal. The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty enfeoffed cadet branch princes and other nobles in different regions of China. The Qing dynasty ended this tradition; with only a few exceptions, no fief was ever named. No Qing prince was enfeoffed with territory. Instead, noble titles were created without a name, or were bestowed a meihao. These names were usually descriptive of the peer's merit, virtue, or the circumstances leading to his ennoblement. The Dukes Yansheng kept their traditional fief in Shandong under Qing rule.
Titular names were unique for imperial princes, while non-imperial peers' titular names may overlap. Following Ming dynasty tradition, single-character names were reserved for qinwangs, while junwangs used two-character names. All other peers normally had two-character names, but could receive up to four characters.
Since noble titles were primarily awarded for military service, the titular names predominantly described martial virtues, e.g., zhongyong gong. However, a particularly common titular name was cheng'en gong, which was frequently granted to the Empress's family members.

Imperial clan

Eight Privileges

At the top of the imperial hierarchy, the highest six ranks enjoyed the "Eight Privileges". These privileges were:

Promotional books inscribed on jade, set of seals for correspondence, red carriage wheels, purple horse reins, right for reported entry, red walls of the residence, use of corner lanterns, use of leopard tail guns.
Precious stones on the mandarin hat crests, clothes with encircled dragon patterns, use of imperial porcelain tea sets, purple reins, red wheels, doornails on the gate, employment of guards.
Finials on mandarin hats embellished with precious stones, use of two-eyed peacock feather, surcoats with encircled dragon patterns, purple reins, right to enter the imperial palace by horse, leopard tail guns, separate manor in the capital, employment of officials and eunuchs.

Peacock feathers, however, were prohibited for princes above the rank of beizi and direct imperial clansmen. The "Eight Privileges" entitled the prince to participate in state councils and share the spoils of war. However, the prince was also bound to reside in the capital and render service to the imperial court.
In 1816, the princes were forbidden from reporting matters via eunuchs. Thus, most of the princes employed officials as managers of domestic affairs. The range of tasks of those officials included conveyance of memorials on behalf of the prince. The supervisor of princely manor held lower 4 rank in 9-pin system.

Male members

Heshuo qinwang, commonly simplified to qinwang, translated as "King of the First Rank" or "Prince of the Blood". "Heshuo" means "four corners, four sides" in Manchu.
* Shizi, meaning "heir son", refers to the heir apparent to a qinwang.
Duoluo junwang, commonly simplified to junwang, translated as "King of the Second Rank" or "Prince of a Commandery".
* Zhangzi, meaning "eldest son" or "chief son", refers to the heir apparent to a junwang.
Duoluo beile, means "lord", "prince" or "chief" in Manchu, commonly simplified to beile, and translated as "Prince of the First Rank", "Venerable Prince", or "Noble Lord". "Duoluo" means "virtue, courtesy, propriety" in Manchu. It was usually granted to the son of a qinwang or junwang. As beile is the best known Manchu, non-Chinese title, it is commonly used to refer to all Manchu princes.
Gushan beizi, commonly simplified to beizi, and translated as "Prince of the Second Rank", "Banner Prince" or "Banner Lord". "Gushan" means "banner" in Manchu, a reference to any of the Eight Banners. "Beizi" is the plural form of "beile", but since 1636, "beile" and "beizi" were used to refer to two different ranks of nobility.

The four ranks above were granted solely to direct male-line descendants of the Emperor. These titles below were granted to cadet lines of the imperial clan.

Feng'en zhenguo gong, translated as "Duke Who Receives Grace and Guards the State", simplified to "Duke Who Guards the State", also translated as "Defender Duke by Grace" or "Duke of the First Rank".
Feng'en fuguo gong, translated as "Duke Who Receives Grace and Assists the State", simplified to "Duke Who Assists the State", also translated as "Bulwark Duke by Grace" or "Duke of the Second Rank".

The above six ranks are titles that enjoy the "Eight Privileges". The titles below do not enjoy the "Eight Privileges" and have no imperial duties.

Burubafen zhenguo gong, translated as "Duke Without the Eight Privileges Who Guards the State", also translated as "Lesser Defender Duke" or "Duke of the Third Rank".
Burubafen fuguo gong, translated as "Duke Without the Eight Privileges Who Assists the State", also translated as "Lesser Bulwark Duke" or "Duke of the Fourth Rank".

All of the above titles are chaopin, outranking official ranks. The ranks below are ranked first to fourth pin respectively. The first three jiangjun ranks are each further subdivided into four classes: first class plus yunjiwei, first class, second class, and third class.

Zhenguo jiangjun, translated as "General Who Guards the State", "Defender General", or " General of the First Rank".
Fuguo jiangjun, translated as "General Who Assists the State", "Bulwark General", or " General of the Second Rank".
Fengguo jiangjun, translated as "General Who Receives the State", "Supporter General", or " General of the Third Rank".
Feng'en jiangjun, translated as "General Who Receives Grace", "General by Grace", or " General of the Fourth Rank". This rank has no sub-classes. This title is not granted per se, but were given to heirs of fengguo jiangjuns.

Regardless of title and rank, an imperial prince was addressed as "A-ge", which means "lord" or "commander" in Manchu.