Bolo

Bolo (Manchu: ᠪᠣᠯᠣ; 1613 – 23 April 1652), also known as Prince Duanzhong, was a member of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, the imperial family of the Qing dynasty. He was born in 1613 and was the third son of Abatai.

In 1636, Bolo was conferred the title of beizi, which is a fourth-rank prince. Throughout his career, he participated in military campaigns against Mongols, Chinese rebels, and Koreans.

In 1644, Bolo moved to Beijing with Dorgon, a prominent Manchu prince and regent. He was involved in military pursuits alongside Dodo, including the pursuit of Li Zicheng, a rebel leader. His military achievements led to his promotion to beile, a third-rank prince.

The following year, in 1645, Bolo was dispatched to Nanjing with Dodo to quell unrest, where he was entrusted with commanding troops to pacify nearby cities. He successfully captured Changzhou, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, but returned to Beijing later that year. In 1646, he was appointed as commander-in-chief of Qing forces in Zhejiang, with the title "Great General Who Pacifies the South" (平南大將軍). His military efforts resulted in the conquest of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, and he sent a detachment southward that captured Guangzhou from Southern Ming forces early in 1647.

After his military successes, Bolo was promoted to junwang, or second-rank prince, and was titled "Prince Duanzhong of the Second Rank". In 1648, he and Ajige were tasked with investigating the situation in Mongolia. During this period, a rebellion erupted in Datong, Shanxi, leading to a siege that Bolo and Ajige participated in to suppress the uprising.

In 1649, Dorgon personally led the siege of Datong and elevated Bolo to the rank of qinwang, or first-rank prince. Bolo was then appointed to command an expedition against additional rebels in Shanxi. After quelling these rebellions in late 1649, Bolo returned to Beijing. In 1650, he was temporarily demoted to junwang for not reporting misconduct by the president of a government board but was reinstated as a qinwang early in 1651.

Following Dorgon's death in 1650, Bolo aligned himself with the princes opposing Dorgon's faction. He was demoted again to junwang for failing to report that Ajige, then imprisoned, possessed weapons. However, his status as a qinwang was restored later.

In 1651, Bolo married Yi Ae-suk, a Korean princess, who was a consort of Dorgon. Upon his death on 23 April 1652, Bolo was posthumously granted the name Ding (定), and his title was inherited by one of his sons. Later disclosures revealed that Bolo had appropriated property belonging to Dorgon during his lifetime; as a result, he was posthumously stripped of all honors in 1659, and his descendants' ranks were revoked.

A work titled *Guoxu Zhi*, written in 1673, narrates the story of a Manchu prince engaged in southern Chinese conquests and marrying a Chinese widow surnamed Liu. While the prince's name is not disclosed, some historians believe the narrative may be based on Bolo.

No further records beyond these details are available within the scope of this biography.