Baqi tongzhi 八旗通志 : [250卷] / E'ertai ... [et al.] xiu 鄂爾泰 ... [et al.]修 ; Li Xun, Zhao Degui zhudian 李洵, 趙德貴主點.
Alt. title: Baqi tongzhi chuji 八旗通志初集.
"八旗通志二百五十卷 ... 乾隆4年(1739年)成書, 因嘉慶初有欽定《八旗通志》問世, 故此書亦稱《八旗通志初集》"--Pref.
Library has vol. 1-4 only.

“Baqi tongzhi chuji 八旗通志初集 (History of the Eight Banners, first edition) complied under the direction of E'ertai 鄂爾泰, 1739. In both Chinese and Manchu. The basic source on the history and organization of the Eight Banners from the early Qing to 1735…” -- Wilkinson, E., Chinese history, a new manual, p. 817.

The Manchu way : the eight banners and ethnic identity in late imperial China / Mark C. Elliott.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 511-550) and index.

"In 1644, the Manchus, a relatively unknown people inhabiting China's northeastern frontier, overthrew the Ming, Asia's mightiest rulers, and established the Qing dynasty, which endured to 1912. From this event arises one of Chinese history's great conundrums: How did a barely literate alien people manage to remain in power for nearly 300 years over a highly cultured population that was vastly superior in number? Drawing on recent critical notions of ethnicity, the author explores the evolution of the 'Eight Banners', a unique Manchu system of social and military organization that was instrumental in the conquest of the Ming. Their power derived not only from the acceptance of orthodox Chinese notions of legitimacy, but also, the author suggests, from Manchu 'ethnic sovereignty', which depended on the sustained coherence of the conquest group." --Publisher description.