清朝皇室成員近支者稱為宗室，遠支稱覺羅。身為天j黃貴宵的宗室，理應身分高貴，備受尊崇，但在清朝二百多年時間中，卻存在著隸屬於包衣奴僕階級的宗室成員。在雍正朝以前，下五旗宗室不論分屬旗分或包衣，均受五旗王公管轄，景況淒苦，直至雍正帝即位後才將宗室自下五旗王公下拔出，到乾隆朝射進一步完成，方使宗室「幸出水火」。然而經過兩朝皇帝的改革，終清一代，宗室隸屬包衣佐領的狀況始終存在，方知雍、乾兩帝改變的是下五旗內部的隸屬關餘，以及對八旗制度「唯有皇帝一主」臣屬關餘的重新確立。

During the Ch'ing Dynasty, the lineal relatives of the imperial family were called uksun (Ch. tsung shih) and the collateral relatives were called gioro (Ch. chuehlo). Uksun, as royals, were supposed to hold a high social status and be respected. However, some of the uksun members were also bond servants (Man. booi) of the lower-five-banner princes. Before the Yung-cheng Emperor ascended the throne, uksun in the lower five banners, whether they were booi or not, were controlled by the banner princes. The Yung-cheng Emperor set out to cancel the five-banner princes' authority over the uksun, and the Ch'ien-lung Emperor completed the process. The result was that the uksun were finally "saved from suffering [lives as bond servants]" (Ch. Hsingch 'ushuihuo ). Despite the reforms of the two emperors, some of the uksun continued to be identified as booi throughout the whole Ch'ing period. We can conclude that the two emperors only changed the subordinate relationship between the uksun and the princes of the lower five banners by reasserting that "the emperor is the only ruler" in the Manchu banner system.