Cigu Niru (Manchu: ᠴᡳᡤᡠᠨᡳᡵᡠ, Chinese: 旗鼓佐領) was a type of military unit of Qing China.
The Cigu Niru consisted of ethnic Han soldiers who joined the Qing army in the early stage of its rise to power.
[1] Many ethnic Han Cigu Niru obtained their political status during the reign of Qing dynasty.
Essentially, when a Cigu Niru took the imperial examination, he was classified as a Han due to his ancestry although he has close ties to the Manchus.
[4] Exceptionally, members of Cigu Niru were treated equally in, and only in, the imperial household department where their promotions would not be influenced by their racial background.