Qincha wei 欽察衛, the Qibčaq Guards

The Qibčaq Guard(s) (Qincha wei 欽察衛, Kipchak) were one of the many types of imperial bodyguards of the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368). It was the direct successor of the Militant Guard (wuwei qinjun 武衛親軍) of the Song dynasty 宋 (960-1279) and was founded in 1286 in imitation to various guard units of the region of Hexi 河西. The Qibčaq was a Türkish-speaking people from Central Asia parts of which were resettled in China. Apart from ethnic Qibčaq, the guard also included Qangli (Ch. Kangli 康里) and Qarluq (Ch. Halalu 哈刺魯) brigade (junshi wanren 軍士萬人, wanhufu 萬户府).

The guardsmen and their families were settling around the capital Dadu 大都 (today's Beijing), where they lived on farming (see military agro-colonies). They had not just the duty to take their turns of guarding the palace and the emperor during his tours, but also went to war.

The Guard consisted of 19 battalions (qianhusuo 千戶所), 3 *agro-colony battalions (tuntian qianhusuo 屯田千戶所), and was commanded by a chief military commissioner (du zhihuishi 都指揮使) and one vice military commissioner (fudu zhihuishi 副都指揮使).

The Guard was in 1322 divided into a left and a right division (zuo Qincha wei 左欽察衛, you Qincha wei 右欽察衛). In 1329, the two guard divisions were put under a military command (dudufu 都督府), a year later transformed into a chief military command (da dudufu 大都督府). The Right Guard was commanded by a daruγači and two chief military commissioners (3 in case of the Left Guard), both of rank 3A (in the first year just rank 2B). Apart from two vice military commissioner and two assistant commanders (qianshi 僉事), the troops were instructed by two educational officials (jiaoguan 教官, one in case of the Left Guard). The chief military commissioner resided in a chief military commission (du zhihuishi fu 都指揮使司). The Right Guard consisted of 18 battalions-on-campaign (xingjun qianhusuo 行軍千戶所), and 2 agro-colony battalions, the Left one of 10 battalions-on-campaign, one *city guard battalion (shoucheng qianhusuo 守城千戶所), and one agro-colony battalion. The camp of the Guards were located in Qingzhou 清州 (today's Qingxian 青縣, Hebei), and the command inside the Lizheng Gate 麗正門 of the Capital.

A third, lesser unit of the Qibčaq Guards was the *Dragon-Wing Guard (longyu wei 龍翊衛).