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Emperor Fatian Longyun Zhicheng Xianjue Tiyuan Liji Fuwen Fenwu Qinming Xiaoci Shensheng Chun<br/>法天隆運至誠先覺體元立極敷文奮武欽明孝慈神聖純皇帝
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18 October , 1735
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8 February , 1796 ¹
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Qing (清)<br>Cing
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Hongli (弘曆)<br>Hung Li
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Gaozong (高宗)<br>Gaodzung
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Qianlong (乾隆 Ch'ien-lung)<br>Abkai Wehiyehe
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The (born '''Hongli''',
September 25 ,
1711 –
February 7 ,
1799 ) was the fifth emperor of the
Manchu Qing Dynasty , and the fourth
Qing Emperor to rule over China. The fourth son of the
Yongzheng Emperor , he reigned officially from
October 18 ,
1735 to
February 9 ,
1796 , at which point he retired in favor of his son, the
Jiaqing Emperor - a filial act in order not to reign longer than his grandfather, the illustrious
Kangxi Emperor . Despite his retirement, however, he retained ultimate power until his death in 1799.
There are many myths and legends that say Hongli was actually a
Han and not of Manchu descent, whilst there were some that say Hongli is only half Manchu and half Han Chinese descent. Nevertheless, looking at historical records, Hongli was adored both by his grandfather, the
Kangxi Emperor and his father, the
Yongzheng Emperor . Some historians argue that the main reason why Kangxi Emperor appointed Yongzheng as his successor to the throne was because of Qianlong as he was his favourite grandson and felt that Hongli's mannerism and ways to be very close to his own. As a teenager he was very able in
Martial Arts , and possessed very great literary ability.
After his father's succession to the throne in
1722 , Hongli became the (寶親王). Like many of his uncles, Hongli entered in a battle of succession with his older-half brother
Hongshi , who had the support of a large faction of court officials, as well as
Yinsi, The Prince Lian . For many years the Yongzheng Emperor did not allow the position of Crown Prince, but many speculated he favoured Hongli. Hongli went on inspection trips to the south, and was known to be an able negotiator and enforcer. Hongli was also chosen as chief
Regent on occasions, when his father was away from the capital.
Even before Hongli was read out to the assembled court, it was widely known who the new emperor would be. The young Hongli had been a favorite of his grandfather, Kangxi, and his father alike; Yongzheng had entrusted a number of important ritual tasks to him while Hongli was still a prince, and included him in important court discussions of military strategy. Hoping to avoid repetition of the succession crisis that had tainted his own accession to the throne, he had the name of his successor placed in a sealed box secured behind the tablet over the throne in the
Palace Of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing Gong). The name in the box was to be revealed to other members of the imperial family in the presence of all senior ministers only upon the death of the Emperor. Yongzheng died suddenly in
1735 , the will was taken out and read out before the entire Qing Court and Hongli became the 4th Manchu
Emperor Of China . He took the
Reign Title of (乾隆), meaning ''strong/heavens'' (qian); ''prosperous'' (long), or put together, ''the Era of Strong Prosperity''.
The Qianlong Emperor was a successful military leader, presiding over a huge consolidation in the territory controlled by the Qing dynasty. This was made possible not only by Chinese strength but also by the disunity and declining strength of the Inner Asian peoples. Under Qianlong,
Chinese Turkestan was incorporated into the Qing dynasty's rule and renamed
Xinjiang , while to the West,
Ili was conquered and garrisoned. The Qing also dominated
Outer Mongolia after inflicting a final defeat on the
Western Mongols . Throughout this period there were continued Mongol interventions in
Tibet and a reciprocal spread of
Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia. Qianlong again sent armies into Tibet and firmly established the
Dalai Lama as ruler, with a Qing resident and garrison to preserve Chinese suzerainty. Other than that, no attempt was made to integrate Tibet into the empire after the manner of Xinjiang. Further afield, military campaigns against the
Vietnamese (Annamese), Burmese, Nepalese, and
Gurkha s forced these peoples to submit and send tribute. (For details of military campaigns under Qianlong, see
Ten Great Campaigns )
This expansion involved millions of square miles and brought into the empire non-Chinese peoples (such as
Uyghur s,
Kazakhs ,
Kirghiz , and
Mongols ) who were at least potentially hostile. It was also a very expensive enterprise. In fact, the funds in the Imperial Treasury were almost used up due to the military expeditions. This may have been the cause of the later decline of the dynasty when the army was unable to develop and upgrade their weapons when faced with a Western threat.
The Qianlong emperor was also a major patron of the arts. The most significant of his commissions was a catalogue of all important works on
Chinese Culture , the ''
Siku Quanshu '' (四庫全書). Produced in 36,000 volumes, containing about 3450 complete works and employing as many as 15,000 copyists, the entire work took some twenty years. It preserved many books, but it was also intended as a means of ferreting out and suppressing those deemed offensive to the rulling manchurians. Some 2,300 works were listed for total suppression and another 350 for partial suppresion. The aim was to destroy the writings that were
Anti-Qing or rebellious, that insulted previous "barbarian" dynasties, or that dealt with frontier or defense problems.
Qianlong was a prolific poet and a collector of
Ceramics , an art which flourished in his reign; a substantial part of his collection is in the
Percival David Foundation in
London .
, charcoal brazier and
Iuduan incense burners. Picture taken at
Field Museum Of Natural History . These items are part of a travelling exhibit on loan from Beijing]]
In his later years, Qianlong was rather disillusioned and sedated with power and glory. With
Heshen as the highest ranked minister and most favoured by Qianlong at the time, the day to day governance of the country was left in the hands of Heshen whilst Qianlong himself indulged on everyday luxuries and his favourite pastime of hunting. It is widely said that Heshen laid the foundation for further collapse and corruption of the Qing government and eventually came to a point where it was impossible to reverse the negative impact already done to all levels of Qing Government at the time.
Worse still, the proposed cultural exchange between the British Empire at the time and the Qing Empire collapsed when Heshen further encouraged Qianlong to maintain the belief that the Qing Empire was the centre of the world and need not pay much attention to the British proposal for trade and cultural exchange. The British trade ambassador at the time,
George Macartney , was humiliated when granted an audience with the Qianlong Emperor only to find just an Imperial Edict placed on the
Dragon Throne . This announced to him that the Qing Empire had no need for any goods and services that the British could provide and that the British should recognize that the Qing Empire was far greater.
Insistent demands from Heshen and the Qing Court that the British Trade ambassadors should kneel and
Kowtow to the empty dragon throne worsened matters. The British of course rejected these demands and insisted they would kneel only on one knee and bow to the Dragon throne as they did for their own monarch. This caused uproar in the Qing Empire at that time. The Trade ambassadors were dismissed and told to leave China immediately. They were further told that the Qing Empire had no particular interest in doing trade with them, with strict orders given to all local governors not to allow the British to carry out any trade or business in China.
According to Field History of Qing Dynasty, Qianlong was the son of Chen Yuan-Long of Haining. Emperor Kangxi chose the heir to his throne based not just on his son's capability to govern the Empire, but also whether his grandson was of no lesser calibre, to ensure the Manchus' everlasting reign over the country. Yongzheng's own son was a weakling and he surreptitiously arranged for his daughter to be swapped for Chen Yuan-Long's son, who became the apple of Kangxi's eye. Thus, Yongzheng got to succeed the throne, and his "son", Hongli, subsequently became Emperor Qianlong. Later, Qianlong went to the southern part of the country four times, he stayed in Chen's house in Haining, leaving behind his calligraphy and also frequently issued imperial decrees making and maintaining Haining as a tax-free state.
However there are major problems with this story being:
1) His eldest surviving son Hongshi was only 7 when Hongli was born far too early too make the drastic choice of replacing a child of royal birth with an outsider (and risking disgrace if not death)
2) Yongzheng had three other princes that survived to adulthood who had the potential of ascending the throne.
Indeed given the fact that Hongshi was forced to commit suicide, the story would have been far more logical if he was the adopted child of Yongzheng.
Stories about Qianlong visiting the
Jiang Nan area disguised as a commoner had been a popular topic for many generations. In total, he has visited Jiang Nan for eight times, as opposed to the Kangxi emperor's 6 inspections.
There are also a few cases where it is said that Qianlong had multiple Samuri Swords in his posession. There is only a few but that is an interesting little piece of information.
- Mother: Empress Xiaosheng Xian (1692-1777) of the Niuhuru Clan (Chinese: 孝聖憲皇后; Manchu: Hiyoošungga Enduringge Temgetulehe Hūwanghu)
