Qianlong Emperor

Qianlong Emperor 乾隆帝
6th Qing Emperor of China
Reign	8 October 1735 – 9 February 1796 (&1000000000000006000000060 years, &10000000000000124000000124 days)
Predecessor	Yongzheng Emperor
Successor	Jiaqing Emperor
Time in Power	8 October 1735 – 7 February 1799 (&1000000000000006300000063 years, &10000000000000122000000122 days)
Empress	Empress Xiaoxianchun Ulanara, the Step Empress Empress Xiaoyichun
Imperial Noble Consort	Imperial Noble Consort Huixian Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui Imperial Noble Consort Qinggong Imperial Noble Consort Jiwen Imperial Noble Consort Shujia
among others... Issue
Yonghuang, Prince Ding Yonglian, Crown Prince Kurun Princess Hejing Yongzhang, Prince Xun Yongcheng, Prince Lu Yongqi, Prince Rong Yongrong, Prince Zhi Heshuo Princess Hejia Yongzhong, Crown Prince Yongxuan, Prince Yi Yongxing, Prince Cheng Yongji, Beile Prince Yongjing Kurun Princess Hejing Prince Yonglu Heshuo Princess Heke Yongyan, Jiaqing Emperor Yonglin, Prince Qing Kurun Princess Hexiao
Full name
Chinese: Aixin-Jueluo Hongli 愛新覺羅弘曆 Manchu: Aisin-Gioro hala i Hung Li
Posthumous name
Emperor Fatian Longyun Zhicheng Xianjue Tiyuan Liji Fuwen Fenwu Qinming Xiaoci Shensheng Chun 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
Temple name
Qing Gaozong 清高宗
Father	Yongzheng Emperor
Mother	Empress Xiaoshengxian
Born	25 September 1711(1711-09-25)
Died	7 February 1799(1799-02-07) (aged 87)
Burial	Eastern Qing Tombs, Zunhua

The Qianlong Emperor (Mandarin pronunciation: [tɕʰi̯ɛ̌n lu̯ə̌ŋ tɨ̂]) (Chinese: 乾隆帝; pinyin: Qiánlóngdì; Wade–Giles: Ch'ien-lung Ti; Mongolian: Tengeriin Tetgesen Khaan, Manchu: ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ ᠸᡝᡥᡳᠶᡝᡥᡝ Abkai Wehiyehe hūwangdi, Tibetan: ཆན་ལུང་། lha skyong rgyal po, born Hongli (Chinese: 弘曆; Manchu language: ᡥᡠᠩ ᠯᡳ  ;Möllendorff transliteration: hung li), 25 September 1711 – 7 February 1799) was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796.^[1] On 8 February, he abdicated in favor of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor – a filial act in order not to reign longer than his grandfather, the illustrious Kangxi Emperor.^[2] Despite his retirement, however, he retained ultimate power until his death in 1799. Although his early years saw the continuation of an era of prosperity in China, his final years saw troubles at home and abroad converge on the Qing Empire.

Early years

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 was because Qianlong was his favourite grandson. He felt that Hongli's mannerisms were very close to his own. As a teenager he was very capable in martial arts, and possessed a high literary ability.

After his father's succession in 1722, Hongli became the Prince Bao (宝亲王/寶親王). Like many of his uncles, Hongli entered into 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 appoint anyone to the position of Crown Prince, but many in court speculated his favoring of Hongli. Hongli went on inspection trips to the south, and was known to be an able negotiator and enforcer. He was also chosen as chief regent on occasions, when his father was away from the capital.

Ascension to the throne

Even before Hongli's succession 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 乾清宫). 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 6th Manchu Emperor of China. He took the Calendar Name of Qianlong (乾隆), 乾 means heaven, 隆 means prosperity, which mean "Heavenly Prosperity".

Frontier wars

Further information: Ten Great Campaigns

Military costume of Emperor Qianlong. Musée de l'Armée, Paris.

Chinese soldier of Emperor Qianlong, by William Alexander, 1793.

The Qianlong Emperor was a successful military leader. Immediately after ascending the throne, he sent armies to suppress the Miao rebellion. His later campaigns greatly expanded the territory controlled by the Qing dynasty. This was made possible not only by Qing strength, but also by the disunity and declining strength of the Inner Asian peoples. Under Qianlong, Dzungar Khanate was incorporated into the Qing dynasty's rule and renamed Xinjiang, while to the West, Ili was conquered and garrisoned. The incorporation of Xinjiang into the Qing empire resulted from the final defeat and destruction of the Dzungars (or Zunghars), a coalition of Western Mongol tribes. According to Qing scholar Wei Yuan, 40% of the 600,000 Zunghar people were killed by smallpox, 20% fled to Russia or Kazakh tribes, and 30% were killed by the army^[3][4], in what Clarked described as "the complete destruction of not only the Zunghar state but of the Zunghars as a people."^[5] Historian Peter Perdue has argued that the decimation of the Dzungars was the result of an explicit policy of massacre launched by the Qianlong emperor^[4] (See Zunghar Khanate#Fall).

Throughout this period there were continued Mongol interventions in Tibet and a reciprocal spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia. After the Lhasa riot of 1750 he sent armies into Tibet and firmly established the Dalai Lama as ruler, with a Qing resident and garrison to preserve Chinese sovereignty.^[6] Further afield, military campaigns against Nepalese, and Gurkhas forced these peoples to submit and send tribute.

The Qianlong Emperor sought to conquer Burma to the south, but the Sino–Burmese War ended in complete failure. He initially believed that it would be an easy victory against a barbarian tribe, and sent only the Green Standard Army based in Yunnan, which borders Burma. The Qing invasion came as the majority of Burmese forces were deployed in their latest invasion of Siam. Nonetheless, battle-hardened Burmese troops defeated the first two invasions of 1765–1766 and 1766–1767 at the border. The regional conflict now escalated to a major war that involved military maneuvers nationwide in both countries. The third invasion (1767–1768) led by the elite Manchu Bannermen nearly succeeded, penetrating deep into central Burma within a few days' march from the capital, Ava.^[7] But the Bannermen of northern China could not cope with unfamiliar tropical terrains and lethal endemic diseases, and were driven back with heavy losses. After the close-call, King Hsinbyushin redeployed his armies from Siam to the Chinese front. The fourth and largest invasion got bogged down at the frontier. With the Qing forces completely encircled, a truce was reached between the field commanders of the two sides in December 1769. The Qing kept a heavy military lineup in the border areas of Yunnan for about one decade in an attempt to wage another war while imposing a ban on inter-border trade for two decades. When Burma and China resumed a diplomatic relationship in 1790, the Qing unilaterally viewed the act as Burmese submission, and claimed victory.^[8]

The circumstances in Vietnam were not successful either. In 1787 the last Le king Le Chieu Thong fled Vietnam and formally requested that he be restored to his throne in Thanglong (Hanoi today). The Qianlong Emperor agreed and sent a large army into Vietnam to remove the Tay Son (peasant rebels who had captured all of Vietnam). The capital, Thanglong, was conquered in 1788 but a few months later, the Chinese army was defeated and the invasion turned into a debacle due to the surprise attack during Tết by Nguyen Hue, the second and most capable of the three Tay Son brothers. The Chinese^[who?] gave formal protection to the Le emperor and his family, and would not intervene in Vietnam for another 90 years.

Despite setbacks in the south, overall the Qianlong Emperor's military expansion nearly doubled the area of the already vast empire, and brought into the fold many non-Han-Chinese peoples—such as Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Evenks and Mongols—who were potentially hostile. It was also a very expensive enterprise; the funds in the Imperial Treasury were almost all put into military expeditions.^[9] Though the wars were successful, they were not overwhelmingly so. The army declined noticeably and had a difficult time facing some enemies: the Jin Chuan area took 2–3 years to conquer—at first the Qing army were mauled, though Yue Zhongqi later took control of the situation. The battle with the Dzungars was closely fought, and caused heavy losses on both sides.

At the end of the frontier wars, the army had started to weaken significantly. In addition to a more lenient military system, warlords became satisfied with their lifestyles. Since most of the warring had taken place, warlords no longer saw any reason to train their armies, resulting in a rapid military decline by the end of Qianlong's reign. This is the main reason for the military's failure against the White Lotus Sect, at the very end of Qianlong's years.

Cultural achievements

The Qianlong Emperor Viewing Paintings

The Qianlong Emperor was a major patron of the arts, seeing himself as an important "preserver and restorer" of Chinese culture. He had an insatiable appetite for collecting, and acquired much of China's "great private collections" by any means necessary, and "reintegrated their treasures into the imperial collection."^[10] Qianlong, more than any other Manchu emperor, lavished the imperial collection with his attention and effort:

The imperial collection had its origins in the first century B.C., and had gone through many vicissitudes of fire, civil wars and foreign invasions in the centuries that followed. But it was Qianlong who lavished the greatest attention on it, certainly of any of the Manchu rulers.... One of the many roles played by Qianlong, with his customary diligence, was that of the emperor as collector and curator. ...how carefully Qianlong followed the art market in rare paintings and antiquities, using a team of cultural advisers, from elderly Chinese literati to newly fledged Manchu connoisseurs. These men would help the emperor spot which great private collections might be coming up for sale, either because the fortunes of some previously rich merchant family were unraveling or because the precious objects acquired by Manchu or Chinese grandees during the chaos of the conquest period were no longer valued by those families’ surviving heirs. Sometimes, too, Qianlong would pressure or even force wealthy courtiers into yielding up choice art objects: he did this by pointing out failings in their work, which might be excused if they made a certain “gift,” or, in a couple of celebrated cases, by persuading the current owners that only the secure walls of the forbidden City and its guardians could save some precious painting from theft or from fire.^[11]

His massive art collection became an intimate part of his life; he took landscape paintings with him on his travels in order to compare them with the actual landscapes, or to hang them in special rooms in palaces where he lodged, to inscribe them on every visit there.^[10] "He also regularly added poetic inscriptions to the paintings of the imperial collection, following the example of the emperors of the Song dynasty and the literati painters of the Ming. They were a mark of distinction for the work, and a visible sign of his rightful role as Emperor. Most particular to the Qianlong Emperor is another type of inscription, revealing a unique practice of dealing with works of art that he seems to have developed for himself. On certain fixed occasions over a long period he contemplated a number of paintings or works of calligraphy which possessed special meaning for him, inscribing each regularly with mostly private notes on the circumstances of enjoying them, using them almost as a diary."^[10]

"Most of the several thousand jade items in the imperial collection date from his reign. The Emperor was also particularly interested in collecting ancient bronzes, bronze mirrors and seals,"^[10] in addition to pottery, ceramics and applied arts such as enameling, metal work and lacquer work, which flourished during his reign; a substantial part of his collection is in the Percival David Foundation in London. The Victoria and Albert Museum and The British Museum also have good collections of Qianlong period Art.

"The Qianlong Emperor was a passionate poet and essayist. In his collected writings, which were published in a tenfold series between 1749 and 1800, over 40,000 poems and 1,300 prose texts are listed, making him one of the most prolific writers of all time. There is a long tradition of poems of this sort in praise of particular objects ('yongwu shi), and the Qianlong Emperor used it in order to link his name both physically and intellectually with ancient artistic tradition."^[10]

One of Qianlong’s grandest projects was to "assemble a team of China’s finest scholars for the purpose of assembling, editing, and printing the largest collection ever made of Chinese philosophy, history, and literature."^[11] Known as The Four Treasuries project, or Siku Quanshu (四庫全書) it was published in 36,000 volumes, containing about 3450 complete works and employing as many as 15,000 copyists. It preserved numerous books, but was also intended as a way to ferret out and suppress political opponents, requiring the "careful examination of private libraries to assemble a list of around eleven thousand works from the past, of which about a third were chosen for publication. The works not included were either summarized or—in a good many cases—scheduled for destruction."^[11]

Burning of books and modification of texts

Main article: literary inquisition#Qing

Some 2,300 works were listed for total suppression and another 350 for partial suppression. 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.^[12]

The full editing of Siku Quanshu was completed in about ten years; during these ten years, 3100 titles (or works), about 150,000 copies of books were either burnt or banned. Of those volumes that had been categorized into Siku Quanshu, many were subjected to deletion and modification. Books published during the Ming dynasty suffered the greatest damage.^[13]

The authority would judge any single character or any single sentence's neutrality; if the authority had decided these words, or sentence were derogatory or cynical towards the rulers, then persecution would begin.^[14] In Qianlong's time, there were 53 cases of literary inquisition, resulting in the victims being beheaded, or corpses being mutilated, or victims being slowly sliced into pieces until death (Lingchi).

European styles

Architecturally, Qianlong took personal interest in the expansion of the Old Summer Palace and commissioned the Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione for the construction of the Xiyanglou (西洋楼), or the Western-style mansion, to satisfy his taste for exotic buildings and objects. He also commissioned the French Jesuit Michel Benoist, to design a series of timed waterworks and fountains complete with underground machinery and pipes, for the amusement of the Imperial family. The French Jesuit Jean Denis Attiret also became "Painter to the Emperor" Qianlong.

During his reign the Emin Minaret was built in Turpan to commemorate his father.

Later years

In his later years, Qianlong was spoiled with power and glory, becoming disillusioned and complacent in his reign, placing his trust in corrupt officials like Yu Minzhong (于敏中), and later Heshen (和珅).

Emperor Qianlong in his study, painting by Giuseppe Castiglione, 18th century

As Heshen was the highest ranked minister and most favoured by Qianlong at the time, the day-to-day governance of the country was left in his hands, while Qianlong himself indulged in the arts, luxuries and literature. When Heshen was executed it was found that his personal fortune exceeded that of the country's depleted treasury, amount to 900,000,000 taels of silver, the total of 12 years of Treasury surplus of Manchu Qing court.^[15]

Qianlong began his reign with about 33,950,000 taels of silver in Treasury surplus.^{[citation needed]} At the peak of Qianlong's reign, around 1775, even with further tax cuts, the treasury surplus still reached 73,900,000 taels, a record unmatched by his predecessors, Kangxi or Yongzheng both of whom had implemented remarkable tax cut policies.^{[citation needed]}

However, due to numerous factors such as long term embezzlement and corruption by officials, frequent expeditions South, huge palace constructions, many war and rebellion campaigns as well as his own extravagant lifestyle, all of these cost the treasury a total of 150,200,000 silver taels.^{[citation needed]} This, coupled with his senior age and the lack of political reforms, ushered the beginning of the gradual decline and eventual demise of the Qing dynasty and empire, casting a shadow over his glorious and brilliant political life.^[16]

The Macartney Embassy

Main article: Macartney Embassy

See also: All under heaven, Hua-Yi distinction, and Kowtow

Lord Macartney's embassy, 1793.

The French Jesuit Joseph-Marie Amiot (1718–1793) was the official translator of Western languages for Emperor Qianlong.

During the mid-eighteenth century, Qianlong began to face pressures from the West to increase foreign trade. The proposed cultural exchange between the British Empire at the time and the Qing Empire collapsed due to many factors. Firstly, there was a lack of any precedent interaction with overseas foreign kingdoms apart from neighbouring tributory states to guide Qianlong towards a more informed response. Furthermore, competing worldviews that were incompatible between China and Britain, the former holding entrenched beliefs that China was the "central kingdom", and the latter's push for rapid liberalization of trade relations, worsened ties.

George Macartney, was sent by King George III as ambassador extraordinary to seek a range of trade concessions. He was granted an audience with the Qianlong Emperor, and attended the Emperor's 80th birthday. There is continued discussion about the nature of the audience, and what level of ceremonials were performed. Demands from the Qing Court that the British Trade ambassadors kneel and perform the kowtow were strongly resisted by Macartney, and debate continues as to what exactly occurred, differing opinions recorded by Qing courtiers and British delegates.^[17]

A description of the Emperor is provided in the account of one of the visiting Englishmen, Aeneas Anderson:

The Emperor is about five feet ten inches in height, and of a slender but elegant form; his complexion is comparatively fair, though his eyes are dark; his nose is rather aquiline, and the whole of his countenance presents a perfect regularity of feature, which, by no means, announce the great age he is said to have attained; his person is attracting, and his deportment accompanies by an affability, which, without lessening the dignity of the prince, evinces the amiable character of the man. His dress consisted of a loose robe of yellow silk, a cap of black velvet with a red ball on the top, and adorned with a peacock's feather, which is the peculiar distinction of mandarins of the first class. He wore silk boots embroidered with gold, and a sash of blue girded his waist.^[18]

It is uncertain whether Anderson actually saw the Emperor, or repeated another's sighting, as he was not involved in the ceremonies.

George Macartney's Manchu Qing observations

In George Macartney's memoirs, there were many passages describing what was, in his opinion, an overall poor quality of life for the Chinese under Qing rule. Macartney expressed opinions which were widely disseminated:

The Empire of China is an old, crazy, first-rate Man of War, which a fortunate succession of and vigilant officers have contrived to keep afloat for these hundred and fifty years past, and to overawe their neighbours merely by her bulk and appearance. But whenever an insufficient man happens to have the command on deck, adieu to the discipline and safety of the ship. She may, perhaps, not sink outright; she may drift some time as a wreck, and will then be dashed to pieces on the shore; but she can never be rebuilt on the old bottom.^[19]

The Titsingh Embassy

Illustration depicting the last European delegation to be received at the Qianlong Court in 1795 – Isaac Titsingh (seated European with hat, far left) and A.E. van Braam Houckgeest (seated European without hat).

A Dutch embassy arrived to the Qianlong court in 1795, and would turn out to be the last occasion in which any European appeared before the Chinese Court within the context of traditional Chinese imperial foreign relations.^[20]

Representing Dutch and Dutch East India Company interests, Isaac Titsingh traveled to Pekin in 1794–95 for celebrations of the sixtieth anniversary of the Qianlong Emperor's reign.^[21] The Titsingh delegation also included the Dutch-American Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest,^[22] whose detailed description of this embassy to the Chinese court was soon after published in the U.S. and Europe. Titsingh's French translator, Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes published his own account of the Titsingh mission in 1808. Voyage a Pékin, Manille et l'Ile de France provided an alternate perspective and a useful counterpoint to other reports which were then circulating. Titsingh himself died before he could publish his version of events.

In contrast to Macartney, Isaac Titsingh, the Dutch and VOC emissary in 1795 did not refuse to kowtow. In the year following Mccartney's rebuff, Titsingh and his colleagues were much feted by the Chinese because of what was construed as seemly compliance with conventional court etiquette.^[23]

Abdication

The emperor in old age

In October 1795, Qianlong officially announced that in the spring of the following year he would voluntarily abdicate his throne and pass the crown to his son. It was said that Qianlong had made a promise during the year of his ascension not to rule longer than his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor, who had reigned for 61 years.

Qianlong anticipated moving out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City. The Hall had been conventionally dedicated for the exclusive use of the reigning sovereign, and in 1771 the emperor ordered the beginning of construction on what was ostensibly intended as his retirement residence in another part of the Forbidden City: a lavish, two-acre walled retreat called the Ningshou gong,^[11] or "Palace of Tranquil Longevity", today more commonly known as the Qianlong Garden.^[24] The complex, completed in 1776, is currently undergoing a ten-year restoration led by the Palace Museum in Beijing and the World Monuments Fund (WMF). The first of the restored apartments, Qianlong's Juanqinzhai, or "Studio of Exhaustion From Diligent Service," began an exhibition tour of the United States in 2010.^[24]

Qianlong resigned the throne at the age of 85, in the 60th year of his reign, to his son, the Jiaqing emperor in 1795. For the next four years, he held the title "Retired Emperor (太上皇)," though he continued to hold on to power and the Jiaqing Emperor ruled only in name. He never moved into his retirement suites in the Qianlong Garden.^[2] He died in 1799.^[16][25]

Legends

The Qianlong Emperor in Armor on Horseback, by Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione(Long shining)(1688–1766 AD).

Consorts of Qianlong

Consorts and children of Qianlong

Qianlong was the son of Chen Yuanlong 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 Yuanlong'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 to 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's 6 visits to the Jiangnan 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.

Family

• Father: the Yongzheng Emperor (of whom he was the 4th son)
• Mother: Empress Xiaoshengxian (1692–1777) of the Niuhuru Clan (Chinese: 孝聖憲皇后; Manchu: Hiyoošungga Enduringge Temgetulehe Hūwanghu)

Consorts^[26]

• Empress Xiaoxianchun
• Ulanara, the Step Empress
• Empress Xiaoyichun
• Imperial Noble Consort Huixian
• Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui
• Imperial Noble Consort Shujia (?-1755) was Korean of origin. She was the mother of four of Qianlong's sons.
• Imperial Noble Consort Qinggong
• Imperial Noble Consort Zhemin (?-20 May 1735), of the Manchu Fuca clan, died shortly before Qianlong ascended the throne and has never been and imperial consort during her lifetime.
• Noble Consort Ying
• Noble Consort Wan
• Noble Consort Xun
• Noble Consort Xin
• Noble Consort Yu (1714–1792) of the Manchu Keliyete clan.
• Consort Dun
• Consort Shu
• Consort Rong, The Fragrant Concubine (?) likely amalgam of lore and reality, the story of Consort Rong, whose beauty and pleasing aroma was legendary, is still re-told today.
• Consort Jin (?-1822) of the Manchu Fuca clan. She was given the title of Consort by Qianlong's grandson, the Daoguang Emperor, in 1820 for she was the last widow of Qianlong.
• Consort Yu (1730–1774) of the Mongolian Borjigit clan
• Consort Fang (?-1801) of the Han Chinese Chen clan.
• Worthy Lady Shun

Sons

• Eldest son: Prince Yonghuang (5 July 1728 – 21 April 1750), son of Imperial Noble Consort Zhemin
• 2nd: Prince Yonglian [永璉] (9 August 1730 – 23 November 1738), first Crown Prince, son of Empress Xiaoxianchun
• 3rd: Prince Yongzhang [永璋] (15 July 1735 – 26 August 1760), son of Imperial Noble Consort Chun Hui, bore the title Prince of the second rank Xun (循郡王)
• 4th: Prince Yongcheng [永珹] (21 February 1739 – 5 April 1777), son of Imperial Noble Consort Shujia, bore the title Prince of the first rank Luduan (履端親王)
• 5th: Prince Yongqi [永琪] (23 March 1741 – 16 April 1766), son of Noble Consort Yu, bore the title Prince of the Blood Rong (榮親王)
• 6th: Prince Yongrong [永瑢] (28 January 1744 – 13 June 1790), son of Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui, bore the title Prince of the first rank Zhizhuang (質莊親王)
• 7th: Prince Yong Zhong [永琮] (27 May 1746 – 29 January 1748), 2nd Crown Prince, initially bore the title Prince of the First Rank Zhe (哲親王), son of Empress Xiaoxianchun
• 8th: Prince Yongxuan [永璇] (31 August 1746 – 1 September 1832), son of the Imperial Noble Consort Shujia, bore the title Prince of the First Rank Yishen (儀慎親王)
• 9th: Prince ? (2 August 1748 – 11 June 1749), son of Imperial Noble Consort Shujia
• 10th: Prince Yongyue (12 June 1751 – 7 July 1753), son of Consort Shu
• 11th: Prince Yongxing [永瑆] (22 March 1752 – 10 May 1823), son of the Imperial Noble Consort Shujia, bore the title Prince of the First Rank Chengzhe(成哲親王)
• 12th: Prince Yongji [永璂] (7 June 1752 – 17 March 1776), son of Ulanara, the Step Empress
• 13th: Prince Yongjing [永璟] (2 January 1756 – 7 September 1757), son of Ulanara, the Step Empress
• 14th: Prince Yonglu [永璐] (31 August 1757 – 3 May 1760), son of Empress Xiaoyichun
• 15th: Prince Yongyan [永琰] (13 November 1760 – 2 September 1820), son of Empress Xiaoyichun. created Prince of the First Rank Jia (嘉親王) in 1789, ascended the throne on 9 February 1796 as the Jiaqing Emperor
• 16th: Prince ? (13 January 1763 – 6 May 1765), son of Empress Xiaoyichun
• 17th: Prince Yonglin [永璘] (17 June 1766 – 25 April 1820), son of Empress Xiaoyichun, created a beile in 1789, elevated to Prince of the Second Rank Qing (慶郡王) in 1799, elevated to Prince of the First Rank Qing (慶親王) in 1820 but died that same year. His grandson was Yikuang, Prince Qing.

• Famous general Fu Kang'an (福康安) was rumored to be an illegitimate son of Qianlong but this has never been proven, however, he was the most favoured general in the Qianlong's reign.

Daughters

• Eldest: (1728–1729), daughter of Empress Xiaoxianchun
• Second: (1731) daughter of Imperial Noble Consort Zhemin
• Third: Kurun Princess Hejing [固倫和敬公主] (28 June 1731 – 15 August 1792), daughter of Empress Xiaoxianchun.
• Fourth: Heshuo Princess Hejia [和硕和嘉公主] (24 December 1745 – 29 October 1767), daughter of the Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui
• Fifth: (1753–1755) daughter of Ulanara, the Step Empress
• Sixth: (24 August 1755 – 27 September 1758), daughter of Noble Consort Xin
• Seventh: Kurun Princess Hejing [固伦和静公主] (10 August 1756 – 9 February 1975), daughter of Empress Xiaoyichun
• Eight: (1758–1767) daughter of Noble Consort Xin
• Ninth: Heshuo Princess Heke [和硕和恪公主] (17 August 1758 – 14 April 1780), daughter of Empress Xiaoyichun
• Tenth: Kurun Princess Hexiao [固伦和孝公主] (2 February 1775 – 13 October 1823), daughter of Consort Dun and Qianlong's favorite daughter^[27].

Adopted daughter

• Heshuo Princess Hewan [和硕和婉公主] (24 July 1734 – 2 May 1760), originally the eldest daughter of Hongzhou, Prince He, the fifth son of the Yongzheng Emperor and therefore Qianlong's niece. Her biological mother was Lady Ujaku (乌札库氏), Hongzhou's principal wife.

Ancestry

See also

• Jean Joseph Marie Amiot
• Giuseppe Castiglione
• Manwen Laodang
• Canton System
• Xi Yang Lou
• Long Corridor
• Putuo Zongcheng Temple
• Qianlong Dynasty

Notes

1. ^ The Qianlong era name, however, started only on 12 February 1736, the first day of that lunar year. 8 February 1796 was the last day of the lunar year known in Chinese as the 60th year of Qianlong.
2. ^ ^{a b} Jacobs, Andrew. "Dusting Off a Serene Jewel Box," New York Times. 31 December 2008.
3. ^ Wei Yuan, 聖武記 Military history of the Qing Dynasty, vol.4. “計數十萬戶中，先痘死者十之四，繼竄入俄羅斯哈薩克者十之二，卒殲於大兵者十之三。”
4. ^ ^{a b} Perdue 2005, p. 283-287.
5. ^ Clarke 2004, p. 37.
6. ^ Dabringhaus, Sabine (2011). "Staatsmann, Feldherr und Dichter" (in German). Damals 43 (1): 16–24. 
7. ^ Hall, pp. 27–29
8. ^ Dai, p.145
9. ^ Schirokauer, Conrad & Clark, Donald N. Modern East Asia: A Brief History, 2nd ed. pp. 35. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston & New York. 2008 ISBN 978-0-618-92070-9.
10. ^ ^{a b c d e} Holzworth, Gerald (12 November 2005). "China: the Three Emperors 1662–1795". The Royal Academy of Arts. http://www.threeemperors.org.uk/index.php?pid=19. 
11. ^ ^{a b c d} Spence, Jonathan (Winter 2003/2004), "Portrait of an Emperor, Qianlong: Ruler, Connoisseur, Scholar", ICON Magazine / WMF (World Monuments Fund): 24–30, http://www.wmf.org/sites/default/files/wmf_article/pg_24-30_qianlong.pdf, retrieved 12 July 2011 
12. ^ Peterson; John King Fairbank (December 2002). The Cambridge History of China. Cambridge University Press. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-521-24334-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=hi2THl2FUZ4C&pg=PA290&dq=The+Literary+Inquisition+of+Ch%27ien-Lung.&lr=&hl=zh-TW. 
13. ^ Guy (1987), p. 167.
14. ^ Guy (1987), p. 166.
15. ^ "Qianlong(in Chinese text)". hudong.com. http://www.hudong.com/wiki/%E4%B9%BE%E9%9A%86. Retrieved 2008-10-24. 
16. ^ ^{a b} Palace Museum: Qianlong Emperor (乾隆皇帝)
17. ^ For a conventional account of the audience question, see Alain Peyrefitte, The Immobile Empire, translated by Jon Rotschild (New York: Knopf: Distributed by Random House, 1992.)
    For a critique of the above narrative, see James L. Hevia, Cherishing Men from Afar: Qing Guest Ritual and the Macartney Embassy of 1793.(Durham: Duke University Press, 1995).
    For a discussion on Hevia's book, see exchange between Hevia and Joseph W. Esherick in Modern China 24, no. 2 (1998).
18. ^ Æneas Anderson, A Narrative of the British Embassy to China, in the Years 1792, 1793, and 1794; Containing the Various Circumstances of the Embassy, with Accounts of Customs and Manners of the Chinese (London: J. Debrett, 1795) p. 176.
19. ^ "Our first ambassador to China Robbins, Helen Henrietta macartney 1908 Memoie of George Mackarney". Hong Kong University. http://ebook.lib.hku.hk/CTWE/B36599578/. Retrieved 2008-10-25. 
20. ^ O'Neil, Patricia O. (1995). Missed Opportunities: Late 18th century Chinese Relations with England and the Netherlands. [PhD dissertation, University of Washington]
21. ^ Duyvendak, J.J.L. (1937). 'The Last Dutch Embassy to the Chinese Court (1794–1795).' T'oung Pao 33:1–137.
22. ^ van Braam Houckgeest, Andreas Everardus. (1797). Voyage de l'ambassade de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales hollandaises vers l'empereur de la Chine, dans les années 1794 et 1795; see also 1798 English translation: An authentic account of the embassy of the Dutch East-India company, to the court of the emperor of China, in the years 1974 and 1795, Vol. I.
23. ^ van Braam, An authentic account..., Vol. I (1798 English edition) pp. 283–288.
24. ^ ^{a b} World Monuments Fund. "Juanqizhai in the Qianlong Garden". World Monuments Fund. http://www.wmf.org/project/juanqinzhai-qianlong-garden. Retrieved 16 July 2011. 
25. ^ Palace Museum: Jiaqing Emperor (嘉庆皇帝)
26. ^ Draft history of the Qing dynasty, Consort files. 《清史稿》卷二百十四．列傳一．后妃傳.
27. ^ source needed.

References

• Æneas Anderson, A Narrative of the British Embassy to China, in the Years 1792, 1793, and 1794; Containing the Various Circumstances of the Embassy, with Accounts of Customs and Manners of the Chinese (London: J. Debrett, 1795)
• van Braam Houckgeest, Andreas Everardus. (1797). Voyage de l'ambassade de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales hollandaises vers l'empereur de la Chine, dans les années 1794 et 1795. Philadelphia: M.L.E. Moreau de Saint-Méry.
• Van Braam Houckgeest, Andreas Everardus. (1798). An authentic account of the embassy of the Dutch East-India company, to the court of the emperor of China, in the years 1974 and 1795, Vol. I. London : R. Phillips. [digitized by University of Hong Kong Libraries, Digital Initiatives, "China Through Western Eyes." ]
• Chang, Michael (2007). A court on horseback: imperial touring & the construction of Qing rule, 1680–1785. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center.
• Clarke, Michael Edmund (2004).  "In the Eye of Power: China and Xinjiang from the Qing Conquest to the 'New Great Game' for Central Asia, 1759–2004." Doctoral thesis, Dept. of International Business & Asian Studies, Griffith University, Brisbane.
• Crossley, Pamela."A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology." 10-ISBN 0-520-23424-3; 13-ISBN 978-0-520-23424-6
• de Guignes, Chrétien-Louis-Joseph (1808). Voyage a Pékin, Manille et l'Ile de France. Paris.
• Dai, Yingcong (2004). "A Disguised Defeat: The Myanmar Campaign of the Qing Dynasty". Modern Asian Studies (Cambridge University Press).
• Guy, R. Kent (October 1987). The Emperor's Four Treasures. Harvard University Press. pp. 167. ISBN 978-0-674-25115-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=bFA6a60_5LgC&pg=PA78&dq=The+Emperor%27s+Four+Treasuries:+Scholars+and+the+State+in+the+Late+Ch%27ien-lung+Era.&hl=zh-TW#PPA166,M1. 
• Hall, D.G.E. (1960). Burma (3rd edition ed.). Hutchinson University Library. ISBN 978-1406735031.
• Henss, Michael: The Qianlong Emperor as a Grand Lama. In: Asian Art Gallery, Nov. 1998.
• Perdue, Peter C. (2005).  China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia. Cambridge, Mass.; London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
• Robbins, Helen Henrietta Macartney (1908). Our First Ambassador to China: An Account of the Life of George, Earl of Macartney with Extracts from His Letters, and the Narrative of His Experiences in China, as Told by Himself, 1737–1806, from Hitherto Unpublished Correspondence and Documents. London : John Murray. [digitized by University of Hong Kong Libraries, Digital Initiatives, "China Through Western Eyes." ]
• Rockhill, William Woodville. "Diplomatic Missions to the Court of China: The Kotow Question I," The American Historical Review, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Apr., 1897), pp. 427–442.
• Rockhill, William Woodville. "Diplomatic Missions to the Court of China: The Kotow Question II," The American Historical Review, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Jul., 1897), pp. 627–643.

Qianlong Emperor House of Aisin-Gioro Born: 25 September 1711 Died: 7 February 1799
Regnal titles
Preceded by The Yongzheng Emperor	Emperor of China 1735–1796	Succeeded by The Jiaqing Emperor

Persondata
Name	Qianlong
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 September 1711
Place of birth
Date of death	7 February 1799
Place of death