Qianlong Emperor

Qianlong Emperor – Qing Dynasty

Hongli, known as the Qianlong Emperor, was Qing Dynasty’s fifth emperor and the fourth to lead China proper. His rule lasted from 1735 until 1796.

The Qianlong Emperor inherited a thriving empire from his predecessor. Because he was a capable and educated leader, the Qing Empire reached its peak. It was the most prosperous era, boasting a thriving economy and a large population.

As a military leader, the Qianlong Emperor led military campaigns that extended the territory to its largest extent. He also destroyed several kingdoms in Central Asia.

Additionally, the empire has met a variety of artistic and cultural achievements under Qianlong’s leadership. However, corruption in the court caused the decline of the Qing empire in his late years.

Hongli’s Life before Leading the Qing Empire

Hongli was the fourth son of the Yinzhen or the Yongzheng Emperor and Xi Guifei (Noble Consort). His grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor, and his father adored Hongli.

According to historians, the main reason why the Kangxi Emperor appointed Yinzhen as his successor was Hongli, his favorite grandson. He wanted Hongli to eventually succeed the throne after the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor.

The Kangxi Emperor recognized his grandson’s outstanding qualities. Thus, he decided to prepare Hongli for his future task as the Qing emperor. He felt that Hongli’s mannerisms resembled his.

As an adolescent, Hongli was skilled in martial arts and had literary abilities. He underwent a carefully planned education and was given the teachings of Fumin, an eminent scholar.

With that, Hongli’s succession of the Qing empire’s throne was foreseen before the official proclamation before his father’s death.

Hongli as Prince Bao of the First Rank

After his father was crowned in 1722, Hongli was named as the first-rank prince or Qinwang. This was under the title Prince Bao of the First Rank.

Like many of his uncles, the future Qing emperor engaged in a succession battle with his older half-brother, Hongshi. The latter had all the support and assistance from a lot of officials within the court. He even has the support of Prince Lian.

For so many years, Emperor Yongzheng didn’t nominate any of his sons as the crown prince. However, a lot of officials assumed that he favored Hongli out of all his sons.

The future Qianlong Emperor traveled south for inspection trips. He was also known as an able enforcer and negotiator. Occasionally, he was appointed as the chief regent when his father was not in the capital.

While the young Hongli was still a prince, he was entrusted by the Yongzheng Emperor with important ritual tasks. He was included by the latter in important discussions regarding military strategy in the court.

Enthronement of the Qianlong Emperor

To prevent succession struggles, the Yongzheng Emperor wrote the name of his chosen heir on a piece of paper. He kept this paper in a sealed box secured behind a tablet on the throne’s top. This throne was located at the Qianqing Palace or the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

The name that the Yongzheng Emperor wrote was only revealed to the imperial family’s members upon his death. The senior ministers were also required to be present when it was to be revealed.

The Yongzheng Emperor died in 1735, and his will was announced before the entire Qing imperial court. His chosen successor was Hongli, and from there, he became the new Qing emperor. Hongli adopted the title “Qianlong” as his era name. This translates to “Lasting Eminence”.

The Reign of the Qianlong Emperor

The Qianlong Emperor was a successful and skilled military leader. Right after his ascension to the throne, he commanded armies to prevent the Miao rebellion.

Later campaigns led by the Qing Emperor allowed him to further expand territories controlled by the Qing Empire. It was made possible by both the military’s might and the declining power and disunity of their rivals.

During the Qianlong Emperor’s rule, the country was able to achieve maximum territorial expanse. With that, they were even able to conquer places like Xinjiang in the West. As for those in the south, like Annam and Myanmar, they were compelled to recognize the Chinese empire.

During this period, commerce continued to flourish. It was also the case with paintings, handicrafts, porcelain manufacturing, and printmaking.

The Xinjiang in the Ming Empire

Under the rule of the Qianlong Emperor, the Dzungar Khanate was instilled into the empire’s rule. It was renamed Xinjiang; to the West, Ili was captured then garrisoned by their army.

Incorporating Xinjiang into the Qing Empire was due to the last defeat and fall of the Dzungars. They were an allied group of the West Mongol clans.

There, the Qianlong Emperor ordered the genocide of the Dzungar. According to Wei Yuan, a Qing scholar, around 40% of the hundreds of thousands of Dzungars died because of smallpox. Around 20% of them escaped to the Russian or Kazkh Empire, while the Qing killed 30%.

The incident was even described as the entire destruction of the Zunghar state and the Zunghars as humans.

The historian named Peter Perdue claimed that the massacre of the Dzungars was due to an explicit massacre policy. It was all started by the Qianlong Emperor.

A lot have compared the Dzungar genocide to the Qing’s extermination of the Jinchuan people of Tibet. It happened in 1776, as well as during the rule of Emperor Hongli.

When the victorious army returned to Beijing, the celebratory tune was performed to honor them. There’s even a Manchu version of it and was recorded by the Jesuit Amoit, then was sent to Paris, France.

Peace, Prosperity, and Flourishing Commerce

Under the Qianlong Emperor’s leadership, the Manchu Empire reached its peak. The emperor’s ambitious military campaigns in the West expanded the Qing empire’s rule over Tibet and Central Asia. As a result, Central China enjoyed a longer period of peace and prosperity.

During these years, the population increased, commerce flourished, and farmlands were expanded. The Qianlong Emperor cut taxes, reduced rents, implemented flood-control measures, and promoted new agricultural methods. He also secured China’s borders, resulting in lasting peace.

Additionally, the Qing emperor traveled in various places. When it came to foreign policies, his approach was welcoming foreign diplomats lavishly, then turning down their requests.

Change of Policy and Recovery of Ruling Classes’ Privilege

The Qianlong Emperor found some of his father’s policies too strict. Because of that, he released the officials imprisoned during the Yongzheng Emperor’s reign. He abolished his father’s policy requiring everyone to pay taxes, then re-established the ruling class’ privileges.

Aside from that, he thought his father’s articles were too radical. Hence, he burned some of these. He also adjusted other policies to ensure the Qing Empire’s unification and people’s satisfaction.

The young Qing emperor was more tolerant towards corrupt officials than his father. However, the changes he made caused the government’s decline in the following years.

Cutting Off From the Outside World

Simultaneously, the Qianlong Emperor entirely banned international trade with the country. He even went as far as cutting off communication with other nations.

A vital reason for doing this was to avoid any national rebel troops from having connections with foreign forces. Most of these forces were still loyal to the Ming and may likely threaten the rule of the Qing Empire.

Together with the suppression of commerce and encouragement of agriculture, such rules left the Qing Empire behind the West.

Artistic and Cultural Achievements

Hongli’s role in the letters and arts of his time was likely a considerable one. During that time, it was usual to credit the emperor for works created by various artists during his rule. With that, it was quite impossible to know the extent of Hongli’s personal works.

However, it’s clear that he created both poetry and prose, then practiced calligraphy, as well as painting.

The Qianlong Emperor was a huge patron and vital restorer & preserver of the Confucian culture. He loved collecting and even acquiring a lot of the country’s great private collections. Of course, the emperor did everything he could to get his hands on these items.

Upon acquiring these, he then reintegrated the treasures into the Qing’s imperial collection. Compared to other Manchu emperors, the Qianlong Emperor placed a lot of attention and effort to the imperial collection.

Sponsorship of the Sikuquanshu

One thing to note is the sponsorship of the Qianlong Emperor on a collection of Chinese texts in four classical divisions of Chinese learning. These are belles letters, plus historical, classical, and philosophical works.

The Sikuquanshu or Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature involved analyzing both private and imperial libraries. It was accomplished for ten years under the management of Ji Yun and Lu Xixiong, who were both scholars. At this time, the ruler himself intervened a couple of times for the choice of texts.

The different handwritten series of the Sikuquanshu’s volumes were distributed among the primary imperial palaces. Or, these were placed in libraries that were only open to the many scholars of that time.

The Sikuquanshu’s descriptive catalog stays as an essential bibliographic manual for studying classical Chinese literature.

Collection of Landscape Paintings and Jade Items

The huge art collection of the Qianlong Emperor became a huge part of his life. During his travels, he brought with him his landscape paintings to compare them with the actual scenery. Or, he would hang them in the palaces’ special rooms to inscribe them during every visit.

Not only that, but the Qing Dynasty emperor regularly put in poetic inscriptions to the artworks of the imperial collection. He did this to follow the example of rulers from the Song and the literati artists of the Ming.

These individuals were a mark of prominence for the work and a sign for his role as emperor. Most particular to the emperor is another specific type of inscription. It displays a distinct practice that deals with works of art created for himself.

On some specific occasions over lengthy periods, he considered other paintings or calligraphy that had special meaning to him. These were inscribed often with private notes, and using them like a diary.

A lot of the thousand-jade items in the imperial collection come from his reign. The Qianlong Emperor had interest in gathering ancient bronze items like seals and mirrors.

Aside from these, he was into pottery, ceramics, as well as applied arts like metal and lacquer work. These flourished during his time.

Burning of Books and Modification of Text

During Qianlong’s reign, around 2,300 literary works were listed for complete suppression, while 350 were listed for partial suppression. The intention was to eliminate rebellious writings that were against the Qing. These also included those that insulted barbarian dynasties, and those that dealt with problems regarding frontier and defense.

It took around ten years to finish editing the Siku Quanshu (The Complete Library in Four Sections). Throughout these years of editing the collection, over 3,000 titles and 150,000 books were burnt or banned. For the volumes that were categorized for Siku Quanshu, some were deleted and modified.

Books published during the Ming Dynasty suffered the most damage. The government judged the neutrality of any character or sentence. If they thought these words were suspicious or derogatory towards the leaders, persecution happened.

During Qianlong Emperor’s reign, there were 53 cases of literary inquisition. Victims were executed by beheading or Lingchi (slow slicing). If they were dead, their corpses were mutilated.

Promotion of the Manchu Language

When he was a child, the Qianlong Emperor was taught using the Mongolian, Manchu, and Chinese languages. He was also arranged to be taught in Tibetan language, and he was able to speak in Chagatai and Tangut.

Yet this Qing Emperor Hongli was more concerned than his predecessors to promote and preserve the Manchu language. He even proclaimed that language was the keystone for Manchu.

So, he commissioned to have new Manchu dictionaries; then, he directed the establishment of the Pentaglot Dictionary. It provided the equivalent for Manchu words in Turkic, Tibetan, and Mongolian. Plus, he requested the Manchu translation of the Buddhist canon.

The Yuding Xiyu Tongwen Zhi or Imperial Western Regions’ Thesaurus was commissioned by the emperor to be made. It was a thesaurus of geographic areas in Xinjiang in Mongol, Oirat, Chinese, Tuki, and Tibetan.

The Literary Works of Qianlong Emperor

The Qianlong Emperor was an eloquent poet and essayist. He was also one of the most prolific writers of all time.

It had more than 40,000 poems and 1,300 prose texts that were listed. All these made Hongli one of the most creative writers in history. There’s a long list of classic poems that are categorized by praising particular objects.

The Qing emperor visited Mukden (today’s Shenyang, Liaoning) in 1743. There, he wrote the Ode to Mukden in Chinese. Mukden is a Chinese region that was later called Manchuria.

The Ode to Mukden was a Fu poetry written in classic style, praising the beauty and historical values of Mukden. He described the mountains and wildlife to rationalize his belief that the Qing Dynasty would last.

In 1748, the emperor ordered a jubilee printing of his work in both Chinese and Manchu languages. It used some pre-Qin forms, while the Manchu styles had to be invented.

Construction of Palaces

The Qianlong Emperor was known to be aggressive when it comes to construction. In the hills located just northwest of Beijing, the emperor had the villa called Garden of Perfect Brightness expanded.

Eventually, he added a couple more villas and called them the Elegant Spring Garden and Garden of Eternal Spring. As time progressed, the Old Summer Palace eventually became five times bigger than the Forbidden City.

When he was to celebrate his mother’s birthday (Empress Dowager Chongqing), the Qing Emperor Hongli ordered another form of construction. He had the lake in the Garden of Clear Ripples dredged, then called it Kunming Lake. The emperor even had a villa renovated on the lake’s eastern shore.

The Qianlong Emperor didn’t stop there. He also had the Rehe Province’s imperial summer palace expanded. It was beyond the Great Wall, and it became a 3rd capital where the emperor held court with Mongol nobles.

Not only here, but the emperor spent quite a lot of time at the Mulan Hunting Grounds. It was located north of Rehe, and it’s where the imperial hunt was held yearly.

Tibetan Buddhism

The long connection of the Manchu rule with Hongli’s fascination with Tibetan Buddhism provided assurance.

His personal commitments can be affirmed in the different Tibetan language sources and court records. Other than these, his beliefs can be seen reflected in Tibetan Buddist images of the emperor’s tomb. In fact, it’s the most private and personal expression of the ruler’s life.

He backed the Yellow Church to keep the peace between the Mongols. That’s because they were followers of the Panchen Lama and Dalai Lama of the church.

Hongli had the explanation set in the Yonghe Temple, Beijing. It was specifically placed on a stele with the title Lama Shuo. The emperor also stated that it was simply to pursue their policy of reaching out their affection to the weak.

This eventually led him to support the Yellow Church.

The Lama Shuo against Han Criticisms

The explanation supporting the “Yellow Hats” was used to deflect Han criticism of the policy by Emperor Hongli. He had the “Lama Shuo” stele engraved in Mongol, Tibetan, Chinese, and Manchu writing.

It said the following: “Patronizing the Yellow Church maintains the peace between the Mongols. This being a vital task to protect the religion.

To do this, we don’t display any bias. We don’t idolize the Tibetan priests like what was done during the Yuan Dynasty.”

Emperor Hongli turned the Yonghe Palace into a Tibetan Buddhist temple in 1744 for the Mongols. Then, he had an edict carved on stele to commemorate it in different languages. These are Mongolian, Tibetan, Manchu, and Chinese.

It was likely that the Qianlong Emperor first had it written in Chinese before the Manchu version.