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The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 1711 – 7 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned officially from 1735 until his abdication in 1796, but retained ultimate power subsequently until ...
- 18 October 1735 – 9 February 1796
- Empress Xiaoshengxian of the Niohuru clan
- Overview
- Youth and education
- Appearance and character
- Dynastic achievements
Qianlong (born September 25, 1711, China—died February 7, 1799, Beijing) reign name (nianhao) of the fourth emperor of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty (1644–1911/12) whose six-decade reign (1735–96) was one of the longest in Chinese history. He conducted a series of military campaigns that eliminated the Turk and Mongol threats to northeastern China (175...
On October 7, 1735, on the eve of the death of Hongli’s father, the Yongzheng emperor (reigned 1722–35), Hongli was declared the heir apparent. In fact, in keeping with the wish of his grandfather, the Kangxi emperor (reigned 1661–1722), Hongli had been secretly designated Yongzheng’s successor shortly after the latter had ascended the throne despi...
Nearly six feet tall, Qianlong was of slender build with an upright bearing that he kept even in old age. His vigorous constitution and love of the outdoors were widely admired. In private life, Qianlong was deeply attached to his first wife, the empress Xiaoxian, whom he had married in 1727 and by whom he had (in 1730) a son whom he wished to see ...
In the 18th century a considerable expansion of arable lands, a rapidly growing population, and good administration brought the Qing dynasty to its highest degree of power. Under Qianlong, China reached its widest limits. In the northeast, decisive results were achieved by successive military expeditions in 1755–60. Campaigns against the turbulent Turkish and Mongolian populations eliminated the danger of invasion that had always threatened the Chinese empire and culminated in the creation of the New Province (Xinjiang) in northwest China, which enlarged the empire by approximately 600,000 square miles (1,600,000 square km). In the south, campaigns were less successful, but Chinese authority was nonetheless reinforced by them. An anti-Chinese revolt at Lhasa, Tibet, was easily put down in 1752, and Qianlong tightened his grip on a Tibet where real power passed from the Dalai Lama to two Chinese high commissioners. This brought an end to incursions on the Tibetan frontiers by Gurkhas from Nepal (1790–92), who now agreed to pay regular tribute to Beijing (the Qing capital). Campaigns against native tribes in rebellion from the west of Yunnan (in southwestern China) in 1748, then against Myanmar (Burmese) tribes in 1769, ended in failure, but new expeditions finally crushed the Yunnan rebels in 1776. Myanmar (Burma) itself, weakened by internal conflicts and by struggles with Siam (Thailand), agreed in 1788 to pay tribute to Beijing. In Annam (Vietnam), where rival factions were in dispute, the Chinese armies intervened in 1788–89, at first victoriously but later suffering heavy defeats. The new ruler of Hanoi was nevertheless willing to recognize that his kingdom was a tributary state. In the east, a serious rebellion on the island of Taiwan was crushed in 1787. The enormous cost of these expeditions seriously depleted the Chinese treasury’s once healthy finances.
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Still more serious was the bad management, the extravagance, and the corruption that marked the last two decades of Qianlong’s reign and weakened the empire for some time to come. Qianlong was 65 years old when he noticed a young officer, Heshen, whom he was to make the most powerful person in the empire. In a few years, Heshen was given considerable responsibilities, and his son married the emperor’s favourite daughter. Under Heshen, who was intelligent but thirsty for power and wealth and completely without scruples, nepotism and corruption reached such a point, especially during Qianlong’s last years, that the dynasty was permanently harmed.
Qianlong maintained blind confidence in his favourite. The Jiaqing emperor, who succeeded Qianlong, had to wait for the old emperor’s death before he could have Heshen arrested, relieve him of all his responsibilities, order the confiscation of his property, and grant him the favour of a suicide by reason of his blood ties with the imperial family.
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The Qianlong Emperor (乾隆帝) (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 (雍正帝), he reigned officially from October 18, 1735 to February 9, 1796, at which point he abdicated in favor of ...
- Aixin-Jueluo (愛新覺羅)Aisin-Gioro
- Qiánlóng (乾隆; Ch'ien-lung)Abkai Wehiyehe
- October 18, 1735-February 8, 1796¹
- Hongli (弘曆)Hung Li
Qianlong emperor, or Ch’ien-lung emperor orig. Hongli, (born Sept. 25, 1711, China—died Feb. 7, 1799, Beijing), Fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty in China. His reign (1735–96) was one of the longest in Chinese history. China’s boundaries reached their greatest extent, encompassing Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, Taiwan, and portions of Central ...
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 1711 – 7 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned officially from 1735 until his abdication in 1796, but retained ultimate power subsequently until ...
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The Jesuits are a Roman Catholic religious order founded during the 16th century who had been active as missionaries in China. Christianity had been outlawed during the reign of the Qianlong emperor’s father, however, small number of Jesuits remained in China solely as servants to the emperor and subject to his command. In the 1740s, one of ...
Qianlong (1711-1899) was the emperor of China and an ideal Confucian ruler during the height of the last dynasty, the Qing (Ch'ing). Qianlong (Ch'ien-lung, Hung-li) was born into the Aisin Gioro clan of the Manchu people, a seminomadic race living in Manchuria. During the closing years of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), the Aisin Gioro clan, led ...
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