Qianlong in Qing Dynasty
4 min readThe Emperor Qianlong （see Figure 18）wasborn Hongli （September 25，1711-February 7，1799）.He 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 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.
Officially he abdicated and received the title Taishanghuang ，meaning the“Emperor above the Emperor”.In practice，however，he ruled in the stead of his son Jiaqing，who obeyed every order of him.Despite his retirement，however，he retained ultimate power until his death in 1799.Such phenomena occurred in China time and again.
There are many myths and legends that say Qianlong was actually a Han and not of Manchu descent，while there were some that say Qianlong was only half Manchu and half Han Chinese descent.The story goes as the following：Like all Qing emperors，Yongzheng went hunting deer in the Chengde area.Since it was late and he was far away from his Bi Shu Shan Zhuang ，“Royal Manor For Escaping The Heat”，he slept in a country cottage.
Having drunken the deer-blood wine he couldn’t bear his sexual lust，so he had intercourse with a peasant girl of Han，because he had，in the moment，no concubines nearby.The girl was pregnant and gave birth to Qianlong.She was taken into the Forbidden City and entitled“Guifei” meaning favorite concubine.
Nevertheless，looking at historical records，Qianlong was adored both by his grandfather（Kangxi Emperor）and his father（Yongzheng Emperor）.Some historians argue that the main reason why Kangxi Emperor appointed Yongzheng as his successor to the throne was because of Qianlong.The boy washis favorite grandson and he felt that Qianlong’s mannerism and ways were very close to his own.
The Accession to the Throne The Qianlong emperor acceded to the dragon throne at the age of 24，when his father，the Yongzheng Emperor，died suddenly.The Yongzheng Emperor，hoping to avoid repetition of the succession crisis that had tainted his own accession to the throne，had the name of his successor placed in a sealed box secured behind the tablet over the throne in Qianqing Hall .The name in the box was to be revealed to other members of the royal family in the presence of all senior ministers only upon the death of the emperor.
In 1735，when Yongzheng died，the will was taken out and read out before the entire Qing Court and Qianlong be-came the 4th Manchu emperor to rule China.In fact，even before Qianlong’s personal name，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.
Politics and Territorial Expansion The Qianlong emperor was a successful military leader，presiding over a huge expansion 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 ，meaning“New Frontier”，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 Gurkhas forced these peoples to submit and send tribute.
On coming to the throne，Qianlong continued to work with his father’s and grandfather’s domestic policies，but did much to change the foreign policy of the Qing Empire.During his reign, China’s borders reached their greatest extent. The Qing Empire encompassed Korea, Mongolia and all of modern China; an area of 12 million square kilometers, and most Asian countries like Burma and Vietnam paid tribute to the Qing.
Achievements of Qianlong’s Reign The reign of Qianlong was also a time of great economic prosperity for China. Building on the solid economic foundations laid by Yongzheng, Qianlong expanded and diversified the economy and developed agriculture, to great success. Population soared; by the late 18th century over 300 million people lived in China. Being a great patron of the arts and culture, Qianlong also contributed greatly to a cultural Golden Age, with new styles of painting and building being developed.
After the glittering century-long rule of the three emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, China seemed the most powerful country in the world. It produced all it needed; there were hardly any imports, and still had plenty left to trade with the European states. Yet in the later years of Qianlong’s reign, the seeds of decline were sown.
