Qianlong Emperor of China

The Qianlong emperor (Chinese: 乾隆; Wade-Giles: Ch'ien-lung), 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.

Table of contents

1 Names 2 Early years 3 Ascencion to the throne 4 Politics 5 Territorial expansion 6 Intellectual developments 7 Arts 8 Later years 9 Legends

Names

Given Name	Posthumous NameXXXXXXXX (short form) 諡號 (shi hao)	Temple Name 廟號 (miao hao)	Reign Name 年號 (nian hao) Chinese; Manchu	Reign Years	Name by which most commonly known
Hong-li 弘曆	Chundi 純帝	Gaozong 高宗	Qianlong, 乾隆; Abkai wehiyehe	1735-1796 (died 1799)	The Qianlong emperor

Early years

Ascencion to the throne

Politics

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, 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 Monglia. Qianlong again sent armies into Tibet and firmly established the Dalai Lama as ruler, with a Qing resident and garrison to preserve Chinese suzereinty. 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. (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 Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kirghiz, and Mongols) who were at least potentially hostile. It was also a very expensive enterprise.

Intellectual developments

Arts

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. Some 2300 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.

Later years

Legends