Xianfeng Emperor

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Xianfeng Emperor : biography

17 July 1831 – 22 August 1861

The Xianfeng Emperor (Wade-Giles: Hsien-feng Emperor; , pinyin: Xiánfēngdì; 17 July 183122 August 1861), born Aisin-Gioro I Ju, was the ninth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1850 to 1861.

Early reign

Yizhu succeeded the throne in 1850, at age 19, and was a relatively young Emperor. He inherited a dynasty that faced not only internal but also foreign challenges. Yizhu’s reign title, Xianfeng (咸丰/咸豐), which means "Universal Prosperity", did not reflect the situation. In 1850 the first of a series of popular rebellions began that would nearly destroy the dynasty. The Taiping Rebellion began in December 1850, when Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka leader of a syncretic Christian sect, defeated local forces sent to disperse his followers. Hong then proclaimed the establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the rebellion spread to several provinces with amazing speed. The next year the Nien Rebellion started in North China. Unlike the Christian Taipings’, the Nien movement lacked a clear political program, but they became a serious threat to Beijing with the mobility of their cavalry-based armies. Fixed between two powerful forces the Qing suffered repeated defeats.

In 1853 the Taiping captured Nanjing and for a while it seemed that Beijing would fall next; but the Taiping northern expedition was defeated and the situation stabilized. Xianfeng dispatched several prominent mandarins, like Zeng Guofan, and Imperial relatives, like the Mongol general Sengge Rinchen, to crush the rebellions, but they only obtained limited success. The biggest revolt of the Miao people against Chinese rule in history started in 1854, and ravaged the region until finally put down in 1873. In 1856 an attempt to regain Nanjing was defeated and the Panthay Rebellion broke out in Yunnan.

Meanwhile, an initially minor incident on the coasts triggered the Second Opium War. Anglo-French forces, after inciting a few battles (not all victories for them) on the coast near Tianjin, attempted "negotiation" with the Qing Government. Xianfeng, under the influence of the Concubine Yi (懿貴妃, later the Empress Dowager Cixi), believed in Chinese superiority and would not agree to any colonial demands. He delegated Prince Gong for several negotiations but relations broke down completely when a British diplomatic envoy, Sir Harry Parkes, was arrested during negotiations on 18 September.

The Anglo-French invasion clashed with Sengge Rinchen’s Mongolian cavalry on 18 September near Zhangjiawan before proceeding toward the outskirts of Beijing for a decisive battle in Tongzhou District, Beijing. On 21 September, at the Battle of Palikao, Sengge Rinchen’s 10,000 troops, including élite Mongolian cavalry, were completely annihilated after several doomed frontal charges against the concentrated firepower of the Anglo-French forces, which entered Beijing on 6 October.

On 18 October 1860, the western forces went on to loot and burn the Imperial Summer Palaces of Qīngyī Yuán (清漪园/清漪園) and Yuánmíng Yuán (圆明园/圓明園). Upon learning about this news, Xianfeng’s health quickly deteriorated.

While negotiations with the European powers were being held, Emperor Xianfeng and his Imperial entourage fled to the northern palace in Jehol in the name of annual Imperial hunt. As his health worsened, Xianfeng’s ability to govern also deteriorated, and competing court ideologies in court led to the formation of two distinct factions — one under the rich Manchu Sushun, Princes Yi and Zheng, and the other under the Concubine Yi, supported by Gen. Ronglu and Yehenala Bannermen.

Family

  • Father: Daoguang Emperor (1782–1850)
  • Mother: Empress Xiaoquancheng – Imperial Consort Quan, of the (Manchu) Niuhuru clan, who was made Empress in 1834, and is known posthumously as Empress Xiaoquancheng.
  • Consorts:Draft history of the Qing dynasty. 《清史稿》卷二百十四.列傳一.后妃傳.
  1. Empress Xiaodexian (孝德顯皇后薩克达氏) (d. January 1850). Entered the Forbidden City as Lady Sakda of the Sakda clan, raised to the rank of Empress after her death when Yizhu became the Xianfeng Emperor. She was granted the posthumous title of Empress Xiaodexian.
  2. Empress Dowager Ci’an (慈安太后) of the Niuhuru clan (1837–1881).
  3. Empress Dowager Cixi (Noble Consort Yi 懿貴妃) (1835–1908).
  4. Consort Li, posthumously known as Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangjing (庄靜皇貴妃) (1837–1890).
  5. Imperial Noble Consort Duanke (端恪皇貴妃) of the Tunggiya clan (1844–1910).
  6. Noble Consort Mei (玫貴妃) (1837–1890), she gave birth to the emperor’s second son who died young.
  7. Noble Consort Wan (婉貴妃) (d. 1894) of the Manchu Sujiro clan.
  8. Consort Lu (璷妃) (d. 1895) of the Manchu Nara clan.
  9. Consort Ji (吉妃) (d. 1905) of the Wang clan.
  10. Consort Xi (禧妃) (d. 1877) of the Chahala clan.
  11. Consort Qing (慶妃) (d. 1885) of the Han Chinese Zhang clan.
  12. Imperial Concubine Yun (雲嬪) (d. 1855) of the Wugiya clan.
  13. Imperial Concubine Rong (容嬪) (d. 1869) of the Manchu Irgen-Gioro clan.
  14. Imperial Concubine Shu (璹嬪) (d. 1874) of the Manchu Yehenara clan.
  15. Imperial Concubine Yu (玉嬪) (d. 1862) younger sister of Imperial Concubine Shu.
  16. First Class Female Attendant Ping (玶常在) (d. 1857) of the Manchu Irgen-Gioro clan. She entered the palace as a concubine of the fourth rank but for unknown reason she was demoted by three rank. In 1856 she was promoted by one rank but she died the following year.
  17. First Class Female Attendant Chun (瑃常在) (d. 1859).
  18. First Class Female Attendant Xin (鑫常在) (d. 1859).