The Qianlong Emperor stepped down so his grandfather's reign would stay longest
After exactly 60 years on the throne, the Qianlong Emperor abdicated in 1796 rather than surpass the 61-year reign of his revered grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor. The gesture was partly symbolic. He kept real power as Emperor Emeritus until his death in 1799, aged 87, making him one of history's longest-ruling monarchs.
Born Hongli in 1711, he was the fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor and the adored favourite of both his father and grandfather; some historians even argue Kangxi chose Yongzheng as heir partly because of this grandson. To avoid the bitter succession fights of earlier generations, Yongzheng wrote his chosen heir's name on paper and sealed it in a box behind a tablet above the throne. When he died suddenly in 1735, the box was opened before the court, and Hongli took the era name Qianlong, meaning Lasting Eminence.
His hold was not unchallenged. In 1739 a group of princes plotted to crown a rival, Hongxi, during an imperial hunt, but the scheme was exposed and the leaders imprisoned. Decades later Qianlong partly rehabilitated the families, while ordering court historians to stress his own role in defeating the plot.
He was a relentless campaigner. His Ten Great Campaigns doubled the empire to twice the size of the preceding Ming state, reaching deep into Inner Asia and pushing into Burma, Nepal and Vietnam, though with mixed results. The destruction of the Dzungar Khanate, a coalition of western Mongol tribes, is described by historians such as Peter Perdue as the result of a deliberate policy of genocide. Diplomacy had its comic notes too: an Afghan envoy brought four splendid horses, later painted as the Four Afghan Steeds, but offended the emperor by refusing to kowtow.
At home Qianlong was a prolific writer and major patron of the arts. He sponsored the Siku Quanshu, the largest collection of Chinese writings ever assembled, while also running literary inquisitions that suppressed some 3,100 works. His reign marked the peak of Qing power, yet constant warfare, corruption and a stagnating court also set the dynasty on its long decline.
Source: Qianlong Emperor
