| Daoguang Emperor 道光帝 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Emperor of the Qing dynasty | |||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 3 October 1820 – 26 February 1850 | ||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Jiaqing Emperor | ||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Xianfeng Emperor | ||||||||||||||||
| Prince Zhi of the First Rank | |||||||||||||||||
| Tenure | 1813 – 3 October 1820 | ||||||||||||||||
| Born | Aisin Gioro Mianning (愛新覺羅·綿寧) 16 September 1782 (乾隆四十七年 八月 十日) Xiefang Hall, Forbidden City | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | 26 February 1850 (aged 67) (道光三十年 正月 十五日) Jiuzhou Qingyan Hall, Old Summer Palace | ||||||||||||||||
| Burial | Mu Mausoleum, Western Qing tombs | ||||||||||||||||
| Consorts | |||||||||||||||||
| Issue | Yiwei, Prince Yinzhi of the Second Rank Xianfeng Emperor Yicong, Prince Dunqin of the First Rank Yixin, Prince Gongzhong of the First Rank Yixuan, Prince Chunxian of the First Rank Yihe, Prince Zhongduan of the Second Rank Yihui, Prince Fujing of the Second Rank Princess Shou'an of the First Rank Princess Shouzang of the Second Rank Princess Shou'en of the First Rank Princess Shouxi of the Second Rank Princess Shouzhuang of the First Rank | ||||||||||||||||
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| House | Aisin Gioro | ||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Qing | ||||||||||||||||
| Father | Jiaqing Emperor | ||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Empress Xiaoshurui of the Hitara Clan | ||||||||||||||||
| Daoguang Emperor | |||||||||||
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| Chinese | 道光帝 | ||||||||||
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The Daoguang Emperor (Chinese: 道光帝; pinyin: Dàoguāng Dì; 16 September 1782 – 26 February 1850), also known by his temple name Emperor Xuanzong of Qing, personal name Mianning, was the seventh emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1820 to 1850. His reign was marked by "external disaster and internal rebellion." These included the First Opium War and the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion which nearly brought down the dynasty. The historian Jonathan Spence characterizes the Daoguang Emperor as a "well meaning but ineffective man" who promoted officials who "presented a purist view even if they had nothing to say about the domestic and foreign problems surrounding the dynasty."[1]
The Daoguang Emperor was born in the Forbidden City, Beijing, in 1782, and was given the name Mianning (绵宁; 綿寧; Miánníng; Mien-ning). It was later changed to Minning (旻宁; 旻寧; Mǐnníng; Min-ning) when he became emperor. The first character of his private name was changed from Mian to Min to avoid the relatively common character Mian. This novelty was introduced by his grandfather, the reigning Qianlong Emperor, who thought it was inappropriate to use a common character in the emperor's private name due to the longstanding practice of naming taboo.
Mianning was the second son of Prince Yongyan, the 15th son and heir of the Qianlong Emperor. Even though he was Yongyan's second son, he was first in line after Prince Yongyan to his grandfather's throne. This was because according to the dishu system, his mother, Lady Hitara, was Yongyan's primary spouse whereas his elder brother was born to Yongyan's concubine. Mianning was favored by his grandfather, the Qianlong Emperor. He frequently accompanied his grandfather on hunting trips. On one such trip, at the age of nine, Mianning successfully hunted a deer, which greatly amused the Qianlong Emperor. The emperor would abdicate five years after that incident, in 1796, when Mianning was 14. Mianning’s father Prince Yongyan was then enthroned as the Jiaqing Emperor, after which he made Lady Hitara (Mianning's mother) his empress consort. The elderly Qianlong would live three more years in retirement before dying in 1799, aged 87, when Mianning was 17.
In 1813, while he was still a prince, Mianning also played a vital role in repelling and killing Eight Trigrams invaders[clarification needed] who stormed the Forbidden City.
In September 1820, at the age of 38, Mianning inherited the throne after the Jiaqing Emperor died suddenly of unknown causes. He became the first Qing emperor who was the eldest legitimate son of his father. Now known as the Daoguang Emperor, he inherited a declining empire with Westerners encroaching upon the borders of China. His era name, "Daoguang", means "radiant path". The Daoguang Emperor had been ruling for six years when the exiled heir to the Khojas, Jahangir Khoja, attacked Xinjiang from Kokand in the Afaqi Khoja revolts. By the end of 1826, the former Qing cities of Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan, and Yangihissar had all fallen to the rebels.[2][3] After a friend betrayed him in March 1827, Khoja was sent to Beijing in an iron litter and subsequently executed,[4] while the Qing Empire regained control of their lost territory. The Uyghur Muslim Sayyid and Naqshbandi Sufi rebel of the Afaqi suborder, Jahangir Khoja was sliced to death (Lingchi) in 1828 by the Manchus for leading a rebellion against the Qing.
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Main article: First Opium War |
During the Daoguang Emperor's reign, China experienced major problems with opium, which was imported into China by British merchants. Opium had started to trickle into China during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor, but was limited to approximately 200 chests annually. By the time of the Qianlong era, this amount had increased to 1,000 chests, 4,000 chests by the Jiaqing era and more than 30,000 chests during the Daoguang era.[citation needed]
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The Daoguang Emperor issued many imperial edicts banning opium in the 1820s and 1830s, which were carried out by Lin Zexu, whom he appointed as an Imperial Commissioner to Canton.[5] Lin Zexu's efforts to halt the spread of opium in China led directly to the First Opium War. With China losing the war, Lin Zexu was made a scapegoat. The Daoguang Emperor removed his authority and banished him to Yili. The loss in the war exposed Qing China's technological and military inferiority to European powers, this led China in being forced to cede Hong Kong to the British in the Treaty of Nanjing in August 1842, and also pay a hefty indemnity which left the treasury desperate for funds.[6][5] Meanwhile, in the Himalayas, the Sikh Empire attempted an occupation of Tibet but was defeated in the Sino-Sikh war (1841–1842).
In 1811, a clause sentencing Europeans to death for spreading Catholicism had been added to the statute called "Prohibitions Concerning Sorcerers and Sorceresses" (禁止師巫邪術) in the Great Qing Legal Code.[7] Protestants hoped that the Qing government would discriminate between Protestantism and Catholicism, since the law mentioned the latter by name, but after Protestant missionaries gave Christian books to Chinese people[who?] in 1835 and 1836, the Daoguang Emperor demanded to know who were the "traitorous natives" in Guangzhou who had supplied them with books.[8][page needed]
The Daoguang Emperor granted the title of "Wujing Boshi" (五經博士; Wǔjīng Bóshì) to the descendants of Ran Qiu.[9]
The Daoguang Emperor died on 26 February 1850 at the Old Summer Palace, 8 km/5 miles northwest of Beijing, being the last Qing emperor to pass away in that Palace before it was burnt down by Anglo-French troops during the Second Opium War, a decade later. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Yizhu, who was later enthroned as the Xianfeng Emperor. The Daoguang Emperor failed to understand the intention or determination of the Europeans, or the basic economics of a war on drugs. Although the Europeans were outnumbered and thousands of miles away from logistical support in their native countries, they could bring far superior firepower to bear at any point of contact along the Chinese coast. The Qing government was highly dependent on the continued flow of taxes from southern China via the Grand Canal, which the British expeditionary force easily cut off at Zhenjiang.[citation needed]
The Daoguang Emperor ultimately had a poor understanding of the British and the industrial revolution that Britain and Western Europe had undergone, preferring to turn a blind eye to the rest of the world, though the distance from China to Europe most likely played a part. It was said that the emperor did not even know where Britain was located in the world. His 30-year reign saw rising economic tensions, sectarian instability and foreign interventions which would eventually lead to the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911.[citation needed]
The Daoguang Emperor was interred in the Mu (慕; lit. "Longing" or "Admiration") mausoleum complex, which is part of the Western Qing Tombs,[10] 120 km southwest of Beijing.
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See also: Consorts of the Daoguang Emperor |
Empress
Imperial Noble Consort
Noble Consort
Consort
Imperial Concubine
Noble Lady
Second-Class Female Attendant
Lady-in-waiting
| Kangxi Emperor (1654–1722) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Yongzheng Emperor (1678–1735) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Empress Xiaogongren (1660–1723) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Qianlong Emperor (1711–1799) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Lingzhu (1664–1754) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Empress Xiaoshengxian (1692–1777) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Jiaqing Emperor (1760–1820) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Empress Xiaoyichun (1727–1775) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Lady Yanggiya | |||||||||||||||||||
| Daoguang Emperor (1782–1850) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Lady Ligiya | |||||||||||||||||||
| Empress Xiaoshurui (1760–1797) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Lady Wanggiya | |||||||||||||||||||
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