1. The Xianfeng Emperor, known by his temple name Emperor Wenzong of Qing, personal name Yizhu, was the ninth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China proper.
18 Facts About Xianfeng Emperor
1. 2.
Xianfeng Emperor was the last Chinese emperor to exercise sole power.
3.
The Xianfeng Emperor was forced to flee for the imperial estate at Jehol, and the Convention of Peking was negotiated in his absence.
4.
Xianfeng Emperor's health was already in rapid decline in the face of mounting Qing losses.
5.
Xianfeng Emperor died in 1861 in Jehol at the age of 30 and was succeeded by his six-year-old son, who assumed the throne as the Tongzhi Emperor.
6.
On his deathbed, the Xianfeng Emperor appointed eight men to a regency council to assist his young successor.
7.
Xianfeng Emperor was from the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, and was the fourth son of the Daoguang Emperor.
8.
Xianfeng Emperor's mother was the Noble Consort Quan, of the Manchu Niohuru clan, who was made Empress in 1834, and is known posthumously as Empress Xiaoquancheng.
9.
Xianfeng Emperor inherited a dynasty that faced not only internal but foreign challenges.
10.
Yizhu's reign title, "Xianfeng Emperor", which means "universal prosperity", did not reflect the situation.
11.
The Xianfeng Emperor dispatched several prominent mandarins, such as Zeng Guofan and the Mongol general Sengge Rinchen, to crush the rebellions, but they only obtained limited success.
12.
The Xianfeng Emperor believed in Chinese superiority and would not agree to any demands from the European powers.
13.
The Xianfeng Emperor died on 22 August 1861, from a short life of overindulgence, at the Chengde Mountain Resort, 230 kilometres northeast of Beijing.
14.
Xianfeng Emperor gave the eight men the power of regency, but their edicts would have to be endorsed by Noble Consort Yi and Empress Consort Zhen.
15.
Rebellions in the country, which began the first year of his reign, would not be quelled until well into the reign of the Tongzhi Xianfeng Emperor and resulted in millions of deaths.
16.
The Xianfeng Emperor had to deal with the British and French and their ever-growing appetite to expand trade further into China.
17.
Xianfeng Emperor viewed non-Chinese as inferior and regarded the repeated requests by the Europeans for the establishment of diplomatic relations as an offence.
18.
In 1644, the Shunzhi Xianfeng Emperor began to rule over China proper, replacing the Ming dynasty.