Emperor Qianlong Son of Heaven, Man of the World

by Elliott, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780321084446
• ISBN10: 0321084446
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-04-21
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This new entry in the Longman Library of World Biography series offers an intimate and provocative account of the Manchu emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), one of the worldrs"s great empire-builders, who helped build the foundation of the modern Chinese nation. During the 64 years of Qianlongrs"s rule, Chinars"s population more than doubled, its territory increased by one-third, its cities flourished, and its manufactures tea, silk, porcelain were principal items of international commerce. Based on original Chinese and Manchu-language sources, and drawing on the latest scholarship, this is the biography of the man who, in presiding over imperial Chinars"s last golden epoch, created the geographic and demographic framework of modern China. This accessible account describes the personal struggles and public drama surrounding one of the major political figures of the early modern age, with special consideration given to the emperorrs"s efforts to rise above ethnic divisions and to encompass the political and religious traditions of Han Chinese, Mongols, Tibetans, Turks, and other peoples of his realm. In addition to becoming familiar with one of the most remarkable figures in world history, readers will find that learning about Emperor Qianlong will add greatly to their appreciation of Chinars"s place in the world of the eighteenth century and will deepen their understanding of Chinars"s place in the world today.

Author Biography

About the Author Mark C. Elliott is the Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. Professor Elliott began the study of Chinese history at Yale, where he earned his BA and MA, and completed his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. He is among the very few historians in the United States trained in the use of Manchu-language sources, upon which his first book, The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China (Stanford, 2001), is based. He is currently at work on a new book examining the connections between the Qing empire and modern China.

Table of Contents

Editor's Preface	p. viii
Author's Preface	p. ix
List of Maps and Illustrations	p. xiii
Emperor in the Making	p. 1
Death of an Emperor	p. 1
Rearing a Prince	p. 3
Young Hungli	p. 5
Destined to Rule	p. 7
Favorite Son	p. 9
Qianlong Takes Charge	p. 12
The New Emperor	p. 12
Overview of the Qing Imperium	p. 13
His Father's Legacy	p. 18
First Steps	p. 19
Experiments with Authority	p. 21
The Emperor's Schedule	p. 23
Early Successes on the Frontier	p. 25
Consolidator or Innovator?	p. 28
Finding His Stride	p. 30
Family, Ritual, and Dynastic Rule	p. 34
Filial Son	p. 35
Qianlong and His Mother	p. 36
Married to the Emperor	p. 39
Death of an Empress	p. 41
More Hair-Cutting	p. 44
The Lonely Widower	p. 46
All My Children	p. 47
The Dilemma of Manchu Success	p. 50
Condemned by Success	p. 50
The Jin Precedent	p. 51
The Creation of the Manchus	p. 53
The Dilemma of the Manchu Occupation	p. 54
The Power of Words	p. 56
Inventing History	p. 58
Taming Shamanic Rites	p. 60
Warrior Ways	p. 61
Hunting for Real Men	p. 64
Protecting the Roots	p. 65
The Peripatetic Sovereign	p. 68
The Politics of Touring	p. 68
You Can Go Home Again	p. 71
The Buddhist Pilgrim	p. 72
The Ardent Confucian	p. 76
The Southern Tours	p. 78
Building the Empire	p. 86
The Warrior King	p. 88
The Conquest of the Far West: The First Dzungar Campaign	p. 90
The Second Dzungar Campaign	p. 93
The Conquest of the Tarim	p. 95
The Limits of Empire	p. 97
The Qing and Islam	p. 99
Inscribing Victory	p. 100
Mapping Victory	p. 101
The Look of Victory	p. 102
Renaissance Man	p. 107
A Portrait of the Artist	p. 108
The Poet	p. 111
The Collector	p. 113
Possessing the World	p. 116
The Patron of Letters	p. 117
The Censor	p. 121
Intellectual Agendas	p. 123
Qing China and the World	p. 125
Foreign Relations and the Tribute System	p. 126
In His Majesty's Special Service	p. 129
Guests from Afar	p. 131
All the Tea in China	p. 132
The Macartney Mission	p. 134
China in the World	p. 139
Order and Decline in the Late Qianlong Era	p. 143
The Later Qianlong Empire	p. 143
Qianlong and Tibet	p. 144
Population and Economy	p. 146
Securing the People's Welfare	p. 149
Limits of Authority	p. 151
He¿en and the Perennial Problem of Corruption	p. 153
The Center Cannot Hold	p. 157
The Final Act	p. 160
Conclusion	p. 162
Pronunciation Key and Glossary	p. 168
Timeline of the Qianlong Era	p. 177
Bibliographic Essay	p. 179
Index	p. 187
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