The Foundations of a Golden Age

The Qianlong Emperor’s reign (1735-1796) represented the zenith of Qing dynasty prosperity, though this golden age owed much to his predecessors’ groundwork. After the stabilization period under Shunzhi, military consolidation during Kangxi’s rule, and Yongzheng’s administrative and economic reforms, the Qing Empire reached its full flowering under Qianlong’s lengthy governance.

Born Aisin Gioro Hongli in 1711, the future Qianlong Emperor enjoyed extraordinary favor from his grandfather Kangxi from childhood. His impressive memory, martial skills in archery and horsemanship, and classical education prepared him well for rulership. When he ascended the throne at age 25, he inherited a stable, prosperous empire primed for greatness.

Military Campaigns and Territorial Expansion

Qianlong took particular pride in his military accomplishments, which he memorialized in his self-congratulatory “Ten Complete Campaigns.” These included:
– Two pacifications of the Dzungars (1755, 1756-1757)
– Conquest of Xinjiang (1758-1759)
– Two Jinchuan campaigns against Tibetan rebels (1747-1749, 1771-1776)
– Taiwan rebellion suppression (1787-1788)
– Victories over Burma (1765-1769) and Vietnam (1788-1789)
– Two successful operations against Nepal (1790-1792)

These expansions consolidated Qing control over Central Asia and cemented China’s status as a multi-ethnic empire. The emperor commemorated these achievements in his 1792 treatise “Record of Ten Complete Victories,” composed when he was 82. Battle scenes like “The Battle of Yixierku’er Nao’er” (1759) and “Victory Over the Dzungars and Muslim Tribes” documented these campaigns for posterity.

Cultural Flourishing in a Prosperous Age

Contemporary accounts paint a picture of unparalleled prosperity. Scholar Shen Fu wrote in his famous memoir “Six Records of a Floating Life” (1763): “I was born in the winter of the 28th year of Qianlong’s reign, during this era of great peace.” Korean envoys marveled at the empire’s stability, comparing it favorably to the golden ages of Han and Tang dynasties.

Urban centers like Suzhou became symbols of Qing prosperity. European visitors described it as China’s paradise, with its Venetian-like waterways and silk-clad citizens. The city’s wealth inspired Xu Yang’s monumental “Prosperous Suzhou” (1759), a 39-foot scroll depicting over 12,000 figures and 2,000 structures, consciously modeled after the Song dynasty’s “Along the River During Qingming Festival.”

This prosperity bred conspicuous consumption, especially in Jiangnan. Scholar Gong Wei lamented the erosion of traditional frugality: “In my youth, only scholars wore furs. Now even women and children in alleways dress in pelts…People without a peck of rice feel ashamed to wear plain cotton.” Salt merchants in Yangzhou became notorious for extravagant displays – one reportedly scattered gold leaf from Jinshan Temple, letting thousands of taels blow away in the wind.

The Emperor as Cultural Patron

Qianlong sought to surpass his grandfather Kangxi’s cultural achievements. His most ambitious project was the “Complete Library of the Four Treasuries” (Siku Quanshu), launched in 1772. This massive compilation involved:
– 360 scholars working for 20 years
– Collection and review of 10,000+ titles
– Final compilation of 3,503 works in 79,330 volumes
– Creation of 7,966 scholarly abstracts

However, this cultural triumph had a dark side. The compilation process censored or destroyed thousands of works deemed politically sensitive, particularly those containing references to Ming loyalism or unflattering portrayals of Manchu history. Conservative estimates suggest over 2,800 works were destroyed outright, with countless others altered.

The Dark Side of Prosperity: Literary Inquisition

Qianlong’s reign saw an unprecedented escalation of literary persecution. While the entire Qing dynasty recorded about 88 major literary cases, over 130 occurred during Qianlong’s rule alone – averaging more than two per year. These cases often involved absurd overinterpretations:

– Hu Zhongzao was executed in 1755 for poetic lines like “a world without sun or moon” deemed critical of Qing rule
– Cai Xian (1767) was beheaded for writing “the wind and rain follow their preferences, north and south remain divided”
– Wang Xihou (1777) was executed for compiling a dictionary that improperly formatted imperial names
– Xu Shukui’s posthumous punishment (1778) for a poem line interpreted as longing for Ming restoration

As historian Xiao Yishan noted, Qing literary persecution evolved from Shunzhi’s laissez-faire approach to Kangxi’s conciliation, Yongzheng’s mediation, and finally Qianlong’s outright suppression. The Qianlong Emperor’s paranoia about anti-Manchu sentiment created a climate of fear that stifled intellectual creativity, driving scholars toward safer pursuits like textual criticism and philology – giving rise to the evidential research (kaozheng) movement.

The Emperor’s Legacy

When Qianlong abdicated in 1795 (to avoid surpassing his grandfather’s 61-year reign), he left a complex legacy. His reign saw:
– Territorial expansion securing China’s western frontiers
– Unprecedented economic prosperity
– Cultural projects preserving (and altering) China’s literary heritage
– Institutionalized corruption (exemplified by Heshen’s notorious graft)
– Intellectual repression through literary persecution

The emperor’s six southern tours (1751-1788) showcased imperial splendor but drained provincial treasuries. Local officials competed to create extravagant receptions – one constructed a giant peach that split open to reveal actors performing birthday celebrations as the emperor’s barge passed.

Modern assessments recognize Qianlong’s reign as both the apex and turning point of Qing power. The prosperity he inherited and amplified masked growing institutional rot that would plague China throughout the 19th century. As the last of China’s great imperial reigns, the Qianlong era represents both the brilliance and limitations of traditional Chinese governance at its peak.