Abdication of the Qianlong Emperor
On the first day of the Chinese New Year the aged Qianlong Emperor handed the throne to his son Yongyan, who reigned under the era name Jiaqing. The abdicated emperor kept real power until his death in 1799.
- Date
- 9 February 1796exact date
- Place
- Forbidden Citytoday: Beijing, China · East Asia
- Participants
- Qing dynasty, Qianlong Emperor, Jiaqing Emperor
- Threads
- The world in the Age of Revolution
Qianlong announced his decision in October 1795: he had vowed not to reign longer than his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor, who had occupied the throne for 61 years. Taking the title of “Supreme Emperor” (Taishang Huangdi), he continued to decide all important matters, and his favorite Heshen kept enormous influence; within the palace, years were even still counted by the Qianlong era name.
The change of reign coincided with the Miao and White Lotus rebellions. Only after his father’s death in February 1799 did Jiaqing take power into his own hands and bring down Heshen, whose fortune is estimated to have been comparable to the treasury’s annual revenue.
Connections
Related events
- White Lotus Rebellionbetween 1794 and 1796 – 1804 · East Asiaby the Russian dating, the rebellion broke out in February 1796, in the first weeks of Jiaqing’s reign, when real power still lay with the abdicated Qianlong
Same participants
- Macartney Embassy to China14 September 1793 · East Asiavia Qing dynasty
Same place
- Fall of Zhongdubetween April and June 1215 · East Asia
- Proclamation of the Yuan dynasty1271 · East Asia
- Travels of Marco Polo1271–1295 · East Asia
- Death of Kublai Khan18 February 1294 · East Asia
- Altan Khan’s raid on Beijing1550 · East Asia
Adjacent events in the thread
- Edward Jenner’s cowpox vaccination14 May 1796 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Edward Jenner’s cowpox vaccination14 May 1796
- Italian campaign of 1796–179710 April 1796 – 17 October 1797
Eastern Europe
- Third Partition of Poland13 (24) October 1795
- Death of Catherine the Great6 (17) November 1796
Africa
- Mungo Park’s first expedition to the Niger2 December 1795 – 10 June 1797
Central and Northern Asia
- Syrym Datuly’s uprising1783–1797
Latin America
- Haitian Revolutionbetween 21 August and 22 August 1791 – 1 January 1804
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Qianlong Emperor
- Wikipedia (English): Jiaqing Emperor
- Wikipedia (Russian): Цяньлун
- Elliott M. C. Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World. — New York: Longman, 2009.