The Qianlong Emperor, an emperor who was often used by film and television works to "joke". In those film and television dramas, the Qianlong Emperor was completely an emperor who was arranged at will by modern people - holding the highest power but thinking of a commoner, blowing his beard and glaring at every turn, but without the majesty of the emperor. In addition to the dragon robe costume, where is the appearance of an emperor? However, since it is a joke, it naturally cannot be taken seriously. Then again, what did the real Qianlong Emperor look like?
In addition to the identity of the emperor, there are many labels attached to the Qianlong Emperor - word prison maniacs, prolific poets, connoisseurs, collectors, scholars, artists, and so on. These labels are not given to him by posterity, but are owned by himself. Mr. Guo Chengkang, a professor at the Institute of Qing History of Chinese Min University, in his historical work "Qianlong Emperor: A Multi-faceted Life under the Halo of Prosperity", profoundly interpreted the true connotations under these labels and presented a real and complex Qianlong Emperor to the world.
When it comes to Qing Dynasty literary prisons, people tend to associate it with the Kangxi and Yongzheng dynasties. Because, several of the more famous literary prisons in the history of the Qing Dynasty, such as the "Nanshan Collection Case" and the "Lü Liuliang Case", all occurred in these two periods. In fact, if in terms of quantity, the Qianlong Dynasty's text prisons are the most, and the text prisons created by successive emperors in the Qing Dynasty are not as good as those of the Qianlong Dynasty. However, in terms of quality, the Qianlong Dynasty's literal prison is really unflattering.
In the book "The Qianlong Emperor: A Multifaceted Life under the Halo of Prosperity", the author lists such a case. The male number one in this case is the Qianlong Emperor, and the male number two is ding Wenbin, a mentally ill person. The book reads: "In the eighteenth year of Qianlong (1753), at noon on June 14, the acting governor of Shandong, Yang Yingju, personally attended the court to be sentenced, and Ding Wenbin, a rebel criminal with a face like ashes and a murmur in his mouth, was executed in Public In Jinan. This was the first mental patient to be executed for the crime of literal imprisonment in the hundred years since the founding of the Qing Dynasty. ”
Ling Chi's execution is a live scrape. It was the Qianlong Emperor who ordered Ding Wenbin to be scraped alive.
Ding Wenbin was imprisoned for committing a felony of rebellion, but this did not seem to matter, after all, even if a mentally ill person had any outrageous words and deeds, it was understandable. Under today's judicial system, mentally ill persons are incapacitated and are not subject to legal sanctions. In the view of the Qianlong Emperor, mentally ill people are the same as normal people and do not have the qualifications for legal immunity. Even, when the Qianlong Emperor learned that Ding Wenbin was dying because of his excessive punishment, he also issued a secret edict: "Looking at the current situation of the criminal, if you can still wait for the ministry, then wait for the ministry to correct the law; if you are afraid of waiting, you will be ready to prepare it, and you will show it to the public first." ”
As a mental patient at the lowest level of society, if it were not for the attention of the Qianlong Emperor, Ding Wenbin's name would not have left a trace in the three hundred years of Qing history. He may freeze to death, or he may starve to death, or even be bitten by a dog, but he definitely did not expect to be executed by the emperor himself.
Ding Wenbin was the first mental patient to be executed by Ling Chi ordered by the Qianlong Emperor for the crime of "literal prison", but he was not the last. During the Qianlong period, cases of mentally ill people entering the "literal prison" occurred from time to time. They were either killed by the rod or executed by Ling Chi, and their relatives and friends were also beheaded, or exiled, or charged, or beaten.
In the Yongzheng Dynasty, there were similar cases. When the case-handling official folded the song to the Yongzheng Emperor, the Yongzheng Emperor criticized: "If it is really a mad disease, why should it die?" In contrast, the Yongzheng Emperor, who had always been known for his harshness, was more reasonable than the Qianlong Emperor, who showed kindness. From this point alone, the Qianlong Emperor is undoubtedly a negative image. It is not too much to describe him as a "literal hell" maniac.
Turning this side of the Qianlong Emperor over, the book presents us with another side of his image - a prolific poet.
"Three autumns don't shur, a moment of sourness." The remembrance is in the middle, and it is deeply appropriate to call filial piety. Ordinary life is difficult to describe, and the hundred-year-old vain Hope Isyan. Summer and winter nights, twenty years in the future. When the Qianlong Emperor wrote this poem in front of Empress Xiaoxian's mausoleum, he was already an old man in his eighties with white hair. The imperial pen in his hand had written at least forty thousand poems.
The Qianlong Emperor was a prolific poet, or it is no exaggeration to call him the most prolific poet in China and the world. In the Collected Poems of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty (Qianlong), a total of 43,630 poems of his are included—not counting some of his sporadic works. This means that from the day of his birth to the day of his life, he writes an average of one and a half poems every day. Perhaps there are poets who are more diligent than him, but there are probably not many poets who live longer than him. What's more, he was both long-lived and hardworking.
Although it is generally believed that his poems are "not high in style and not many masterpieces", some of his nostalgic and mournful works are still well written, just like the one we just used for example, the true feelings are revealed and the sentimentality is extremely sad. In the book Qianlong Emperor: A Multifaceted Life under the Aura of Prosperity, the author cites at least dozens of Qianlong poems. The author's purpose is not to show how many good works he has written, but to provide evidence for some historical events. In other words, the author uses his poems more as historical materials.
Of course, for the Qianlong Emperor, it may not matter how his poetry is evaluated by posterity, but the laurel title of "Guinness World Record Holder for the World's Most Prolific Poet" alone is enough to make him look forward to himself in the ranks of ancient and modern poets.
From a literal hell maker to a prolific poet, the Qianlong Emperor coded Chinese characters to a new realm. Compared to his complicated life, this is really nothing. If you only describe him in terms of both sides, it is obviously not enough. The Qianlong Emperor is more like a multi-prism, from different angles, you can see different images. Below, let's turn the other side of this "prism" and look at his side as a connoisseur and collector.
"The gilded foreign pavilion that was entered this time is very good, and then those who look like this will find a few more; and if there are large and good, they will also find a few pieces, and there is no need to be afraid of the price." If you find it, You Duanyang will pay tribute to a few pieces. The above passage is his Zhu Pen approval on the tribute fold of Li Shiyao, the governor of Liangguang. As a top collector, he did not have to do it himself, but only needed to issue a decree or signal to his courtiers, and immediately he would have access to a variety of valuable collections. Only real collectibles have value, and fakes are of little value. So, will the Qianlong Emperor receive fakes?
It is said that the Kangxi Emperor was deceived by fake calligraphy and paintings, but the Qianlong Emperor's vision was very sharp and good at distinguishing between true and false. The author tells such a small story in the book, which is enough to show the high level of appreciation of the Qianlong Emperor.
Once, a clothed official of the Inner Province who was serving as a tax and customs supervisor in Jiangnan did not know where to get a piece of paper of rice, and when he presented it to his master, he especially showed his rude knowledge on the fold, did not dare to judge whether it was authentic, and begged the emperor to identify it. The Qianlong Emperor saw at a glance that it was a forgery, and there was no need to be polite to his domestic slaves, so he used a Zhu pen on the fold to approve four words: "Fake, don't." ”
Connoisseurs and collectors are often scholars or artists. Without a rich knowledge base, there is naturally no superb level of appreciation. The Qianlong Emperor is also well-deserved as a scholar and artist. After all, his teachers were all the top masters at that time, and he himself had a unique wisdom root, aside from the identity of the emperor, if he relied on knowledge and art to mix a meal, he would not be bad.
A person with multiple faces and labels must have a rich and intense emotional world. The same was true of the Qianlong Emperor. He hoped that he could be like his father and emperor, who was dictatorial and became an emperor with achievements, but he also deeply sympathized with those relatives who were persecuted by his father; he was filial to his mother and was willing to serve his mother with everything under the world; he deeply loved his wife, Empress Xiaoxian, and after her death, wrote dozens of poems to show his remembrance; he never forgot the teacher who taught him, and wrote and wrote poems to express his condolences... He seemed so affectionate and righteous that the Yongzheng Emperor called him "benevolent and weak."
However, when he put up his face and beat The Queen Nala, who had been with him for many years, into the cold palace; used the imperial power technique to knock down the heavy courtiers he had relied on one by one; and vigorously promoted the prison of writing, pushing a group of innocent people into a desperate situation, he looked so ruthless and determined.
"The love of the Qianlong Emperor is generous and stingy; his feelings are rich and delicate, but also arbitrary and rough; his tenderness is like a slowly flowing river of spring water, it is so long and long, but when he is desperate, it is like a volcanic eruption, which shocks the world!" In the book, the author uses such a passage to describe the emotional world of the Qianlong Emperor.
Through the prisms of history, we see a Qianlong Emperor with various labels. However, no matter how many labels are attached to him, they cannot hide his subject identity, the emperor.
As emperor, he seemed qualified. After all, he was one of the founders of Kangqian's prosperity. In the more than sixty years of his reign, the population of the Qing Dynasty reached more than 300 million, and the territory of China was finally laid, and the local rebellions and disasters were ignored, just like a picture of a peaceful and prosperous world.
When he left this world, the scene of peace and prosperity was gone. His son, the Daoguang Emperor, wore patched clothes, but was unable to curb the decline of the dynasty. How could the Qianlong Emperor, who claimed to be omnipotent in wenzhi martial arts, leave an empty shell of prosperity for future generations of children and grandchildren? In addition to daxinging the prison of writing, writing poetry, and collecting, what else did he do? The book "Qianlong Emperor: A Multi-Faceted Life under the Halo of Prosperity" may give us some hints or answers.