In the sixth year of Yongzheng, Qianlong, who was still the crown prince, welcomed his first son. The eldest son was named Yong Huang (永璜) and his biological mother was gegefucha. In the thirty-first year of Qianlong, Qianlong welcomed his seventeenth son, YongXuan, whose birth mother was Empress Xiaoyi chun of the Wei Jia clan (then imperial concubine).
Of Qianlong's 17 sons, three died prematurely without taking a name. In other words, Qianlong had 14 sons who were named. His sons are all "Yong" characters, followed by a word next to the oblique jade, forming a name. "Jade" itself has the meaning of "beauty" and "honorable", and the writing next to the oblique jade is a "king", and "king" reflects people who are close to the sky. Therefore, it is most appropriate to name the prince by the side of the oblique jade.
So qianlong these 14 sons, what are the meanings of their names, from the names we can see, Qianlong has high hopes for whom?
Eldest son Yong Huang: As mentioned earlier, his birth mother was the Gege Fucha clan, who died before Qianlong took the throne, and was later posthumously honored as a noble concubine of the Zhe Mercy Emperor. As for Yong Huang himself, in the thirteenth year of Qianlong, he was reprimanded by the Qianlong Emperor because he did not understand the number of ceremonies during the sacrifice of Empress Xiaoxianchun, and was publicly announced to be disqualified from succeeding to the throne. Yong Juan died of depression two years later, at the age of 23.
"Juan" refers to a half-walled jade, which is explained in the Shuowen: "Huang, Half Biye." It is collectively known as "Liu Rui" along with Yu Chun, Yu Bi, Yu Gui, Yu Zhang, Yu Hu, etc., which was originally a ceremonial jade, and later slowly evolved into decorative jade. The Zhou Li records: "The north is served by Xuan Huang. It can be seen that the meaning of the word "Huang" is also good, and Qianlong still attaches great importance to the eldest son.
Second son Yonglian: His birth mother was Empress Xiaoxianchun, the first concubine of Qianlong, and his name was personally taken by his grandfather, the Yongzheng Emperor, which was of great significance. After Qianlong ascended the throne, he secretly made Yonglian crown prince, but unfortunately Yonglian died when he was 9 years old.
"琏" as a noun, meaning the vessel in the temple of the Zongmiao, and as a verb, it means to connect. The reason why Yongzheng took this name is also to imply the meaning of the inheritance vessel. It can be seen that the name Yonglian has a deep meaning, and all the elders have high hopes for it.
Third son Yongzhang: His birth mother was the noble concubine Su Shi of the Chunhui Emperor, who, like his eldest brother Yong Huang, was reprimanded at the ceremony of Empress Xiaoxian Chun and permanently lost the right to succeed to the throne. Twenty-five years after Qianlong, Yongzhang died at the age of 26.
"Zhang" refers to a jade object that is divided in half from the longitudinal direction and is shaped like half a gui. The Zhou Li records: "The south is served by chizhang. It can be seen that Yongzhang's name was conceived from the basis of the eldest brother Yong Huang, and the meaning is inferior to the "Huang" character of the eldest brother. This also proves that Qianlong still cares about this son, but with his concubine Yonglian, his expectations for this son have also decreased.
Fourth son, Yongjun (永珹): His biological mother was the noble concubine of the Shujia Emperor Jin Jiashi (金佳氏), who later succeeded to The Prince of Heshuo Ruyi (祹祹) and was demoted to the Prince of Lu Commandery (履郡王). Yongjun died in the forty-second year of Qianlong at the age of 39.
The word "珹" refers to beauty beads, pearls without impurities or blemishes. "Cheng" means 100% and complete, and together with "jade" is "pure jade". It can be seen that Qianlong likes this son very much, but there is no other hint in the name, which also shows that Qianlong only wants him to be kind and healthy, like "pure jade".
Fifth son Yongqi: Presumably everyone is already very familiar with him, Yongqi's biological mother, The Kerryet clan, is not favored, and her status is not high, and when she gave birth to him, she was only a nobleman, because she gave birth to a prince, she was promoted to a concubine. Yongqi was the first of Qianlong's sons to be made a prince, but unfortunately died at the age of 25.
The original meaning of "Qi" is a kind of beautiful jade, which also means that flowers and plants flourish. It can be seen that this name does not have any special meaning, although Yongqi was deeply loved by Qianlong later, but when he was born, because his birth mother was not favored, Qianlong did not have much expectations of him, but hoped that he could thrive like flowers and plants.
Sixth son Yong Yao: He was the half-brother of the third son of the Emperor Yongzhang, and his biological mother was the noble concubine Su of the Pure Hui Emperor. Yong Yao Gong poetry is good at painting, the number nine think of the master, also known as the owner of the West Garden, there are works "Year Dynasty Map", "Maple Creek Fishing Chart Axis". Yongyao was later passed on to Wang Yunxi of Shenjing Commandery and died in qianlong in the fifty-fifth year at the age of 48.
The word "瑢" has no special meaning, it is combined with "瑽", which refers to the sound of Peiyu touching. It can already be seen from here that with the gradual increase of sons, qianlong's name is far less meaningful than before. It was not that Qianlong really couldn't think of any good name, but because he had actually been waiting for Empress Fucha to give birth to a concubine again, so he didn't care so much about Shuzi.
Seven Sons Yong Chun: In the eleventh year of Qianlong, Empress Fucha finally gave birth to a concubine again, that is, the seventh son of the Emperor, Yong Chun. Qianlong was ecstatic and intended to make him crown prince. Unfortunately, when Yong Chun was two years old, he died of acne.
The record of "琮" in the Zhou Li is: "Take the land of Huang Zhen as a ceremony." "As a ceremonial vessel of sacrifice, it shows the degree of prestige of this name. It can be seen from this that it is not that Qianlong cannot think of a good name, but that he really wants his concubine to succeed to the throne.
Eighth son Yongxuan: His birth mother was also the noble concubine of the Shujia Emperor Jin Jia. Yongxuan lived a relatively long time, and when Jiaqing liquidated he and Yan, he also contributed to the role and was promoted to the title of Prince of Heshuoyi. Yongxuan did not die until the twelfth year of Daoguang, at the age of 87, the longest-lived son of Qianlong.
The original meaning of "Xuan" is beautiful jade, but this name proves that Qianlong is not interested in it, how to say it? First, "Xuan" was often used to name children, with the intention of hoping that the children would be as white and flawless as beautiful jade; second, in the "Shuowen", "Xuan" was only a stone inferior to jade, so the name Yongxuan was inferior to all the brothers in front of him.
The ninth son of the emperor and the tenth son of the emperor died before they were named.
Eleventh son, Yong Yao: His birth mother was still the Shujia Emperor's noble concubine Jin Jiashi. His calligraphy was extremely high, and he was listed alongside Weng Fanggang, Liu Yong, and Tie Bao as the "Four Families of Qianlong". Yong Mao was made the Prince of Heshuocheng in the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong and died in the third year of Daoguang at the age of 72.
"瑆" refers to the translucent nature of jade. Jade light. Jade, as a natural mineral, is essentially a stone. But Yong Yao was not even the essence of jade, just brilliance, which showed that qianlong had not paid much attention to it. However, Yong Yao was quite accomplished in calligraphy and sparkling, and this name was quite suitable for him.
Twelve Sons Yong Xuan: First of all, I would like to say that the word "璂" is homophonous with the word "Qi" of Yong Qi, and also reads "qí", and many people even read it as "ji" (jī) in film and television dramas. His birth mother was Qianlong's successor, nara, who died in the forty-first year of Qianlong at the age of 24. Because of the relationship between the mother, there is no knighthood.
"璂" was originally a kind of jade, and later referred to the jade ornament in the leather ben. There is such an explanation for "璂": "璂, 弁上 knot ornament also." The costume of Guji ceremony is crowned, and usually the dress is bent, such as when the hands are together, the stitching place is called the meeting, there will be a knot ornament, decorated with five jade, called the xuan, also as a qi. The Crown of the Son of Heaven will be the Twelve Heavenly Sons, and the twelve will descend in the order of the order, and be noble and inferior. It can be seen that Qianlong also had high hopes for Yong Xuan at the beginning, because when he was born, his birth mother Nala clan was favored, and he was a concubine, but unfortunately later...
Thirteenth son Yongjing: His birth mother was also Qianlong's successor, Nala, and although he had a name, he only lived for more than a year before he died.
The original meaning of "Jing" is also the brilliance of jade, this is because of his brother Yong Xuan, so Yong Jing seems to have less status, and the name is much inferior. However, he already had a name when he died, indicating that Qianlong still valued the identity of his concubine.
Fourteenth son Yonglu: His biological mother was Empress Xiaoyi chun of the Wei Jia clan, who was the half-brother of the Jiaqing Emperor. At this time, the birth mother Wei Jia was gradually favored, so from Yonglu here, the sons behind Qianlong were all born to Wei Jia. It's just that Yonglu also died at the age of 4 and didn't grow up smoothly.
"Lu" is also the meaning of Meiyu, from Qu Yuan's "Chu Ci": "Cui Wei of guanqiyun, was pei Baolu by Mingyue Xi." It can be seen from here that at this time, the position of the successor Nala clan is still stable, and in the case of concubines, Qianlong is still not so attentive to Shuzi.
Fifteenth son Yongyan: His birth mother was Empress Xiaoyi chun of the Wei Jia clan, who was the future Jiaqing Emperor. Sixty years after Qianlong, Qianlong announced that he would pass on yongyan, the fifteenth son of the emperor, but it was not until Qianlong's death that Yongyan really held the power. The Jiaqing Emperor reigned for twenty-five years and lived for 61 years.
"琰" is both a kind of beautiful jade and a metaphor for good character. At this time, Yong yan's biological mother Wei Jia was becoming more and more favored, and she was already a concubine of Ling, and her harem status was second only to that of the successor Nala clan. Yong Yan's half-brother Yong Lu died shortly before he was born, so Qianlong very much hoped that this son could grow up healthy. However, the name is not much special.
The sixteenth son of the Emperor was not named.
Seventeenth son YongXuan: His biological mother was Empress Xiaoyi chun of the Wei Jia clan, and the same mother and brother of the Jiaqing Emperor. When he was born, his mother Wei Jiashi was already an imperial concubine, so in the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong, Yongxuan was given the title of Baylor. After his elder brother Jiaqing took over the government, he was made the Prince of Qingjun and later the Prince of Qing. Yu Jiaqing died in the 25th year at the age of 55.
"璘" refers to the brilliance of jade. Yong Xuan was born in qianlong in the thirty-first year, and in the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong, the Qianlong Emperor secretly appointed Yongyan as the crown prince. Therefore, it is not excluded that when Yong Xuan was born, Qianlong was already thinking about Li Chu and was observing the few remaining sons. Because Yong Xuan was born too late, and he had his older brother Yong Yan in front of him, Qianlong did not put too many expectations on this young son.
From the names of these 14 sons of Qianlong, we can see that the most dominant ones are concubines, especially Yonglian and Yongzhen, who were born to Empress Xiaoxianchun. The second is qianlong's first sons, whose names have a deeper meaning. This can also be understood, after all, as a new father, Qianlong is also enjoying the happiness in it. And at that time, he was young and had the energy to raise these sons well, so he expected more from them.
The more he got to the back, the more Qianlong named his son, the more he did not care. This is also related to Qianlong's too long life, as he grew older, his sons died one by one before himself, and Qianlong's inner grief can be imagined. So in the back, he hopes that his son can grow up healthy and not learn badly, and there is no too much hint.
Although what name you take does not determine what a person will become when he grows up, from the name, you can see what your parents expect of themselves. Perhaps when naming his son, Qianlong was sometimes not so attentive, but as a father, he did not want his son to be good!
(References "Shuowen", "Zhou Li", "Qing History Manuscript", etc.)