As the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong ruled for 63 years, making him the longest-reigning monarch in Chinese history. There have always been different voices in the evaluation of Qianlong's prosperous era. Some people think that the Qianlong period was a real heyday, while others hold the opposite view. So how should Qianlong's 63-year reign be positioned? Can it really be called a "prosperous age"? Let's explore this age-old puzzle.
Emperor Qianlong's agricultural policy and its impact
Emperor Qianlong received a strict traditional Confucian education since he was a child, upheld the idea of "food for the people", and attached great importance to agricultural production. In the second year of his reign, Emperor Qianlong restored the "Gong Nong Society", an agricultural organization that had existed during the Ming Dynasty but was later abolished. The Gongnong Cooperative has set up institutions at all levels, which are not only responsible for the promotion of agricultural technology, but also supervise whether local officials are diligent and conscientious and whether there is any favoritism or malpractice.
In addition, Emperor Qianlong also attached great importance to water conservancy construction. In 1748, a severe drought occurred in Shengjing Town, Zhili, and Emperor Qianlong personally presided over a ceremonial "prayer for rain" activity. After the drought eased, he straightened out the rivers in various places, repaired the embankments, and promulgated a strict "river tax and conscription system" to mobilize the residents along the river to participate in water conservancy construction. It is precisely this series of measures that has gradually put agricultural production in the Hebei Plain on the right track.
At the same time, Emperor Qianlong also attached great importance to the development and utilization of farmland and water conservancy. In 1765, he personally supervised the construction of a canal in the Fuyu area of Shenyang. In the years that followed, a number of canals were built in other parts of the Northeast, greatly increasing the agricultural productivity of this sparsely populated region. In addition to the interior, the Qianlong Dynasty spared no effort to reclaim Xinjiang, Qinghai, and other border areas, extending agricultural production to the west.
Fang Guancheng, a contemporary official, praised Emperor Qianlong's "transformation of agriculture and mulberry in the palace", which is really the best footnote to the agricultural policy of the Qianlong Dynasty. However, Emperor Qianlong's excessive emphasis on the old idea of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce", coupled with the rapid increase in population, still caused the rural economy in many areas to fall into difficulties. Even so, the agricultural production of the Qianlong Dynasty did make great progress compared with that of the previous dynasty, laying the foundation for future economic development.
The development of the commercial economy during the Qianlong period
During the Qianlong period, the Qing Dynasty's commercial and trade economy made great progress. On the one hand, the imperial court adopted a series of policies conducive to the development of commerce and trade; On the other hand, the economic activity of civil society is also becoming more active.
In terms of imperial policy, soon after Emperor Qianlong came to power, he promulgated a series of measures aimed at developing commerce and trade. He decreed the opening of trade routes and the encouragement of non-governmental trade; Reduction and exemption of commercial taxes to reduce the operating costs of merchants; Allowing peasants to buy and sell surplus grain freely eased restrictions on the peasants' economy. These initiatives have cleared the way for the development of the commodity economy.
In the forty-third year of Qianlong (1778), the imperial court promulgated another major policy - "quasi-people crossing the sea". Previously, in order to prevent piracy and avoid the leakage of military technology, the Qing Dynasty had always forbidden private people to go to sea without permission. The implementation of the new policy has enabled merchants in Guangdong and Fujian to safely smuggle and do business in Southeast Asia, as far as India, the Middle East, and other places. A large number of Chinese merchants took the opportunity to open up overseas trade markets and formed an offshore trade network, which greatly promoted the development of commerce in the Qing Dynasty.
In addition to favorable policies, the high activity of civil society was also an important driver of the development of commerce and trade during the Qianlong period. During this period, new merchant organizations appeared all over the country, such as the "guilds" in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the "money villages" in Huguang, and the "guild halls" in the north. These NGOs have greatly reduced the risks and costs of cross-regional trade by virtue of their own credit guarantees and financial advantages. Some of the larger merchant groups have extended their trade networks to Southeast Asia and South Asia, and their goods are exported to the ocean.
At the same time, important commodities during the Qianlong period also changed. Due to the increase in the level of agricultural production, grain and other agricultural products have become one of the main commodities. As the social division of labor became more and more refined, handicrafts such as silk and porcelain began to be exported overseas in large quantities, importing large sums of silver for the Qing Dynasty. In some areas, there is also a pre-modern factory handicraft industry, which produces leather goods, silk and other goods, and the products sell well at home and abroad.
In general, the combination of the efforts of the imperial court and the people during the Qianlong period promoted the all-round development of the commercial and trade economy, and made favorable preparations for the formation of capitalist economic relations in the future.
The performance of science and technology culture in the Qianlong Dynasty
During the Qianlong period, advanced Western science and technology gradually entered China through the spread of missionaries. For example, in the field of astronomy, the clergy Matteo Ricci and others of the Qing Dynasty taught the royal family many new knowledge, such as heliocentrism, the use of telescopes, etc., and the royal family also attached great importance to and funded some astronomical observation activities.
In terms of geographical knowledge, the works of Western geographers were also introduced to China. For example, the book "Kunyu Wanguo Quantu" by the French geographer Du Qiao was translated into Chinese during the Qianlong period, which opened up new horizons for the Qing people to understand a relatively complete knowledge of world geography.
The introduction of Western medicine also had a certain impact on China during the Qianlong period. For example, the Jesuit missionary Dezhao (1711-1785) introduced human anatomy to the Chinese and translated the Western medical work Shengji Zonglu, bringing new theory and practice to Chinese medicine.
The Qianlong Dynasty was a period of considerable cultural prosperity. In the field of literature and art, there are outstanding works by the lyricist Nalan Xingde, the novelist Zeng Pu, and the opera artist Hong Sheng.
In terms of calligraphy and painting, there are a large number of famous artists such as Lang Shining, Shi Tao, Wang Hui and so on. Emperor Qianlong himself was also a master of calligraphy and painting, and his "Sixteen Posts" is a classic of Chinese calligraphy.
The Qianlong Dynasty also carried out a series of major cultural projects, such as the second large-scale compilation of the Siku Quanshu and the compilation of the Imperial Lyrics and Songs. These projects have preserved and organized a large number of cultural classics for future generations.
As a generation of Ming monarchs, Emperor Qianlong's emphasis on cultural undertakings and his own cultural accomplishment are obvious to all. He has a solid foundation in Confucianism since he was a child, and is proficient in poetry, calligraphy and painting. He loves all kinds of arts, such as ceramics, lacquerware, shadow puppetry and other folk crafts.
At the same time, Emperor Qianlong also opened his mind to absorb Western culture. He was not only enthusiastic about studying new Western knowledge, but also ordered the relevant departments to collect and translate Western classics extensively. Emperor Qianlong himself directly interacted with the Jesuits, and personally proofread the translations of works such as "Kunyu Wanguo Quantu".
In general, Emperor Qianlong, as a generation of cultural celebrities, played a key role in the promotion of cultural undertakings and personal cultural cultivation in the prosperity and development of culture in the Qianlong period.
Reflection on the people's livelihood during the Qianlong period
The Qianlong period was a period of rapid growth of the Chinese population, according to statistics, from the Qianlong period to the Jiaqing period, the Chinese population more than doubled, from more than 200 million to more than 400 million. Such a large population places a heavy burden on society.
The subsistence needs of a large number of people have led to the increasingly detailed division of land, which has exacerbated the phenomenon of land annexation. The kulaks, by virtue of their economic superiority, continued to acquire the land of the poor peasants, which led to the creation of a large number of "desperate" strata, who had no land to cultivate, and had to work as tenant farmers or coolies.
At the same time, food supplies are stretched thin under the pressure of a population boom. Although Emperor Qianlong had repeatedly ordered the opening of warehouses to help the hungry, food crises still occurred repeatedly. According to records, during the 63rd year of Qianlong's reign, there were more than a dozen severe famines.
In addition to population pressure, the Qianlong period also suffered frequent natural disasters, which brought great trouble to people's livelihood. During this period, from the northwest to the southeast, disasters such as earthquakes, droughts and floods occurred one after another.
Among them, the catastrophic earthquake in Guangdong in the fourth year of Qianlong was the most tragic, causing more than 150,000 deaths. In the following six years of Qianlong, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River suffered the worst flood in history, affecting millions of people in many provinces.
During the Qianlong period, the government did not establish a sound disaster relief mechanism, and there was often nothing to be done in the face of these huge disasters. The disaster relief mainly relied on measures such as the emperor's personal decree to open warehouses and reduce taxes, but the effect was limited, and it was difficult to fundamentally solve the problem.
In addition to natural disasters, the development of the gentry economy has also exacerbated the difficulties of people's livelihood. The gentry used their abundant capital to buy a large amount of farmland and take control of the place in their own hands.
On the one hand, the exploitation of tenant farmers by the gentry was extremely common, which greatly increased the burden on the peasants. On the other hand, the gentry had a monopoly on the purchase of agricultural products, and the exploitation of the peasants was ubiquitous.
While the gentry economy was expanding rapidly, the peasant class was becoming increasingly impoverished. In addition, natural disasters are frequent, and people's livelihood is not good from time to time. Although the Qianlong Emperor promulgated some policies to benefit the people, the people's livelihood did not improve much due to the lack of a strong enforcement mechanism.
The military struggle and territorial map of the Qianlong Dynasty
The Qianlong Dynasty was the period when the Qing Dynasty's territory reached its largest-scale, which was inseparable from a series of military conquests during the Qianlong period. During Qianlong's 63-year reign, the Qing Dynasty had several large-scale military conflicts with ethnic minorities such as Zungar, Kazakh, Seng Greensha, and Geerdan.
Among them, the most important was the war to pacify Dzungar. Dzungar was a nomadic tribe on the Mongolian plateau that at one time posed a serious threat to the Qing Dynasty. In order to eliminate this hidden danger, in the 25th year of Qianlong, the Qing army began to conquer Zhun Geer. After several years, the Qing army finally completely destroyed the armed forces of Dzungar in the 31st year of Qianlong.
In addition to quelling internal troubles, Qianlong also ordered troops to march westward, further expanding the territory of the Qing Dynasty. In the forty-first year of Qianlong, the Amur generals stationed in the northwest were harassed by the remnants of the Jungar tribes, such as Xunxua and Lahel. In order to completely clear the frontier, General Amur led a large expedition to the west and conquered the Kazakh tribes in the Ili River valley.
Two years later, General Amur crossed the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains and conquered most of the territory of present-day Xinjiang. THE INDEPENDENT KINGDOM OF HOT AN WAS COMPLETELY CONQUERED, AND IMPORTANT TOWNS SUCH AS AKSU AND KASHGAR WERE OCCUPIED ONE AFTER ANOTHER. Xinjiang then became a direct jurisdiction of the Qing Dynasty.
In addition to Xinjiang, the Qianlong Dynasty also carried out military control in Tibet, Taiwan and other places, until the later years of Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty had reached its largest territory, with jurisdiction over present-day Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan and other vast territories. It can be said that a series of military operations of the Qianlong Dynasty laid the foundation of the Qing Dynasty's territorial pattern.