Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/384

Rh the achievements of his grandfather. We have his own word for it that when he ascended the throne he prayed to Heaven to grant him a reign of almost equal duration, but not longer than that of his grandfather who ruled for sixty-one years. Hence after reigning for almost a cycle he publicly announced, on October 15, 1795, his choice of as heir-apparent to occupy the throne in the following year. On February 9, 1796, on Chinese New Year's Day, a great ceremony making this announcement effective, took place. The whole empire then began to use the reign-title Chia-ch'ing; but out of respect to the aged emperor the reign-title Ch'ien-lung remained in force within the palace precincts until his death. After his formal abdication Hung-li was referred to as "Super Emperor", or T'ai-shang Huang-ti 太上皇帝 but continued to 'instruct' (指教) Yung-yen in the conduct of national affairs until the end. In view of the fact that Ho-shên was still retained as chief minister, and composed the edicts in the name of the Super Emperor, it is not unfair to say that Hung-li actually ruled more than sixty-three years—or longer than any Chinese monarch in historical times. In the course of his long life he had seen seven generations, from his grandfather to his great-great-grandson. It was fitting therefore that after he was seventy sui he should use the hao 古稀天子 Ku-hsi T'ien-tzŭ which, interpreted literally, means, "An Emperor whose like was seldom seen since antiquity".

Father Benoist, acting as interpreter for Joseph Panzi 潘廷璋 who made a portrait of Hung-li in 1773, commented on the emperor's remarkable sitting posture and on his evident vitality. George L. Staunton (1737–1801) who accompanied the Macartney Embassy in 1793 likewise remarked that the emperor "walked firm and erect". Chinese accounts corroborate these assertions, and from them we learn that, except for light refreshments at night, he took only two meals a day—at eight in the morning and at two in the afternoon—each meal lasting about fifteen minutes. He rose at six in the morning and, after the morning meal, read reports and memorials which he decided upon in consultation with his ministers. Then he received the newly appointed officials to whom he gave instructions. In the afternoon he would read, paint, or write verse. No matter where he stayed—in Peking, Jehol, or the Yüan-ming Yüan or elsewhere—this was his daily routine. He scorned the use of spectacles, and to the end was able to read and write. Two years before his death he participated in a hunting expedition.

Hung-li was straightforward, open-minded, and abhorred falsehood. All his responsibilities as an emperor he took seriously. In his decrees and writings, as edited in his literary collections and in the 高宗純皇帝聖訓 Kao-tsung Ch'un Huang-ti shêng-hsün, 300 chüan, printed in 1799, one finds him reasonable, intelligent, and truthful, exhibiting strength of character and a keen sense of responsibility. He insisted that his sons attend regularly the Palace School (see under ), but he did not entrust one of them with important duties of state. He was strict also with the eunuchs in the Palace. His last official act was to direct the campaign for suppression of the White Lily Sect (see under ) and the last poem he wrote was one entitled, "Waiting for Victory" (望捷 Wang-chieh). Ho-shên and other courtiers humored him with false reports of victories, thus leading him to believe that his last days were as splendid as the first, though there was already a perceptible decline in the country's morale and in its powers of resistance. He died in his favorite apartment, the Yang-hsin Tien 養心殿, where he had spent so many working hours. He was given the temple name, Kao-tsung 高宗 and the posthumous name, Ch'un Huang-ti 純皇帝. His tomb, named Yü-ling 裕陵, is situated at Ma-lan-yü northeast of Peking (see under ).

In his private life Hung-li was devoted to his first wife, Empress Hsiao-hsien (see under ), whom he married in 1727 while a prince. In 1730 she gave birth to a son named Yung-lien 永璉 whom Hung-li secretly designated as his heir but who died in 1738. This child was posthumously proclaimed heir-apparent and was canonized as Tuan-hui Huang T'ai-tzŭ 端慧皇太子. The second wife of Hung-li, née Ula Nara 烏拉納喇氏, was formerly a secondary consort but was elevated to Empress in 1750. In 1765, when she accompanied Hung-li on a tour in Shantung, she tonsured her hair and became a nun. She was branded as insane, but it is more likely that she chose this course because of some dispute with the emperor. This episode gave rise to many fanciful rumors, some of which place the emperor in a very unfavorable light.

Hung-li had seventeen sons and ten daughters. Ten of his sons grew to maturity, the most prominent being, , , 372