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 daughter of a man whom he had executed. lit view of the many enemies he undoubtedly made, this supposition is not improbable. Nevertheless, official accounts state that he died peacefully in the Yüan-ming yüan (see under ) at the age of fifty-eight (sui). He was buried in the tomb known as T'ai-ling 泰陵, the first to be built in the Western Mausoleum (Hsi-ling 西陵) in the district west of Peiping. He was given the posthumous name Hsien Huang-ti 憲皇帝 and the temple name Shih-tsung 世宗.

Yin-chên had ten sons and four daughters, of whom four sons and one daughter lived to maturity. Fully aware of the danger of designating an Heir Apparent, he put the name of his successor in a sealed box behind the tablet bearing the characters "Shêng-ta kuang-ming" 正大光明 in the hall Ch'ien-ch'ing Kung 乾清宮. The name—supposed to be known to no one—was to be revealed only after his death. In this way he chose his fourth son,. As to his other sons, the third, Hung-shih 弘時 (1704–1727), led a wanton life and died young. He so offended his father that his name was struck from the Yü-tieh 玉牒, or Genealogy of the Imperial Family; and not until 1735, when Hung-li ascended the throne, was it restored. Yin-chên's fifth son, Hung-chou 弘晝, was made a prince of the first class with the designation Ho Ch'in-wang 和親王. He was canonized as Kung 恭 and left a literary collection known as 稽古齋全集 Chi-ku chai ch'üan-chi, 8 chüan. One of the wealthiest princes of his day, he took pleasure in assembling the paraphernalia necessary to his own funeral, and having the rites rehearsed before him while he wined and dined. Yin-chên's sixth son, Hung-yen 弘曕 (1733–1765), inherited the first class princedom left by his uncle, Yin-li (see under ), and became in 1738 the second Prince Kuo (果親王). In 1763, on the charge of greed and imprudent conduct, he was degraded to a prince of the third degree. Shortly before he died he was raised one degree to a Chün-wang 郡王. He was canonized as Kung 恭. His great-grandson, I-hsiang 奕湘, inherited the rank of Prince of the fifth degree (1833) and served as Tartar General at Canton (1843–45), at Mukden (1845–47), and elsewhere.

Yin-chên's literary collection, entitled Shih-tsung yü-chih wên-chi (御製文集), 30 chüan, was printed in 1738. His more important writings were primarily political documents, most of which he composed himself. He wrote comments and instructions on most of the memorials submitted by provincial officials. A collection of memorials bearing his comments, entitled 雍正硃批諭旨 Yung-chêng chu-p'i yü-chih (often known as Chu-p'i yü-chih), contains examples submitted by 223 officials arranged in 112 volumes in 18 cases. Some of these comments are much longer than the original memorials, showing the pains he took in national affairs. The collection was printed in 1732 with additional materials printed in 1738. Some of his edicts concerning Bannermen and the Banner system were collected under three titles: 上諭八旗 Shang-yü Pa-ch'i, 13 chüan; Shang-yü Ch'i-wu i-fu (旗務議覆), 12 chüan; and 諭行旗務奏議 Yü-hsing Ch'i-wu tsou-i, 13 chüan. His edicts issued through the Grand Secretariat, entitled Shang-yü Nei-ko (內閣), 159 chüan, concern national affairs. All the edicts issued from 1722 to 1727 were printed in 1731; those issued in the years 1728–35 were edited and printed in 1741. There are two other collections of his edicts; one dealing with Buddhism, dated between the years 1733 and 1735; and the other concerning right conduct and similar themes, issued in 1729. A classified selection of his edicts, entitled Shih-tsung shêng-hsün (聖訓), 36 chüan, was printed in 1741. Some hitherto unpublished writings of his have recently appeared in periodicals issued by the Palace Museum, Peiping. Some of these concern Nien Kêng-yao and other officials whom he at first praised highly but later condemned to death or imprisonment.

Judging from his edicts, Yin-chên was a very able and ambitious man, but jealous. It is said that his spies swarmed in the empire and that almost every important action of an official was reported to him. His reign has been branded as cruel and some of his officials as unjust (see under ). Nevertheless, many of his acts were beneficial to the empire, or at least to the reigning house. His reorganization of the finances brought a higher income to the state; corruption was checked; power was centralized in the hands of the Emperor; and laws were enforced. All of these reforms contributed in some degree to the splendors of the succeeding Ch'ien-lung period.

[1/9/1a; 1/226/17a; Shih-tsung Hsien Huang-ti shih-lu ; Ch'ing Huang-shih ssŭ-p'u (see under ); Ku-kung T'ien-pên-shu-k'u hsien-ts'un mu (see bibl. under ); Tung-hua lu, Yung-chêng, passim; Backhouse and Bland, Annals and Memoirs of the Court of Peking 919