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Yi Xuan
Seventh son of the Daoguang emperor and Prince Chun, father of the Guangxu emperor, who seized Sushun in the 1861 coup and later headed the new Admiralty Board
In a council hall, a long table holds an unrolled map scroll, a brass-cornered chest and a brush pot, with tall-backed chairs around it and a bronze lamp at the left; a figure stands with their back turned on the balcony at the right, with palace roofs beyond.
Also known as Chunqin Wang
- Roles
- Chief Ministers
Yixuan, seventh son of the Daoguang emperor, was born in 1840, made Prince Chun of the second rank under his brother Xianfeng, and married a younger sister of Cixi. In the Xinyou coup of 1861 he was sent to Miyun to arrest Sushun, who was escorting the late emperor's coffin back to Beijing. He was raised to Prince Chun of the first rank in 1872, and when the Tongzhi emperor died without a son in January 1875, Cixi chose Yixuan's second son Zaitian as emperor, after which Yixuan gave up all his posts. In 1884 Cixi dismissed the whole Grand Council under Prince Gong and ordered the new councillors to consult Yixuan on all matters, and the next year he took charge of the newly founded Admiralty Board, some of whose funds were diverted to rebuilding the Summer Palace. He died in January 1891 and was named Prince Chunxian; his grandson Puyi became the last Qing emperor.
Life and times
Dates 1840 CE–1891 CE