Royals › Monarch / Emperor
Xianfeng Emperor
Qing emperor of the Xianfeng reign, who faced the Taiping war and the Second Opium War and died at Chengde after fleeing the Anglo-French advance on Beijing
Mural of the event “Second Opium War”, which this person took part in.
After the First Opium War, Britain and France were dissatisfied with the limited interests brought by the Treaty of Nanking and used the Arrow Incident and the Father Auguste Chapdelaine Affair to provoke a new round of invasion of China. The Xianfeng court faced joint Western attack with no way out.
Also known as Xianfeng Di · Qing Wenzong · Ai Xin Jue Luo · Yi Zhu · Yizhu
- Roles
- Monarch / Emperor
Yizhu, fourth son of the Daoguang Emperor, was born in 1831 and came to the throne in 1850, proclaiming the Xianfeng era the next year. That winter Hong Xiuquan rose at Jintian in Guangxi, and in 1853 the Taipings took Nanjing as their Heavenly Capital; the emperor ordered Zeng Guofan and other officials at home to raise local militia, the origin of the Hunan Army. The Arrow incident of 1856 led to war with Britain and France, and in 1858 the court signed the Treaties of Tianjin, while Yishan, general of Heilongjiang, signed the Treaty of Aigun with Russia. When Anglo-French forces entered Beijing in 1860 the emperor fled to Rehe, the Yuanmingyuan was burned, and Prince Gong stayed behind to sign the Conventions of Peking. He died at the Chengde summer palace in 1861, naming eight regents led by Sushun for his young son; that year the two empresses dowager and Prince Gong overthrew them. His temple name is Wenzong.
Life and times
Dates 1831 CE–1861 CE
- 1856Second Opium WarTook partage 25