The Complete Biography of Emperor Kangxi

Author: Wang Wei / Edited by: Bai Xinliang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1994-08-01
Features: Excerpt: Generally speaking, he could still live for several more decades. At the same time, since there were many imperial concubines in the harem and he had just entered his reproductive age, he could also father many more sons. Who knows if the fate of this child, Xuanye, would necessarily be above other children who had already been born or were yet to be born. Secondly, regarding his mother, at that time, she was merely an ordinary concubine of Emperor Shunzhi and of Han descent. Although her ancestors had served the founding emperors of the Qing Dynasty in both northern and southern campaigns and had achieved remarkable merits long before the Manchus entered the Central Plains, the Qing regime, as a dynasty established by Manchu nobles, determined that her family was only a second-class citizen in society. The ethnic background of the concubine Tong's family inevitably affected her status in the palace. Thirdly, it should also be noted that during the time of Xuanye's birth, the person in charge of palace affairs was Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang Wen. Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was from the Khorchin Borjigit family of Mongolia. After her son became emperor, in order to consolidate and enhance her position in the palace, she painstakingly expanded the influence of her family within the palace. In the eighth month of the eighth year of Shunzhi's reign, when Shunzhi was only fourteen years old, under her leadership, a grand wedding was held for Shunzhi, and her own niece was appointed as empress. Due to Shunzhi's youthful recklessness, his relationship with this empress was not good. In the tenth year of Shunzhi's reign, this empress was demoted to the title of Noble Concubine Jing and moved to a side palace. At this time, in order to achieve the goal of closer kinship, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang again disregarded the hierarchy and appointed her own niece as empress. Around the same time, other women of the Borjigit family who entered the palace as concubines included the Noble Concubine Gongjing, the Noble Concubine Shuhui, the Noble Concubine Duanshun, and the posthumous Noble Concubine Zhaodao. For a time, the imperial harem of Shunzhi almost became the realm of the Borjigit family. Out of the selfish interests of her family and lineage, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang eagerly hoped that these nieces and nieces-in-law would give her grandsons to inherit the throne in the future. Under these circumstances, she had little affection for the sons of Shunzhi's Manchu concubines, let alone the son of the Han military concubine. Therefore, at the beginning of Xuanye's life, he was just a clumsy duck in the palace. His mother, Concubine Tong, did not receive special attention or a rise in status for giving birth to him. Even Xuanye himself, like other ordinary princes, was sent out of the palace and lived separately in a mansion outside Xihua Gate with his wet nurse. Even in his later years, when he recalled this period of his life, he was still deeply moved. He said, "Emperor Shizu Zhang, because I had not been inoculated against smallpox in my childhood, had my wet nurse care for me outside the Forbidden City. I did not get a single day of joy with my parents, and this has been a source of regret for me in my sixty years."① Due to being raised outside for a long time, his father, Emperor Shunzhi, almost forgot about him. Before the fourteenth year of Shunzhi's reign, Emperor Shunzhi had clearly already had three sons: Niu Niu, Fuquan, and Xuanye. However, in October of that year, the favored imperial consort Dong'e (later Empress Dowager Duanjing Xiaoxian) gave birth to a son for him, and he immediately recognized this son as his heir and often said that this newly born infant would be the future crown prince. However, as things often turn out contrary to people's wishes, although Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang had married six women from the Borjigit family as empresses and consorts for Emperor Shunzhi, she was disappointed that he did not like any of them, let alone that they would give her grandsons. Meanwhile, although Emperor Shunzhi was extremely fond of his imperial consort Dong'e and designated her son as his heir and crown prince, this child died of illness within a hundred days of birth. Instead, the overlooked illegitimate son, Xuanye, grew up healthily. As a result, only when Xuanye was around five or six years old, guided by his wet nurse, did he enter the palace to pay respects to his grandmother and parents, and they finally remembered this child who had been living outside the palace for a long time. Seeing Xuanye's full forehead, clear eyebrows, red lips, white teeth, radiant spirit, and loud voice, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and Emperor Shunzhi developed a sense of affection for him. Moreover, his eloquence and polite demeanor left them even more amazed. Once, when Xuanye, along with his older brother Fuquan and younger brother Changning, paid respects to Emperor Shunzhi, the emperor jokingly asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. At that time, Changning had just turned one year old and was still babbling incoherently, so he could not answer such a profound question. Fuquan, being older and more aware of the world, was cautious in answering the important question posed by his father, hesitating for a moment before cautiously replying that he wanted to be a loyal prince under his father. Xuanye, however, without hesitation, replied that he wanted to govern the empire as well as his father did when he grew up. This answer, at first glance, seemed arrogant and disrespectful, but upon closer reflection, in the imperial family that desperately hoped for their descendants to rule the empire, it was actually a highly satisfactory answer. A five- or six-year-old child speaking so eloquently left Emperor Shunzhi deeply impressed. From then on, he left a deep impression on his son, Xuanye. Due to being neglected at birth, very few anecdotes of Xuanye's childhood have been passed down to later generations, so what we know is very limited. First, shortly after his birth, he moved with his wet nurse to a mansion outside the Forbidden City, which was likely the former residence of an official. According to the old Manchu custom, most princes were "entrusted to wealthy officials for upbringing."① The Veritable Records of the Kangxi Emperor also records that Xuanye's older brother Fuquan, younger brother Changning, and many of Xuanye's sons were raised outside. After Xuanye's birth, compared to Fuquan and Changning, his status was not high, so this speculation seems largely accurate. Later, when Xuanye became emperor, this mansion naturally became his potential palace, and the original official could no longer live there, so he had to move out and convert it into Fuhu Temple, where lamas could perform Buddhist rituals to pray for the health of the Kangxi Emperor. Second, he had several wet nurses, one of whom was Sun, whose husband was Cao Xi, a Han military official from the Zhengbai Banner. Another was Guwalaha. It was under the meticulous care of these wet nurses that Xuanye grew up healthily. As a result, many years later, Xuanye still had deep feelings for them. After their deaths, they were posthumously honored as Fusheng Lady and Baosheng Lady, and their graves were regularly visited, while their descendants were also given important positions. For example, Cao Yin, the son of the wet nurse Sun, was appointed as the Jiangning Textile Commissioner, becoming one of his trusted allies and confidants. Third, during this period, Xuanye also contracted smallpox. In the mid-17th century, smallpox was a terrible disease. Due to low medical treatment levels, the mortality rate for those who contracted it was extremely high. The Manchus, who had moved from the northeast to the Central Plains, feared it as if it were a tiger. Xuanye managed to survive this ordeal, partly because of his mixed ancestry from the Manchu, Mongol, and Han peoples, giving him strong resistance, and partly due to the careful care of his wet nurses. Although he was left with a few scars on his face, he gained immunity after surviving smallpox. This fact, which seems ordinary today, became a favorable condition for Xuanye's accession to the throne after Emperor Shunzhi's death when the imperial family decided on the successor. Fourth, he began learning cultural knowledge as early as five years old, though he had no formal teachers. The person teaching him Manchu was a palace maid named Sumala. The two eunuchs, Zhang and Lin, taught him Chinese. Because they were familiar with many anecdotes and stories of the rise of the Qing Dynasty and the late Ming Dynasty in the imperial palace, Xuanye not only learned cultural knowledge from them but also received an early education in history. Fifth, during this period, since he was not living in the palace, his wet nurses doted on him but did not discipline him strictly, leading him to develop the habit of smoking. Only after he ascended the throne did he resolutely give up this bad habit for fear of affecting the handling of state affairs. In summary, Xuanye's childhood was an important period in his life. Although living outside the palace for a long time affected his early education and led to some bad habits, the main point is that he did not develop the arrogance and extravagance typical of princes raised in the palace. At the same time, it greatly broadened his horizons and experiences, playing an important role in his healthy growth.
Section 2: Shunzhi's Death Although Xuanye had not received much attention from Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and Emperor Shunzhi in the years after his birth, changing circumstances and opportunities still gradually moved toward him, and ultimately, Shunzhi's early death turned this possibility into reality.
Postscript: This book is a collective effort. The authors included Bai Xinliang, Wang Wei, Sun Weiguo, Wang Guoheng, Yang Liying, He Xiaorong, Jiang Shengli, and Li Li. The specific division of labor is as follows:
Bai Xinliang: Chapters 1, 3, 9, Sections 5, 6, 7 of Chapter 10, Chapter 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, Appendix, and final editing of the entire book.
Wang Wei: Chapter 2.
Sun Weiguo: Chapters 4, Sections 3 and 5 of Chapter 6.
Wang Guoheng: Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter 5.
Yang Liying: Sections 2 and 4 of Chapter 5.
He Xiaorong: Sections 2, 4, and 6 of Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Sections 2, 3, and 4 of Chapter 8.
Jiang Shengli: Sections 2 and 4 of Chapter 6, Section 2 of Chapter 8.
Li Li: Sections 2, 3, and 4 of Chapter 10.
In addition, many other comrades also made significant contributions to the publication and writing of this book. Among them, Sun Liqun played a major role in liaising with the publisher. Nan Bingwen and George Zhong also offered valuable suggestions on the overall structure and guidelines of the book. Graduate students Wang Weikai, Wang Lin, and Jiang Decheng also devoted considerable effort to collecting materials and transcribing manuscripts. Special thanks are extended to all for their contributions.
Bai Xinliang
December 1993, Nankai University Institute of History, Tianjin