Yixuan, Prince Chun

Yixuan
Prince Chun of the First Rank

Photograph of Yixuan
Prince Chun of the First Rank
Reign 1872–1891
Predecessor None
Successor Zaifeng
Born (1840-10-16)16 October 1840
Beijing, China
Died 1 January 1891(1891-01-01) (aged 50)
Beijing, China
Spouse Yehenara Wanzhen
Secondary spouses:
Lady Yanja
Lady Lingiya
Lady Ligiya
Issue Sons:
Zaihan
Zaitian
Third son
Zaiguang
Zaifeng
Zaixun
Zaitao
Daughters:
Eldest daughter
Second daughter
Third daughter
Full name
Aisin-Gioro Yixuan
(愛新覺羅·奕譞)
Posthumous name
Prince Chunxian of the First Rank
(醇賢親王)
House House of Aisin-Gioro
Father Daoguang Emperor
Mother Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangshun
Yixuan
Chinese 奕譞
Prince Chun
Traditional Chinese 醇親王
Simplified Chinese 醇亲王

Yixuan (16 October 1840 – 1 January 1891), formally known as Prince Chun of the First Rank or simply Prince Chun, was an imperial prince of the Aisin Gioro clan and a statesman of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in China. He was the father of the Guangxu Emperor, and the paternal grandfather of Puyi (the Last Emperor) through his son Zaifeng.

Family background

Yixuan was born in the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan as the seventh son of the Daoguang Emperor. His mother was Lady Uya (烏雅氏). Four months after his birth, Lady Uya, a concubine of the Daoguang Emperor who was recently promoted to "Noble Lady Lin" (琳貴人), was further elevated to the status of "Imperial Concubine Lin" (琳嬪), a rare distinction. Lady Uya's rapid rise through the ranks continued, and she was promoted to "Consort Lin" (琳妃) and "Noble Consort Lin" (琳貴妃) in 1842 and 1846 respectively. She was ultimately granted by the Tongzhi Emperor a posthumous title of "Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangshun" (莊順皇貴妃), making her second only to the Empress.

During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi emperors' reigns

In February 1850, after the Daoguang Emperor's death, Yixuan's fourth brother, Yizhu, ascended the throne and became known as the Xianfeng Emperor. Yixuan was instated by the Xianfeng Emperor as a junwang (Prince of the Second Rank), and was known as "Prince Chun of the Second Rank" (醇郡王). He kept a low profile in the Qing imperial court during the Xianfeng Emperor's 11-year reign.

In 1860, by the Xianfeng Emperor's decree, Yixuan married Wanzhen of the Yehenara clan, who was a younger sister of Noble Consort Yi. The marriage forged a close bond between Yixuan and Noble Consort Yi. The Xianfeng Emperor died in 1861 and was succeeded by his young son, who became known as the Tongzhi Emperor. The Tongzhi Emperor's birth mother, Noble Consort Yi, was honoured as "Empress Dowager Cixi". Before his death, the Xianfeng Emperor had appointed eight regents – led by Duanhua and Sushun – to assist his son in governing the Qing Empire. In November 1861, Yixuan sided with Empress Dowager Cixi and his sixth brother, Yixin (Prince Gong), to launch the Xinyou Coup to seize power from the eight regents. Yixuan personally led imperial forces to arrest Sushun and bring him back to Beijing, where he was executed.

As a consequence of the Xinyou Coup, Yixuan found himself elevated to the highest ranks in the Qing imperial court. In the 14-year reign of the Tongzhi Emperor from 1861–1875, Yixuan led a dual career in the military and civil services. In 1872, he was promoted from a junwang to a qinwang (Prince of the First Rank), hence he became known as "Prince Chun of the First Rank" (醇親王).

During the Guangxu Emperor's reign

In January 1875, the Tongzhi Emperor died without an heir, so Empress Dowager Cixi chose Yixuan's second son, Zaitian, to be the new emperor. Zaitian was adopted into the Xianfeng Emperor's lineage; this meant that he was, in name, no longer Yixuan's son. As the Xianfeng Emperor's "son", Zaitian was installed on the throne as the Guangxu Emperor. This choice brought advantages to Cixi: Zaitian was her nephew (Zaitian's mother was Cixi's younger sister, Wanzhen); Zaitian's father, Yixuan, had been a loyal supporter of Cixi; Zaitian was still young so Cixi could continue ruling as regent. As for Yixuan, however, Cixi's choice was a catastrophe for him. When Yixuan heard that his son would become the new emperor, he reportedly hit himself and wept bitterly before sinking into unconsciousness.

In the last centuries of imperial China, it was very unusual for an emperor's father to be still alive while the emperor was on the throne. The only prior example in the Qing dynasty was that of the situation between 1796–1799, when the Qianlong Emperor abdicated in favour of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor, and became a taishang huang (retired emperor). Since filial piety is a highly revered value in Chinese culture, it meant that Yixuan, the biological father of the emperor, would receive the highest honours and privileges. However, Yixuan perceived himself to be in an extremely dangerous and uncomfortable position, given the prickly nature of Empress Dowager Cixi and her obsessional paranoia of any challenge to her power.

The first decision Yixuan made, after his son became the emperor, was to resign from all his official positions. He tried to keep a low profile, but was lavished with honours and privileges, which he tried to refuse as far as possible. Soon after his son became the emperor, Yixuan's status as a "Prince of the First Rank" (親王) was made hereditary for his descendants, a privilege he could not decline.

In 1876, Yixuan wrote a memorial to the Guangxu Emperor, condemning in advance anyone who would propose to grant him a special position in the hierarchy because he was the biological father of the emperor. Following resignation from his military and civil posts, he was entrusted with the education of the young emperor, to which he consented. In the following years, with the disgrace of Prince Gong, Yixuan unwillingly became the second most powerful figure in the Qing court after Empress Dowager Cixi. Cixi even ordered all ministers to discuss matters with Yixuan before making decisions.

Empress Dowager Cixi's co-regent, Empress Dowager Ci'an, died suddenly in 1881 and was rumoured to have been poisoned by Cixi. This made Yixuan even more cautious and eager to please Cixi in all possible ways. When the Guangxu Emperor reached adulthood in early 1887 and was ready to take over the reins of power from Empress Dowager Cixi, Yixuan formally requested Cixi to prolong her regency.

In 1885, Cixi appointed Yixuan as "Controller of the Admiralty", putting him in charge of supervising the building of a new imperial navy. Yixuan was sent on an inspection tour to the naval shipyards on the coast of China. Later, he became involved in the embezzlement of imperial treasury funds, initially allocated to the construction of the navy, but were instead used for the restoration and enlargement of the Summer Palace to replace the Old Summer Palace that was destroyed in 1860.

The Qing imperial navy, deprived of funding, was to suffer a humiliating defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895). Yixuan's desire to please Cixi was such that he did not even stop work on the Summer Palace to relieve the victims of the floods that hit Beijing; and so the enlargement of the Summer Palace was completed as early as the spring of 1891.

Yixuan died on 1 January 1891, shortly before the Summer Palace's enlargement works were completed. His second eldest surviving son, Zaifeng, inherited his title "Prince Chun of the First Rank". Yixuan was granted a posthumous name xian (賢), so his full posthumous title became "Prince Chunxian of the First Rank" (醇賢親王).

Family

Spouses of Prince Chun

Ancestry

Names and titles

Prince Chun Tomb

Yixuan was interred in a tomb of princely status, now popularly known as the "Seventh Prince's Grave" (七王墳), located 35 km/22 miles northwest of Beijing. According to Puyi's autobiography, a ginkgo tree grew on the tomb of Yixuan, and became very tall and imposing. This fact was reported to Empress Dowager Cixi and greatly alarmed her. In the Chinese language, the first character of the word "ginkgo tree" is bai (白), while the first character of the word "emperor" is huang (皇), which combines the character bai with the character wang (王 – meaning "prince", 親王). A ginkgo (白) growing on the tomb of Yixuan (王) was interpreted as a sign that a new emperor (皇) would emerge in the house of Yixuan. This was unacceptable for the very superstitious Cixi, as obsessed as ever with thwarting any challenge to her power, and so she promptly had the tree felled. The tomb of Yixuan was restored by the People's Republic of China after 1949 and is now one of the tourist attractions around Beijing.

The tomb and surrounding area appears in Quentin Tarantino's 2004 film Kill Bill: Volume 2 as the home and training grounds of the legendary Shaolin monk Pai Mei.

Prince Chun Mansion

A former residence of Yixuan, now known as the Prince Chun Mansion, is located near Shichahai, Beijing.

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yixuan, 1st Prince Chun.
Yixuan, Prince Chun
Born: 16 October 1840 Died: 1 January 1891
Chinese nobility
New title Prince Chun
1872–1891 		Succeeded by
Zaifeng
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