Xianfeng Emperor
July 17, 1831 – August 22, 1861
The Xianfeng Emperor (1831–1861), personal name Yizhu and temple name Wenzong, was the eighth emperor of the Qing dynasty, reigning from 1850 to 1861. His reign saw the Qing dynasty struck by the Taiping Rebellion, the Nian Rebellion, and the Second Opium War, and he was the last Qing emperor to exercise sole power.
Biography
The Xianfeng Emperor, born Yizhu in 1831 at the Old Summer Palace, was the fourth son of the Daoguang Emperor, who chose him as heir for his ability in literature and administration. He came to the throne in March 1850 at the age of nineteen.
His reign was consumed by rebellion. The Taiping Rebellion broke out within months and took Nanjing in 1853, while the Nian Rebellion spread across the north and the Miao and Panthay revolts erupted in the southwest. The commanders he sent, including Zeng Guofan and Sengge Rinchen, had only limited success.
At the same time he refused Western demands for diplomatic relations, leading to the Second Opium War. Defeat forced the Treaty of Tientsin in 1858, and the Treaty of Aigun ceded territory north of the Amur to Russia. When fighting resumed in 1860, Anglo-French forces took Beijing and burned the Old Summer Palace; the emperor fled to Jehol and left Prince Gong to conclude the Convention of Peking.
His health collapsed, and he died at Jehol in August 1861 at the age of thirty. He left a regency council for his young son, the Tongzhi Emperor, which was soon overthrown by the empresses dowager Ci'an and Cixi.
Offices held
Daoguang Emperor Succeeded by
Tongzhi Emperor
