Legends
A legend, popularized in fiction, is that Qianlong was the son of Chen Yuanlong of Haining. In his choice of heir to the throne, the Kangxi Emperor required not only that the heir be able to govern the Empire well but that the heir's son be of no less calibre, thus ensuring the Manchu's everlasting reign over the country. The Yongzheng Emperor's own son was a weakling and he surreptitiously arranged for his daughter to be swapped for Chen Yuanlong's son, who became the apple of Kangxi's eye. Thus, Yongzheng got to succeed the throne, and his "son", Hongli, subsequently became the Qianlong Emperor. Later, Qianlong went to the southern part of the country four times, he stayed in Chen's house in Haining, leaving behind his calligraphy and also frequently issued imperial decrees making and maintaining Haining as a tax-free state.
However there are major problems with this story. First, Yongzheng's s eldest surviving son Hongshi was only 7 when Hongli was born, far too young to make the drastic choice of replacing a child of royal birth with an outsider (and risking disgrace if not death). Second, Yongzheng had three other princes that survived to adulthood and had the potential to ascend the throne. Indeed since Hongshi was the son forced to commit suicide, it would have been far more logical for him to be the adopted son, if any of them were.
Stories about Qianlong's 6 visits to the Jiangnan area disguised as a commoner have been a popular topic for many generations. In total, he has visited Jiangnan eight times, as opposed to the Kangxi Emperor's six inspections.
Read more about this topic: Qianlong Emperor
Famous quotes containing the word legends:
“Therefore our legends always come around to seeming legendary,
A path decorated with our comings and goings. Or so I’ve been told.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“Farm boys wild to couple
With anything with soft-wooded trees
With mounds of earthmounds
Of pine straw will keep themselves off
Animals by legends of their own:”
—James Dickey (b. 1923)
“a child’s
Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother
Through the parables
Of sunlight
And the legends of the green chapels
And the twice-told fields of infancy”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)