In 1799, two heads of state passed away: Emperor Qianlong of China and George Washington.
When Emperor Qianlong is mentioned, everyone tends to think of an ancient figure, while Washington is considered a figure of modern times.
In reality, the following people and events all occurred during the Qianlong era:
In 1755 (the twentieth year of Qianlong's reign), to combat factions within the court, Qianlong used literary inquisition to accuse Hu Zhongzao, a protégé of Ortai, of insulting the Great Qing in his poem "A Heart's Intentions Discuss the Turbid Qing," sentencing him to death.
Simultaneously, Empress Elizabeth of Russia issued a decree establishing Moscow University, marking the founding of Russia's premier institution of higher learning.
In March of the same year, Immanuel...
In 1780 (the forty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign), Qianlong embarked on his fifth tour of the south. Subsequently, he betrothed his beloved tenth daughter, Princess Guren Hexiao, to Feng Shen Yin De, son of Heshen. In July, the sixth Panchen Lama visited the Summer Palace and met Emperor Qianlong at the Qingkuang Hall, presenting him with a golden Buddha statue, ritual implements, and a dharani quilt, to celebrate Qianlong's birthday. He later passed away in the capital.
At this time, the Great Qing appeared to be in a state of peace and prosperity, but the outside world was in turmoil. The First Battle of Cape St. Vincent broke out that year, with Britain defeating the Spanish fleet. Subsequently, Russia, along with several European powers, formed an armed neutrality league to jointly counter British naval actions.
In 1783 (the forty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign), Emperor Qianlong made his fourth tour to Shengjing to pay homage to the ancestral tombs. This was also his last eastern tour, and the last such tour by an emperor of the Great Qing during the so-called "Prosperous Era." Although emperors throughout history had used eastern tours to inspect the populace, deploy military forces, reward and punish officials, and urge good governance, Qianlong's penchant for pomp meant that the considerable labor and expenditure of this tour were unavoidable.
While Qianlong was on his magnificent eastern tour, the Americans were still striving for national independence. American negotiators John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay submitted the Treaty of Paris to Congress, which included Britain's recognition of American independence and established the boundaries, among other key provisions.
In the same year, the Montgolfier brothers successfully conducted the first manned flight experiment.
In January 1784 (the forty-ninth year of Qianlong's reign), the American Revolutionary War officially concluded. To demonstrate support for the newly established American republic, "The college located in New York City, heretofore known as King's College, shall from henceforth be known forever as Columbia College," which is now the dream university for many – Columbia University.
In February, China and the United States conducted their first direct trade. Americans, having just gained independence from British rule, sailed the ocean-going sailing ship "Empress of China" into Guangzhou Harbor.
This trade cost the Americans 120,000 US dollars, but the net profit was only a little over 30,000 US dollars. However, for America, this transaction was more than worth it – they had finally broken free from British monopoly on international trade and opened a trade route to China.
In 1785 (the fiftieth year of Qianlong's reign), the Great Qing was at peace, and the realm was prosperous. As it happened to coincide with Qianlong welcoming a fifth-generation grandson, to demonstrate his immense imperial benevolence, Qianlong held the Banquet of a Thousand Elders at the Chengqian Palace. According to records, 3,000 elders participated in this banquet, and a large number of them died after returning.
While Qianlong's Thousand Elders Banquet was described as "a grand and harmonious event, unprecedented in all ages," the British had already entered another era – the Age of Machines and Steam. Watt improved the steam engine, which began to be used as power for textile machinery, marking the First Industrial Revolution.
Alas, the gears of time did not carry the Great Qing along.
What followed was like what Empress Fucha said in "Story of Yanxi Palace": "One wrong step, and all subsequent steps are wrong."
In 1789 (the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign), the 78-year-old Qianlong, despite having been exposed to globes, Huygens's lens, and even the heliocentric theory, and knowing that people had circumnavigated the globe, remained deaf to the changes in the outside world, focusing instead on perfecting and consolidating his autocratic rule.
It was also in this year that the King of France, Louis XVI, convened the Estates-General, but it was dissolved due to the Third Estate's (bourgeoisie, urban commoners, peasants, etc.) dissatisfaction with their representation.
In July, the Bastille, a symbol of French feudal autocratic rule, was stormed by Parisian citizens, marking the outbreak of the French Revolution.
On August 4th, the French National Constituent Assembly passed the August Decrees, stripping nobles and clergy of their privileges. Subsequently, the constitutionally significant Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was promulgated.
In October, French women organized a march demanding that government officials address food shortages and economic problems, and also calling for the royal family and government to relocate to Paris as a sign of their sincerity in resolving the issues. Ultimately, the King complied with public will and moved from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in Paris.
In the same year, Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States.
In 1793 (the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign), the subjects of the Great Qing were still living within the cage of autocratic rule meticulously reinforced by Qianlong. Meanwhile, the French National Assembly had tried and executed King Louis XVI for treason, followed by the execution of Queen Marie Antoinette.
That year, eight years before Qianlong's abdication, he was inevitably aging.
And along with Qianlong's aging, the Qing dynasty, ruled by the Aisin Gioro clan for centuries, also declined. The world had utterly left this isolated nation and entered another era, while its rulers, oblivious to the suffering of their people, were still intoxicated by their own "Kang-Qian Golden Age."
And within fifty more years, things like electric lights and telegraphs would begin to appear in the world.
Later... the once glorious five-thousand-year-old behemoth was inexplicably reduced to a bronze.
The divine land was submerged.
So, to travel to the Qing Dynasty and rebel, does one need a reason? Need it? Don't need it? Need it?
If you travel to the Qing Dynasty and don't rebel, you're a drill for your backside!
Appendix: Statistics of territories ceded by the Manchu Qing:
In 1689 (the twenty-eighth year of Kangxi's reign), Suksaha, as "Imperial Commissioner for Delineation, Minister of Government, and Commander of the Imperial Guards," signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk with Tsarist Russia, defining the border in Outer Northeast China and ceding 431,500 square kilometers of territory.
In 1727 (the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign), on July 15th, the Qing and Russia signed the Treaty of Kyakhta, ceding approximately 100,000 square kilometers of territory south and southwest of Lake Baikal, and defining the border in Uriankhai (Outer Mongolia).
Qianlong, who called himself the "Ten-Time Complete Dog," did not sign any land-cession treaties, but due to the battles of Jin Chuan and the Burmese campaigns, Qianlong chose to passively watch Russia occupy Sakhalin Island.
In 1842 (the twenty-second year of Daoguang's reign), China and Britain signed the Treaty of Nanjing, ceding Hong Kong Island to Britain.
In 1858 (the eighth year of Xianfeng's reign), China and Russia signed the Treaty of Aigun, ceding over 600,000 square kilometers of land south of the Stanovoy Range, and declaring territories east of the Ussuri River to be jointly managed by China and Russia.
In 1860 (the tenth year of Xianfeng's reign), the Anglo-French Allied Forces entered Beijing, burned down the Old Summer Palace, and subsequently signed the Convention of Peking, ceding the southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula to Britain. Recovered in 1997.
In 1860 (the tenth year of Xianfeng's reign), the Sino-Russian Treaty of Peking was signed, ceding approximately 400,000 square kilometers of territory east of the Ussuri River, including Sakhalin Island, to Russia.
In 1864 (the third year of Tongzhi's reign), China and Russia signed the Protocol of Sino-Russian Border Delimitation in the Northwest, ceding 450,000 square kilometers of the Pamir Plateau in the far west of Xinjiang (including areas southeast of Lake Balkhash, west of Ili, and east of the Panj River) to Russia.
In 1887 (the thirteenth year of Guangxu's reign), the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Friendship and Commerce was signed, agreeing to Portugal's "permanent residence and administration of Macau." Returned in 1999.
In 1898 (the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu's reign), China and Britain signed the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, leasing areas like the New Territories near Hong Kong to Britain for 99 years.
In 1895 (the twenty-first year of Guangxu's reign), China and Japan signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceding Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan, which were subsequently received by the Republic of China government after World War II.
In 1911, after the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, the Outer Mongolian authorities of the Great Qing signed the Mongolian-Russian Agreement with Russia, leading to the Republic of China losing control over Outer Mongolia, though it was "nominally" still considered "territory" of the Republic of China.
In 1945, the Republic of China government signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance with the former Soviet Union, agreeing to Outer Mongolia's independence based on the results of a plebiscite. The following year, independence was recognized.
The modern scholar Cheng Shan Zhi, in his "Discussions on Qing Dynasty Land Cessions," compiled the following:
"In total, 1.92 million square miles were ceded, an area eight times that of present-day Japan, six times that of Germany, and nine times that of Italy. If tributary states are included, the Western tributary state of Gorkha, 120,000 square miles. The Eastern Joseon, 80,000 square miles. The Southern Vietnam, 380,000 square miles. Burma, 390,000 square miles. In total, 2.89 million square miles. The extent of loss is thus, nearly two-fifths of the entire nation."
It is no wonder then that later generations wrote the famous ode to the Ten Thousand Year Reign of the Tartar Qing.
Today, Hong Kong is ceded, tomorrow Aigun is ceded, and Taiwan is ceded again at Shimonoseki. Ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers are engulfed in smoke, yet only personal celebrations are cared for!
Kangxi's Nerchinsk, Yongzheng's Kyakhta, and defeat is not limited to the Old Buddha. The Great Qing Empire's territory shrinks, and on every birthday, the borders vanish!