Yonglin

Yonglin (17 June 1766 – 25 April 1820), formally known as Prince Qing, was a Manchu prince of the Qing dynasty in China.

Life

Yonglin was born in the Aisin Gioro clan as the 17th and youngest son of the Qianlong Emperor. His mother, Empress Xiaoyichun from the Weigiya clan, also bore the Qianlong Emperor's 15th son, Yongyan (the Jiaqing Emperor); Yonglin and the Jiaqing Emperor were thus full brothers.

In 1789, Yonglin was granted the title of a beile. He was promoted to junwang (second-rank prince) in 1799 under the title "Prince Hui of the Second Rank" (惠郡王), but was later renamed to "Prince Qing of the Second Rank" (慶郡王). The Jiaqing Emperor gave him Heshen's former residence as his personal mansion. In 1820, Yonglin was promoted to qinwang (first-rank prince), hence he was known as "Prince Qing of the First Rank" (慶親王). He died in the same year and was buried somewhere in the present-day Baiyanggou Natural Scenic Area, which is located some 40 li southwest of Beijing's Changping District.

Around 1851, during the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor, the Imperial Household Department took back the Prince Qing Mansion from Yonglin's descendants. A year later, the Xianfeng Emperor gave the mansion to his sixth brother, Prince Gong. The mansion, now called the Prince Gong Mansion, is a museum open to the public.

Family

Spouses

• Lady Niohuru (鈕祜祿氏), Yonglin's primary consort, the daughter of an imperial secretary Aligun (阿里袞)
• Lady Wugiya (武佳氏), Yonglin's second primary consort
• Lady Liugiya (劉佳氏), Yonglin's secondary consort
• Lady Sungiya (孫佳氏), Yonglin's secondary consort
• Lady Ligiya (李佳氏), Yonglin's concubine
• Lady Zhaogiya (趙佳氏), Yonglin's concubine
• Lady Zhanggiya (張佳氏), Yonglin's concubine

Sons

• Mianheng (綿恆), Yonglin's first son
• Second son, unnamed, died early
• Mianmin (綿愍; 1797–1836), Yonglin's third son, inherited the Prince Qing peerage as the second Prince Qing
• Fourth son, unnamed, died early
• Mianti (綿悌; 1811–1849), Yonglin's fifth son, inherited the Prince Qing peerage from Mianmin but was stripped of his title, posthumously honoured as a beizi
• Mianxing (綿性; 1814–1879), Yonglin's sixth son, held the title of a buru bafen fuguo gong

Yikuang (1838–1917), a grandson of Yonglin, rose to prominence in the late Qing dynasty and became the first Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet, an office created in May 1911 to replace the Grand Council.

See also

• Prince Qing
• Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty

References

• Zhao, Erxun (1928). Draft History of Qing (Qing Shi Gao). Volume 221. China.