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| | == Biography == | | == Biography == |
| − | The '''Jiaqing Emperor''' was the ruler of China in 1806, when the [[Chinese Embassy]] to England brought back [[Temeraire]] with [[William Laurence]] and his crew of aviators. The emperor's companion dragon was Temeraire's uncle, a male [[Celestial]] (possibly [[Lung Tien Chu]]).
| + | Yongyan, the 15th son of the Qialong Emperor, was the reigning Emperor at the time when [[Laurence]] and [[Temeraire]] traveled to China. On his accession to the throne, he chose "Jiaqing" as the era name for his reign. |
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| − | ("Jiaqing" was the Emperor's regnal title, not his personal name; for more information, see the [[#Historical Context]] section below.)
| + | [[Prince Mianning]] and [[Prince Miankai]] were two of his sons. |
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| − | ===The imperial succession and Celestial dragons=== | + | == Deviations from history== |
| − | The imperial succession required finding a suitable match between a Celestial dragon and a potential heir. The Emperor's oldest son, [[Prince Yongxing]], lost his own eligibility for the throne by accepting the albino [[Lung Tien Lien]] for a companion, due to her inauspicious "mourning colors".
| + | In Temeraire's world, the Jiaqing Emperor was the companion to a male [[Celestial]] dragon (Either [[Lung Tien Ming]] or [[Lung Tien Zhi]]). |
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| − | [[Prince Mianning]], the younger of the Jiaqing Emperor's three sons the middle one, was approximately twenty years old. He was widely known as the Crown Prince and the heir apparent to the throne. His Celestial companion, [[Lung Tien Chuan]], was Temeraire's twin brother. | + | The Emperor's (fictional) brother, [[Prince Yongxing]], was said to have lost his own chance to become Emperor by accepting the albino [[Lung Tien Lien]] for a companion, despite her inauspicious "mourning colors". It is unclear whether any conclusions can be drawn from this about the two brothers' relative birth orders, as age was not always a factor as to which of an Emperor's sons would become the next ruler of China; the Emperor would choose his successor, and usually leave a note to be opened upon his death detailing who would succeed him. |
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| − | The youngest son, [[Prince Miankai]], was about ten years old and had no dragon companion. Prince Yongxing's planned coup was partially based on convincing Temeraire to abandon Laurence and accept Prince Miankai, in whose name Yongxing hoped to rule as imperial regent after placing the boy on the throne.
| + | It should be noted, however, that the Jiaqing Emperor's eldest son Mianning was companion to a Celestial ([[Lung Tien Chuan]]) and heir to the throne by 1806, when historically the Jiaqing Emperor had not made his choice by this time. Presumably, when the youngest Celestial chooses a companion for itself, its consort becomes the next Emperor, with the exception of Lung Tien Lien, who was considered cursed. |
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| − | Nothing was said of the Jiaqing Emperor's consorts or possible daughters.
| + | Of the Emperor's three birth sons, only the eldest, Prince Miankai, is known to have had a Celestial companion as well. The much younger Prince Mianning did not have a Celestial. The third son's placement and companionship status were not stated; if the Emperor also had any daughters, nothing was said of them. |
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| − | To satisfy the tradition that members of the Imperial family were the only worthy companions for Celestial dragons, the Emperor technically adopted William Laurence as a fourth son. Since Laurence soon left China, this had no effect on the internal succession and little effect outside its borders until 1810, when Laurence's nominal status became useful at the Chinese/[[Larrakia]] trading post on the northern coast of Australia.
| + | In order to technically satisfy the tradition that members of the Imperial family were the only worthy companions for Celestial dragons, the Emperor agreed to adopt William Laurence as a fourth son, since Temeraire refused to part with him. Since Laurence soon left China, this had little effect outside its borders until 1810, on reaching the Chinese/[[Larrakia]] trading post on the northern coast of Australia. |
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| − | ==Historical context==
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| − | The Jiaqing Emperor's [[Chinese Names##The Imperial family|personal name]] was Yongyan (永琰). Before ascending to the throne, he had the title Prince Jia. He was the fifteenth son of his predecessor, the Qianlong Emperor (born 1711, reigned 1735-1795, died 1799).
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| − | Historically, the imperial succession was not determined by birth order; [[Prince Yongxing|Yongxing (Prince Cheng)]] was the Qianlong Emperor's eleventh son. Emperors usually chose their own successors and announced them by imperial decree.
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| − | On his accession, Yongyan chose "Jiaqing" as the era name for his reign, thus the title "Jiaqing Emperor". He also altered the written form of his personal name by changing the first syllable 永 (the [[Chinese Names#The Imperial family|generational indicator]] for his family) to the homonym 顒, setting it apart from all of his brothers' names which remained unchanged.
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| − | The Jiaqing era began in 1795, when the Qianlong Emperor abdicated to respectfully avoid lengthening his reign past that of his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor. However, despite the nominal accession of the Jiaqing Emperor, the Qianlong Emperor retained ultimate authority until dying in 1799.
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| − | [[Mianning]] (1782-1850) was the Jiaqing Emperor's second-born but eldest surviving son. The first-born son, Mianmu, died in infancy. Both of these sons and at least one daughter were born to the Jiaqing Emperor's first wife, Lady Hitara (Empress Shu Rui; born 1747, married 1774, died 1797).
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| − | The Jiaqing Emperor's second empress was Lady Niuhuru (Empress He Rui; born 1776, declared Empress 1801, died 1850). She gave birth to Miankai (Prince Dun; 1794-1839), Mianxin (Prince Rui; 1804-1828), and at least one daughter. Prince Mianxin was probably the unnamed third son referred to in ''Throne of Jade'', and would have been an infant at the time.
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| − | The Jiaqing Emperor's last son was Mianyu (Prince Hui; 1814-1865), whose mother may have held the rank of Imperial Noble Consort instead of being elevated to Empress.
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| − | ===Deviations from history===
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| − | By 1806, the Jiaqing Emperor had made no public declaration of his heir. He died in 1820 without leaving a succession decree. Empress He Rui used her authority as Dowager Empress to declare her eldest stepson Mianning as her late husband's successor (now known as the Daoguang Emperor), bypassing her own two sons.
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| − | ==Trivia==
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| − | *"Jiaqing" is in fact the 20th-century Pinyin spelling of the Emperor's regnal name; the romanization standard used in 1806 would have been Wade-Giles, which would have rendered the name "Chia-ch'ing".
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| | [[Category:A-Z]] | | [[Category:A-Z]] |
| | [[Category:People]] | | [[Category:People]] |
| | [[Category:Chinese]] | | [[Category:Chinese]] |
| | [[Category:Historical Figures]] | | [[Category:Historical Figures]] |
