Hongli, Emperor Gaozong and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, is the longest-lived emperor in Chinese history and the emperor who has actually been in power for the longest time in history. On the basis of inheriting the cultural and military achievements of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Yongzheng, he continued to devote himself to the unification of the country and the consolidation and development of a multi-ethnic country. The famous Kangxi and Qianlong dynasties in history reached their peak under his rule. Throughout his life, Emperor Qianlong visited the south and north, composed poems and lyrics, and his writings spread all over the country. He was also proficient in martial arts, good at using soldiers, and boasted of his martial arts skills, calling himself the "Sen Quan Old Man". However, after his death, this feudal emperor, who was so glorious during his lifetime, caused a lot of discussion because of his life experience. Where was he born? Who is the biological mother? These questions, which are clear to ordinary people, were so bizarre that it was difficult to tell whether they were true or false in Emperor Qianlong's case. This can not but be said to be the most embarrassing and helpless thing for this ancient emperor Shiquan.
Emperor Qianlong was the fourth son of Emperor Yongzheng. It is clearly recorded in history books that he was born on August 13, the fiftieth year of Kangxi. However, there is considerable controversy about his place of birth. Some people say that he was born In Yonghe Temple, some people said that he was born in Chengde Summer Resort. Qianlong himself always believed that he was born in Yonghe Temple.
In a poem chronicling the Lama Temple and the Lama Temple, Qianlong wrote more clearly about the familiar road in the east chamber of Liaozhai Pavilion, recalling my relatives only when I was born. Qianlong not only believed that he was born in Yonghe Temple, but also pointed out the specific place of birth, which was the east wing of Yonghe Temple. Since Emperor Qianlong himself said so, there shouldn't be any doubts in theory. However, when Emperor Qianlong was in power, someone put forward the theory that he was born in Shangzhuang, a summer resort.
In the forty-third year of Qianlong's reign (1778), Shiming, the commander of the military branch of Jingjing, followed Emperor Qianlong to the Chengde Summer Resort for hunting. He wrote thirty poems, one of which related to Qianlong. Every year, I go to the birthplace of the emperor to walk incense and feel the sacred heart by the lion garden. Guan Shiming had a small note at the back of this poem. This small note said that the Lion Garden was the birthplace of Emperor Qianlong, so Qianlong often stayed there for a few days on the anniversary of the death of the late emperor Yongzheng. The Lion Garden is a garden outside the Chengde Summer Resort. It is named after a mountain shaped like a lion behind it. Guan Shiming and other people in the government and the public believe that this garden is the birthplace of Qianlong.
Probably Qianlong also heard different opinions about his birthplace in his later years. In the first month of the year when Qianlong was 79 years old, he went to Yonghe Temple to worship the Buddha, and wrote a seven-rhyme song "New Zheng Yonghe Temple Ceremony" . In the annotation, he not only reiterated once again that he was indeed born in Yonghe Palace in the 50th year of Kangxi, but also lived there for 12 years.
In August of the year when Jiaqing first ascended the throne, Qianlong went to the Summer Resort to celebrate his birthday as the Supreme Emperor. Jiaqing followed him and wrote poems to celebrate. At the back of the poem, there is an annotation saying that Mr. Kangxi inscribed the plaque of the Summer Resort in the year of Xin Mao, and that the emperor's father Qianlong happened to be born in the mountain resort in this year. The next year, Qianlong went to the Summer Resort to celebrate his birthday again. Jiaqing once again wrote a poem to celebrate his birthday. In the annotation of the poem, he explained the birth of the emperor's father more clearly. He wrote clearly: In the year of Xin Mao, the emperor's father was born. Born in a mountain villa. The poems and annotations written by Jiaqing on these two occasions show that in his opinion, it is certain that the emperor Qianlong was born in Rehe. However, more than ten years later, Jiaqing gave up this view. It turned out that every emperor in the Qing Dynasty had to compile "Records" and "Sacred Instructions" for his imperial father after he ascended the throne.
In the twelfth year of Jiaqing (1807 AD), Emperor Jiaqing ordered his courtiers to compile Qianlong's "Records" and "Sacred Instructions". During the review, Jiaqing discovered that these two extraordinary documents listed the birthplace of the emperor's father as the Lama Temple. He immediately ordered the editors and ministers to carefully verify it. At this time, Liu Fenggao, who was born in Hanlin, found the poems written by Qianlong that year. Everywhere where Qianlong said he was born in Yonghe Palace, he put a note on it and sent it to Jiaqing for review. Faced with the black and white letter, Jiaqing began to feel the seriousness of the problem, so Jiaqing had to give up the Lion Park statement. It was approved that he was born in the Yonghe Palace on the 13th day of the eighth month of the 50th year of Kangxi's reign in the "Records" and "The Holy Scriptures". The birthplace of Qianlong is clearly written as Yonghe Temple.
In July of the 25th year of Jiaqing, Emperor Jiaqing suddenly passed away at the Mountain Resort. In the edict written by the Minister of Military and Aircraft in the name of Jiaqing, he said, Emperor Qianlong was born in the Mountain Resort that year, and today I die. There are no regrets here. After the newly succeeded Emperor Daoguang discovered this situation, he immediately ordered the recovery of the edict sent to the world, and changed the original statement that Qianlong was born in the Summer Resort to Qianlong's portrait and hung it in the Summer Resort. In order to confirm the conclusion that his grandfather Qianlong was born in the Lama Temple in Beijing, Daoguang had to change all the poems written by his father Jiaqing that Qianlong was born in the villa. Since Jiaqing's poems had long been publicly popular, such a high-profile revision would only conceal the truth and make the birthplace of Emperor Qianlong even more suspicious. Whether Emperor Qianlong was born in the Lama Temple in Beijing or the Summer Resort in Chengde has not yet reached a consensus among academic circles, and it remains a historical mystery.