Qianlongs reign marked the beginning of the decline of the Qing Dynasty. To what extent do you agree with this judgement?

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“Qianlong’s reign marked the beginning of the decline of the Qing Dynasty.” To what extent do you agree with this judgement?

        Emperor Qianlong, who reigned from 1736 to 1795, along with his father, Yongzheng, and his grandfather, Kangxi, are considered to be the three greatest emperors of the Qing dynasty. Kangxi and Yongzheng both helped to establish the authority of the new Qing dynasty and could not have left China in a better state to be ruled by their successor, Qianlong_. As Immanuel C.Y. Hsu says, during Qianlong’s rule, “the country enjoyed peace and prosperity; the treasury was full, the dynasty glowed with an opulance and affluence it had never known before.”_ Indeed, the Qing dynasty reached it’s zenith in terms of riches, with a record of 70 million taels in the state treasury, during Qianlong’s reign. However, towards the end of Qianlong’s rule, the empire had already showed signs of the beginning of decline so that when Lord Maccarthy visited China for his mission in 1793, he was able to predict the eventual downfall of the Qing dynasty_. It will be argued that Qianlong’s reign did mark the beginning of the decline of the Qing dynasty and Qianlong’s senility being a principle reason. This essay will examine and analyse factors such as Qianlong’s incompetency as a leader especially while senile, and as a consequence of that, a rapid increase in corruption within China, the decline of the Bannermen and the Chinese Green Standard Army and also factors that were uncontrollable on the Qianlong’s part but caused internal discontent such as the sudden increase in the population of China and the long term resentment of civilians at being ruled by foreigners.

        Qianlong’s incompetency as a leader especially in the later years of his reign proved damaging for the empire as his personality and senility started to impair his judgements. After becoming emperor, Qianlong announced that he was going to take the ‘middle road’ as a balance between his strict, ruthless father and his openminded and lenient grandfather. However, unlike his the two great emperors before him, Qianlong developed a liking for luxuries and a habit of indulgence. Qianlong’s Ten Perfect Accomplishments cost the state 120 million taels. Qianlong also took six tours to the south that cost at least 20 million taels and many other tours to the north, west and east at which the costs are unknown. This big spending on Qianlong’s part contributed to the financial crisis Qing emperors had to solve in future reigns_. An example of a bad decision made by the senile Qianlong is his infatuation with Heshen, 65 year old Qianlong showed favouritsm and allowed him to be corrupt. Qianlong’s father, Yongzheng, left the Qing empire to his son as an absolute monarchy, with almost all of the governmental power resting in the emperor’s hands_. Therefore, as Qianlong’s rule and attitudes became lax due to his old age, the rest of the country followed his example and significant problems such as the rapid increase in corruption and the degradation of the Bannermen and the infantry. Thus, the reason why Qianlong’s incompetency is the principle reason for the beginning of the decline of the Qing dynasty is because many of the problems that arose due to Qianlong’s rule were factors that contributed to the downfall of the Qing.

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        As mentioned before, central vigilance weakened towards the last years of Qianlong’s reign and one of the biggest problems as a consequence of that was increase in corruption. Corruption was in control during Yongzheng’s reign because of Yongzheng’s tight control over his officials. Yongzheng granted ‘anti-corruption funds’ and severely punished those who charged surtax or practiced irregularities. However, in senile Qianlong’s empire, corruption in forms of graft, extortion and irregular levies was to be expected and even systematic. Heshen, for example, was very openly corrupt, his property confiscated by Jiaqing after Qianlong’s death was worth 800,000,000 taels,  and yet he ...

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