This article reviews the book: “Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World”, by Mark C. Elliott

Beattie, James John

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Book review: Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World

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Mark C. Elliott, Emperor Qianlong: Son ofHeaven, Man of the World, Upper SaddleRiver, New Jersey, Longman, 2009, xv + 192pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-321-08444-6 pbk.Mark Elliott is a well known scholar of Qing 1644-1911 China who specialises inthe history of its Manchu founders, In Emperor Qianlong: Son ofHeaven, A'Ian oftheWorld, Elliott has turned his considerable linguistic and historical skills to a biographyof the long-lived Hongli 1711-1799, who from 1735 until 1795 reigned as EmperorQianlong. Presiding over a period of extremely rapid social, intellectual, demographicand environmental change, Qianlong's complex personality and reign are examinedanew in Elliott's study.Elliott's work is one in the growing `Library of World Biography' series, put outby Longman Pearson under the careful editorship of world historian Peter Steams.Elliott's most recent edition succeeds admirably in meeting the series' briet to providean interpretive biography of someone whose life either reflected important themes inworld history or who significantly impacted on world history. Elliott provides a livelyand engaging narrative that touches upon different aspects of the Qianlong reign. Thefirst three chapters follow a roughly chronological approach, detailing in turn Qianlong'searly life, his first years in power, and familial duties and their impact on his rule. AsElliott notes, `A preoccupation with continuity dominated not just Qianlong's familylife, but almost all aspects of his waking existence' p. 50. The next five chaptersfocus on different, but inter-related, aspects of his reign. Chapter Four examinesQianlong's delicate political balancing act. As a `foreign' i.e. non-Han ruling dynasty,the founders of the Qing had to carefully establish and then maintain their legitimacyto rule by demonstrating Heaven's favour at the same time as maintaining their ownseparate identity, demonstrated through martial prowess. Cleaving to both assumedand inherited traditions, Qianlong visited almost every corner of China excepting thefar south, spending on average three months a year outside the capital of Beijing.Chapter Five provides an overview of Qianlong's incredible grand imperial touringthat became a hallmark of his reign. Indeed, Elliott estimates that Qianlong spentroughly a quarter of his reign outside Beijing. Whether reviewing flood control worksor donating monumental stelae, Qianlong's travels were calculated to follow earlierdynastic precedent and to serve distinct ends: the military-like precision required toplan touring on such a grand scale provided excellent preparation for actual militaryconflict, while also meeting strategic and political goals, and effectively flying theimperial flag to the populace.124 NZJAS 12, 1 June, 2010Chapter Six demonstrates the logical outcome of Manchu martial identity andtouring: the display of military prowess on the battlefield. Here, Elliott providessuccinct accounts and evaluations of some of the important campaigns undertakenunder Qianlong, and which ultimately significantly expanded the boundaries of hisempire. Discussion focuses on the Dzungar campaigns 1 755 and 1756-57 and thatagainst the White Mountain Khojas 1758-59 waged in China's Far West'.Next to his military prowess, as Elliott demonstrates, Qianlong carefully cultivatedhis image as a scholar, as a man whose words and actions `perfectly balanced wen andwu; literary accomplishment and martial virtue' p. 107. A serious scholar all his life,Qianlong earned something of a reputation as a pedant for correcting officials' writings,but also as a patron of learning. A flood of scholarly works deluged the Chineseliterary world - all initiated and often directly overseen by Qianlong. The famousComplete Libraries of the Four Treasuries amounted to over 10,000 titles. Qianlongalso commissioned portrait after portrait, penned over 40,000 poems, not to mentioninitiating a number of dictionaries, histories and guides.Chapter Eight moves from the scholarly to the wider world, providing anextremely useful overview of Qing China's foreign relations. Elliott deftly discussesthe nature of China's tribute system a translation of gong, the name for any giftpresented to the emperor, correcting the commonly mistaken conceptualisation ofthe tribute system as a rigid set of proscriptions weighted down by ceremony. Instead,Elliott demonstrates its flexible nature, which meant it could meet the demands ofvisiting missions from places as far afield as Russia, Vietnam, Korea or even England.In formulating a flexible foreign policy, Qing authorities differentiated the civilisedfrom the uncivilised, those who accepted or rejected Qing power and those who thusmerited dignified treatment or humiliation. Rounding out this section, Elliott examinesLord Macartney's Mission of 1793, re-evaluating the likely reasons for Qianlong'sfamous diplomatic rebuff.The final chapter of the book focuses on the declining decades of Qianlong'sreign, symbolised on an individual scale by the rapid rise of Qianlong's favourite,the corrupt Heien 1750-99, and on the imperial arena by spiralling problems ofcorruption, population increase, environmental degradation, social discontent andopen rebellion. As Elliott demonstrates, part of the problem lay with Qianlong's ownpolicies. Qianlong under-funded and under-staffed the bureaucracy, failing to increaseits numbers despite China's population doubling from the I 700s to the I 800s from 150million in 1700 to over 300 million by 1800 [p. 146]. Chronic under-resourcing meantimperial bureaucracies were unable to meet basic administrative costs. Increasingcorruption and collusion with local elites resulted. Meanwhile, rapid population growthplaced pressure on scant environmental resources. While farmland acreage increasedover Qianlong's reign, the ratio of land per person actually declined, from 3.5 mu perperson in 1766 to 3.33 mu per person by 1790.Throughout the book, Elliott firmly places Qianlong and his reign within theambit of world history, providing evidence for example of Qianlong's fascination withEuropean art and the impact ofQing expansion into Xinjiang in increasing Qing dealingsReviews 125with the Islamic world. In Emperor Qianlong: Son ofHeaven, Man o/the Jlbrld, Elliottpresents a succinct, extremely useful and lively re-evaluation of this signally importantfigure of world history.Reviewed hi' JAMES BEATTIE,Unii'eiwitv of EzikaIo

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Book review: Emperor Qianlong: Son of Heaven, Man of the World

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