The name Qianlong has practically become synonymous with a “golden age.” On television, he is dashing and charming; in the history books, his achievements are said to endure through the ages. His Ten Great Campaigns and the prosperous Kangxi-Qianlong era shine so brightly they are hard to look at directly.
But is that really the truth?
This book tears away the gilded veneer. During his sixty years on the throne, Qianlong stamped the massive machinery of the Qing Empire with his own distinctive character: shrewd yet arrogant, forceful yet ostentatious, diligent yet conservative. He reached the peak of the old system, yet remained oblivious to the world’s transformation amid the rising tide of globalization. The so-called “golden age” was merely a rehash of the eras of Emperors Wen and Jing and the Zhenguan reign, with nothing new to offer. Behind the vaunted “Ten Great Campaigns” lay an empty treasury and a people sunk in hardship.
The emperor’s halo has been magnified beyond measure, and the civil and military officials around him were nothing like their television portrayals. Zhang Tingyu’s excessive caution, Fuheng’s heavy burdens, Agui’s uprightness, Fu Kang’an’s arrogance, and Heshen’s cunning and greed: each was far more complex, and far darker, than the dramatized versions suggest.
Stop letting television fool you. Open this book and discover the real Qianlong, and an era that has been vastly overrated.
