Tongzhi Emperor
Qing · 10th ruler
同治帝 Tóngzhì Dì愛新覺羅載淳 Àixīnjuéluó Zàichún
Wade–Giles: T'ung-chih Emperor · Ai-hsin-chüeh-lo Tsai-ch'un
Reigned 1861–1875 (13 years)
Reigned 13 years (1861–1875). Died at 19 (East Asian reckoning) of natural causes. 10th ruler of Qing.
Facts
- Reign
- 11 November 1861 – 12 January 1875 (10th ruler of Qing)
- Length of reign
- 13 years
- Born
- 27 April 1856
- Died
- 12 January 1875
- Age at accession
- 6
- Age at death
- 19
- Cause of death
- Natural causesNatural death or illness (including old age)
- Path to the throne
- Designated heirSucceeded the previous ruler of the same regime, who had chosen the heir (by testament, naming a crown prince, etc.)
- Predecessor
- Xianfeng Emperor
- Successor
- Guangxu Emperor
- Era names
- 同治 Tóngzhì (proclaimed 1861)
Ages are given in East Asian reckoning (sui): a person is one year old at birth and gains a year at each New Year, so the figure is one or two years higher than the Western age.
Life
In brief
Muzong was the Tongzhi Emperor, personal name Zaichun. He was the eldest son of the Xianfeng Emperor (Wenzong), and his mother was Empress Xiaoqinxian of the Nara clan. He took the throne as a child in 1861, reigned under the two empresses dowager who ruled from behind the screen, and died in the Hall of Mental Cultivation in 1875.
Road to the throne
The annals of Muzong record that the order of the gravely ill Wenzong was conveyed by Zaiyuan, Duanhua, Jingshou, Sushun and the other ministers of the presence and grand councillors, and that Zaichun was made crown prince. Later Zaiyuan, Duanhua and Sushun were dismissed, stripped of their ranks and offices, and arrested for interrogation, on the charge of altering imperial orders on their own authority and strongly opposing rule from behind the screen. Prince Gong and others proposed death by slicing for the three under the law on high treason, but Zaiyuan and Duanhua were allowed to kill themselves, and Sushun was beheaded. Zaichun took the imperial throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and proclaimed an amnesty with an edict making the next year the first year of Tongzhi. The era name had first been set as Qixiang and was changed to Tongzhi four days before the enthronement. Some twenty days later the emperor appeared in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and the two empresses dowager, Ci'an and Cixi, began to rule from behind the screen.
Reign and death
The annals record that in 1864 government forces took Jiangning, that Hong Xiuquan had already killed himself, and that the region south of the Yangtze was pacified. In 1873 the empresses dowager Ci'an and Cixi issued an edict of encouragement, and the emperor began to rule in person. The annals for the same year also report the execution of Du Wenxiu in Yunnan. In 1874 work on the Yuanmingyuan was ordered stopped; the next day Prince Gong was reproached for improper conduct at an audience and demoted to prince of the second rank, but the day after that an edict of the empresses dowager restored his hereditary rank as prince of the first rank. In the winter of that year the emperor fell ill and had Li Hongzao read memorials in his place. The emperor's illness became critical and he died in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. The annals do not name the illness. As the emperor had no son, the two empresses dowager summoned Yicong, Prince Dun, Yixin, Prince Gong, Yixuan, Prince Chun, and others, and set up Prince Chun's son as heir to Wenzong and as the succeeding emperor. The annals of Muzong place his death after the jiaxu entry without a date of its own, while the annals of Dezong place it under the guiyou entry.
Translated from the Japanese text of this site, which is written from the official histories. Years are given in the Western calendar; months are omitted because the histories use the Chinese lunar calendar.
During the reign
Number of times each event is recorded in the official histories. How each item is counted
- Era name changes
- 1
- General amnesties
- 1
- Empresses installed
- 1
- Crown princes deposed
- 0
- Personal campaigns
- 0
- Rebellions suppressed
- 8
- Rebellions faced
- 9
- Capital relocations
- 0
Emperors of Qing
- 2ndHong Taiji清太宗 Qīng Tàizōng愛新覺羅皇太極 Àixīnjuéluó Huángtàijí1636–1643 · 7 years · Unknown, age 521636–16437 yearsUnknown, age 52
- 3rdShunzhi Emperor順治帝 Shùnzhì Dì愛新覺羅福臨 Àixīnjuéluó Fúlín1643–1661 · 17 years · Natural causes, age 241643–166117 yearsNatural causes, age 24
- 4thKangxi Emperor康熙帝 Kāngxī Dì愛新覺羅玄燁 Àixīnjuéluó Xuányè1661–1722 · 61 years · Natural causes, age 691661–172261 yearsNatural causes, age 69
- 5thYongzheng Emperor雍正帝 Yōngzhèng Dì愛新覺羅胤禛 Àixīnjuéluó Yìnzhēn1722–1735 · 12 years · Disputed, age 581722–173512 yearsDisputed, age 58
- 6thQianlong Emperor乾隆帝 Qiánlóng Dì愛新覺羅弘曆 Àixīnjuéluó Hónglì1735–1796 · 60 years · Natural causes, age 891735–179660 yearsNatural causes, age 89
- 7thJiaqing Emperor嘉慶帝 Jiāqìng Dì愛新覺羅顒琰 Àixīnjuéluó Yóngyǎn1796–1820 · 24 years · Natural causes, age 611796–182024 yearsNatural causes, age 61
- 8thDaoguang Emperor道光帝 Dàoguāng Dì愛新覺羅旻寧 Àixīnjuéluó Mínníng1820–1850 · 29 years · Natural causes, age 691820–185029 yearsNatural causes, age 69
- 9thXianfeng Emperor咸豐帝 Xiánfēng Dì愛新覺羅奕詝 Àixīnjuéluó Yìzhǔ1850–1861 · 11 years · Natural causes, age 311850–186111 yearsNatural causes, age 31
- 10thTongzhi Emperor同治帝 Tóngzhì Dì愛新覺羅載淳 Àixīnjuéluó Zàichún1861–1875 · 13 years · Natural causes, age 191861–187513 yearsNatural causes, age 19
- 11thGuangxu Emperor光緒帝 Guāngxù Dì愛新覺羅載湉 Àixīnjuéluó Zàitián1875–1908 · 33 years · Assassinated, age 381875–190833 yearsAssassinated, age 38
- 12th, 13th, 14thPuyi宣統帝 Xuāntǒng Dì愛新覺羅溥儀 Àixīnjuéluó Pǔyí1908–1912; restored 1917; restored 1934–1945 · 14 years · Natural causes, age 621908–1912; restored 1917; restored 1934–194514 yearsNatural causes, age 62