Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty in decline More important, Qianlong sponsored great literary projects, including the compilation of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries that contained 36,000 volumes arranged into four categories as follows: classics, history, philosophy, and belles lettres Its catalog listed 10,230 works Seven complete sets of the Four Treasuries were printed and deposited in libraries in different parts of the empire Qianlong also had an ulterior motive in sponsoring this project—to exercise censorship over works that he considered derogatory to the Manchus, which he then destroyed As many as 528 titles met that fate The social and political stability that he inherited and prolonged produced a significant population increase, to approximately 300 million by his reign’s end New crops introduced from the Americas, promotion of irrigation, and the opening up of virgin lands increased food-producing capacity, feeding the increase in population He also reduced land taxes and maintained granaries that relieved famine For all his splendid achievements, historians have not judged Emperor Qianlong kindly, in part because his reign was the watershed between the successful era of the early Qing and the precipitous decline that set in during the 19th century The very success of his reign brought problems, the most difficult being the unprecedented expansion of Chinese agriculture and population Pressure for land led to internal colonization by Han Chinese of land held by minority ethnic peoples that would lead to tribal rebellions and peasant unrest Large-scale commercial expansion and export-oriented enterprises begun during the early Qing initially resulted in very favorable balance of trade for China However, by the late 18th century, Great Britain, China’s major trading partner, had found an item that would redress its unfavorable balance of trade: opium Initially a legally imported medicinal item, opium later became popular as a recreational drug While addiction to opium was at its infancy during his reign, it would later explode to cause a national and international crisis Qianlong’s judgment became seriously flawed as he got older Around 1775 he met a young, handsome guardsman named Heshan (Ho-shen) whom he rapidly promoted to the highest offices of the empire; he even married his youngest daughter to Heshan’s son Heshan was openly and massively corrupt and promoted cronies who colluded with him to extort money Although Qianlong retired in 1795, he nevertheless continued to exercise power behind the scenes Thus it was not until Qianlong’s death in 1799 that his son and successor Emperor Jiaqing (Chia-ch’ing) could 343 arrest and execute Heshan and confiscate his ill-gotten wealth, estimated at $1.5 billion Qianlong’s long reign began brilliantly and proceeded on a steady and successful course The personal decline that set in during his old age would become the beginning of dynastic decline In 1793 Great Britain’s first ambassador, Lord Macartney, arrived in China, coinciding with the emperor’s birthday celebrations Macartney’s account noted the emperor’s remarkably fit physical condition for a man of his age, but assessed the outwardly magnificent Qing Empire as decaying from within His words proved prophetic See also Macartney mission to China; Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty in decline Further reading: Kahn, Harold L Monarchy in the Emperor’s Eyes, Image and Reality in the Ch’ien-lung Reign Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971; Kent, Guy R The Emperor’s Four Treasuries: Scholar and the State in the Late Ch’ien-lung Era Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987; Peterson, Willard J ed The Cambridge History of China, Vol 9, Part I, The Ch’ing Empire to 1800 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002 Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty in decline The Qing dynasty (1644–1911) was the last of 24 dynasties in Chinese history and one of the most successful The transition from its predecessor the Ming dynasty, was one of the least disruptive in Chinese history In the territory it controlled the Qing was the second largest in Chinese history, after the Mongol Yuan dynasty The Qing is also called the Manchu dynasty, after the ethnic origin of the ruling house The Manchus were frontier people from northeastern China; they were originally nomadic but as frontier vassals of the Ming had learned agriculture and Chinese ways before 1644 Although the Manchus maintained a privileged status for their people, they nevertheless gained the support of their majority Han Chinese subjects by upholding Chinese institutions and assimilating to Chinese culture China enjoyed a century and half of prosperity under three capable and long reigning early Qing emperors, Kangxi (K’ang-hsi), Yongzheng (Yung-cheng), and Qianlong (Ch’ien-lung) Qing dynastic fortune began to decline toward the end of the Qianlong reign partly due to the emperor’s failing ability as he aged, allowing corruption to