Xianfeng Emperor

Xianfeng Emperor 咸豐帝
Emperor of the Qing dynasty
Reign	9 March 1850 – 22 August 1861
Predecessor	Daoguang Emperor
Successor	Tongzhi Emperor
Born	(1831-07-17)17 July 1831 (道光十一年六月初九日) Imperial Gardens, Beijing
Died	22 August 1861(1861-08-22) (aged 30) (咸丰十一年七月十七日) Mountain Estate, Jehol
Burial	Ding Mausoleum, Eastern Qing tombs
Spouses	Empress Xiaodexian ​ ​ (m. 1848; died 1850)​ Empress Xiaozhenxian ​ ​ (m. 1852)​ Empress Xiaoqinxian ​ (m. 1852)​
Issue	Tongzhi Emperor Princess Rong'an of the First Rank
Names Aisin-Gioro Yizhu (愛新覺羅·奕詝) Manchu: I ju (ᡳ ᠵᡠ) Era dates Xianfeng (咸豐): 1 February 1851 – 29 January 1862 Manchu: Gubci elgiyengge (ᡤᡠᠪᠴᡳ ᡝᠯᡤᡳᠶᡝᠩᡤᡝ) Mongolian: Түгээмэл Элбэгт (ᠲᠦᠭᠡᠮᠡᠯ ᠡᠯᠪᠡᠭᠲᠦ) Posthumous name Emperor Xietian Yiyun Zhizhong Chuimo Maode Zhenwu Shengxiao Yuangong Duanren Kuanmin Zhuangjian Xian (協天翊運執中垂謨懋德振武聖孝淵恭端仁寬敏莊儉顯皇帝 协天翊运执中垂谟懋德振武圣孝渊恭端仁宽敏庄俭显皇帝) Manchu: Iletu hūwangdi (ᡳᠯᡝᡨᡠ ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡩᡳ) Temple name Wenzong (文宗) Manchu: Wendzung (ᠸᡝᠨᡯᡠᠩ)
House	Aisin-Gioro
Dynasty	Qing
Father	Daoguang Emperor
Mother	Empress Xiaoquancheng

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The Xianfeng Emperor (17 July 1831 – 22 August 1861), also known by his temple name Emperor Wenzong of Qing, personal name Yizhu, was the eighth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China proper. During his reign, the Qing dynasty experienced several wars and rebellions including the Taiping Rebellion, the Nian Rebellion, and the Second Opium War. He was the last Chinese emperor to exercise sole power.

The fourth son of the Daoguang Emperor, he assumed the throne in 1850 and inherited an empire in crisis. A few months after his ascension, the Taiping Rebellion rebellion broke out in southern China and rapidly spread, culminating in the fall of Nanjing in 1853. Contemporaneously, the Nian Rebellion began in the north, followed by ethnic uprisings (the Miao Rebellion and the Panthay Rebellion) in the south. The revolts ravaged large parts of the country, caused millions of deaths and would not be quelled until well into the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor's successor. Qing defeat during the first phase of the Second Opium War led to the Treaty of Tientsin and the Treaty of Aigun, the latter of which resulted in the cession of much of Manchuria to the Russian Empire. Negotiations broke down and hostilities resumed soon after, and in 1860 Anglo-French forces entered Beijing and burned the Old Summer Palace. The Xianfeng Emperor was forced to flee for the imperial estate at Jehol, and the Convention of Peking was negotiated in his absence.

His health was already in rapid decline in the face of mounting Qing losses. He died in 1861 in Jehol at the age of 30 and was succeeded by his six-year-old son, who assumed the throne as the Tongzhi Emperor. On his deathbed, the Xianfeng Emperor appointed eight men to a regency council to assist his young successor. A few months later, Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Ci'an along with Prince Gong instigated the Xinyou Coup and ousted the regents. Cixi ultimately rose to sole power and consolidated control over the Qing government.