Qianlong was the longest-lived emperor in Qing Dynasty, and also the emperor who actually held power for the longest time. During his reign, the territory of the Qing Dynasty reached its peak. Although the title of "perfect old man" in his later years was not recognized by most people in China, it is undeniable that Gan Long's achievements are not uncommon even compared with his grandfather Emperor Kangxi.
To sum up, there are eight main achievements made by Emperor Qianlong:
Emperor Qianlong's first achievement was to compile cultural classics. If Emperor Kangxi is a learning emperor and Yong Zhengdi is a reform emperor, then Emperor Qianlong is a cultural emperor.
It is understood that Gan Long has done a lot in the field of literacy. First of all, he presided over the compilation of Siku Quanshu. The compilation and revision of the historical Sikuquanshu didn't end until 58 years (1793), and 4 186 people participated in it for 20 years. Although many valuable documents and ancient books were destroyed and tampered with in the process of compiling Sikuquanshu, many cultural treasures disappeared from this world. However, it is undeniable that if there is no nationwide concentrated effort to comprehensively and systematically clean up books and classics in various places and select important engravings and manuscripts, I am afraid that more and more books will be destroyed by natural and man-made disasters in the long history. Secondly, a dictionary of national languages including Manchu, Tibetan, Mongolian, Hui and Chinese has been compiled. The third is to compile a "full map of Beijing". Fourth, the representative work of Beijing historical documents, Textual Research on Old News of Sun, with a total volume of 160. Fifthly, the History of Palace of National Dynasty was compiled, which recorded the history, architecture, culture and canon of the palace.
Gan Long summoned foreign envoys.
The second achievement of Emperor Qianlong was the maintenance and construction of the royal gardens. Royal palace gardens protected, maintained and built by Qianlong in Beijing and Gyeonggi area, such as Ningshou Palace and its gardens, Temple of Heaven, etc. Until now, it is still a famous scenic spot in Beijing.
The third achievement of Emperor Qianlong was his contribution to poetic talent. In fact, Emperor Qianlong was gifted, diligent, good at calligraphy and painting, and good at poetry and prose. He was an extraordinary writer and linguist. There are more than 350 calligraphy works of Emperor Gaozong in Qing Dynasty, and there are 300 volumes of Hadith. In addition, Ganlong especially likes to write poems. He has many royal poems, including the complete works of Leshan Hall before Deng Jicheng became emperor, and the remaining collection of royal poems and songs after Zen, with a total of 750 poems. During his reign, he wrote many Imperial Poems, including 5 episodes and 434 volumes. According to statistics, this collection of imperial poems consists of 4 166 poems in the first episode, 8484 poems in the second episode, 65438 poems in the third episode +065438 poems in the fifth episode, 0565438 poems in the fourth episode, 9902 poems in the fourth episode and 7792 poems in the fifth episode, with a total of 465438 poems +0863 poems. Together with the poems he wrote before he became emperor and after he abdicated, the number of poems written by Gan Long reached 426 13. You know, even though The Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty contains the works of more than 2,200 poets in the Tang Dynasty, there are only more than 48,000 poems in the book. Of course, some people will say that the poems of Emperor Qianlong are quantitative but not qualitative. After all, none of these 40,000-odd poems can be handed down from generation to generation. But it is undeniable that Emperor Qianlong is definitely the most diligent poet emperor, even if he is not a talented poet emperor. After all, Emperor Qianlong, as an amateur poet, can persist in writing several poems every day while being a good emperor. With his own efforts, the number of poems is almost the same as that of the whole Tang poetry handed down from generation to generation, which is admirable (of course, some people write for others).
The fourth achievement of Emperor Qianlong was that he was relieved of all the money and food in the world. Historically, during the Qianlong period, he ordered the whole country to be exempted from money and food several times. According to statistics, in the tenth, thirty-fifth, forty-third, fifty-fifth and first years of Jiaqing, Qianlong exempted the national grain for one year five times and Jiangnan grain for three times (one of which was 4 million stone meters), with a total of 22,000 silver, which was equivalent to the total income of the national property tax for five years at that time, and also equivalent to the war reparations of China in the Sino-Japanese War. It can be said that the measures taken by Emperor Qianlong at that time to exempt the whole country from money and grain received great social benefits. Its high frequency, wide geographical area, large quantity and good effect were unprecedented in China's two thousand-year feudal dynasty.
The fifth achievement of Emperor Qianlong was to unify the whole Xinjiang. In the south and west of Beijing, there is the "Xuanwu Gate" which advertises the emperor's "Xuanwu". Among the 28 emperors in Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were Hongwu and Yongle in Ming Dynasty, and Taizong, Kangxi and Qianlong in Qing Dynasty. Qianlong is not only "Chongwen" but also "Xuanwu". One of his martial arts is to use troops to strengthen Xinjiang. In northern Xinjiang, Junggar was razed twice, which made the Turhut part return and basically solved the problem of northern Xinjiang.
Subsequently, Emperor Qianlong put down the rebellion in Tibet, improved the governance of Tibet, consolidated China's rule over Tibet, and brought Tibet's development into a new stage. This is the sixth achievement of Qianlong.
In addition, the seventh achievement of Emperor Qianlong was the construction of Zhejiang seawall. The original firewood ponds and earthen ponds in Zhejiang can't stand the impact of the tide. Gan Long ordered Silver to change Chai Tang into a Tang poem. A total of more than 4,000 feet of stone seawalls have been built, which has enhanced the ability of this area to resist tidal invasion.
Emperor Qianlong's eighth achievement was the unification of all ethnic groups in China. During the Qianlong period, the Qing Dynasty experienced "three ancestors and three sects"-Taizu Nurhachi, Shizu Shunzhi, Shengzu Kangxi, Taizong Taiji, Sejong Yongzheng and Gaozong Qianlong, among which Qianlong was the Sect. On the basis of ancestors' achievements, Qianlong further consolidated and developed the territory of China, and maintained and strengthened the multi-ethnic unity in China. During the Qianlong period, the territory of China started from the sea in the east, and reached the green ridge in the west, and the Zengmu shoal in the South Pole. It crosses Xing 'an Mountains in the north, reaches Balkhash Lake in the northwest and reaches Sakhalin Island in the northeast. The population in the Qing Dynasty reached 300 million. If it weren't for the decline of the Qing emperor's ability, which led to the gradual decline of the country, China's territory would certainly not be smaller than that of Russia, and it would still be the best in the world.
Gan Long military parade
Unfortunately, history has no ifs, but it is undoubtedly what we should do to throw away colored glasses, treat historical figures objectively and fairly, evaluate Emperor Qianlong objectively and fairly, and restore the historical truth.