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User:Madalibi/Timeline of the Oboi regency

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See also: Four Regents of the Kangxi Emperor and User:Madalibi/Oboi regency

The Shunzhi Emperor died of smallpox on 5 February 1661, on the seventh day of the "eighteenth year of Shunzhi." In the Ming and Qing dynasties, however, the era name of the new emperor––in this case, "Kangxi"––only went into effect on the first day of the following year. Therefore the first year of the regency was the "eighteenth year of Shunzhi."

1661

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  • February 2: the Shunzhi Emperor, who had been dejected since the death of his favorite consort in September 1660, contracts smallpox, a deadly contagious disease against which the Manchus had no natural immunity.[1]
  • February 4: Wang Xi and Margi, two of the Shunzhi Emperor's favorite ministers who had also been his tutors in the 1650s, are summoned to the emperor's bedside to record his last will.[2] The monarch choses his third son Xuanye as his successor because he has already survived smallpox.[2]
  • February 5: near daybreak, the drafted will is submitted to the emperor, who approves it.[2] In the evening, the Shunzhi emperor dies in the Forbidden City at the age of twenty-two.[1] The will is presented to Shunzhi's mother the Empress Dowager as the emperor had requested.[2]
  • February 6: a modified imperial will is made public, expressing the Shunzhi Emperor's regret for abandoning Manchu traditions, relying on eunuchs, adopting Chinese government institutions, and devoting himself to his favorite consort rather than listening to his mother the Empress Dowager.[3] The will also names four regents for the young Kangxi Emperor: Soni, Oboi, Suksaha, and Ebilun, who had all helped Jirgalang and the Shunzhi Emperor to purge the court of Dorgon's supporters in 1651.[4] Considering the tone of the testament, historians agree that the Shunzhi will was either deeply modified or forged altogether, probably by the Empress Dowager and the four regents.[5]
  • February 27: an imperial edict exhorts local officials to collect tax arrears urgently because of military needs.[6]
  • March 1 (SZ18.2.1): scholars and officials gather at the Confucian temple in Suzhou to mourn the death of the Shunzhi emperor.[7] About a hundred students take advantage of the presence of the provincial governor to protest against the harsh tax-collecting practices of local magistrate Ren Weichu (任維初).[8] Eleven are immediately arrested and more taken into custody later.[9] This incident marks the beginning of the "Laments at the Temple" case (哭廟案 Kūmiào àn).[9]
  • March 15: in accordance with the emperor's fake will, the regents abolish the Thirteen Eunuch Bureaus, which Shunzhi had created in 1653.[10] The emperor favorite eunuch Wu Liangfu was probably executed around this time.[11]
  • June 28 (SZ18.6.3): public beating of more than 13,000 people who had tax arrears (奏銷案 "Zòuxiāo àn").
  • August 7 (SZ18.7.13): dozens of people are executed after the "Laments at the Temple" case.

1662

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  • March 24: Wu Sangui (1611–1678), who had helped Qing armies to enter China at Shanhai Pass in 1644, captures the Yongli Emperor, the last ruler of the loyalist Southern Ming, who had found refuge in Burma.[12] He returns to Yunnan with his prisoner.
  • June 11: the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming and his heir apparent are strangled with a bow string in Kunming, Yunnan, in the presence of Wu Sangui (see previous entry).[13]
  • June 23: Zheng Chenggong, known in western sources as "Koxinga," dies of illness at Fort Zeelandia on Taiwan island, which he had recently adopted as a base for his resistance against Qing rule.[13]
  • June 26: for his capture and execution of the last Ming claimant, Wu Sangui is rewarded with the title of "Imperial Prince," which was usually granted only to members of the Qing imperial family.[14]

1663

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1664

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1665

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  • April 12: death of Hong Chengchou.[15]
  • October 16: the Kangxi Emperor, who is eleven years old, gets married; his new Empress (1653–1674), a few months older than him, is the daughter of Soni of the Hešeri clan.[16] Because Soni's powerful family will now presumably support the emperor, this marriage splits the regency.[17] The empress died in 1674 a few days after giving birth to Yinreng (1674–1725), who would become the Kangxi heir apparent, but was eventually removed from that post because of his depravity.[17]

1666

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1667

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  • February 6: the Kangxi Emperor's half brother Fuquan (1653–1703) is given the title of imperial prince, the highest Qing nobility title.[18]
  • August 12: Soni dies, provoking a series of change in the regency: just as the other regents, led by Oboi, tried to consolidate their power, the emperor vied to assert his own power.[19]
  • August 21: after a long discussion between the remaining three regents, the empress dowager, and the emperor, they agree that the emperor should assume personal rule at some point, but that he still too young to do so.[19] The empress dowager eventually suggests to ask the Ministry of Rites to select an auspicious day to start his personal rule and the regents agree, thinking that the day will be in a few years.[19] But the Ministry choses August 25 as the auspicious day.[19] Historian Jonathan Spence has called this series of events a "geomantic coup."[19]
  • August 25: Kangxi's personal rule officially starts.[20] Nonetheless, Oboi remains in power.
  • August 28: in his first independent act as emperor, Kangxi ennobles the mother of prince Giyesu, an ally of the emperor and leader of the Deliberative Council of Princes and Ministers.[19]
  • August 29: the emperor issues an edict ordering the Deliberative Council to decide on honors for the remaining three regents.[19]
  • August 31: claiming illness and old age, Suksaha asks to retire and requests to be sent to guard the tomb of the Shunzhi Emperor.[19] The emperor, perhaps advised by others, immediately orders the Deliberative Council to investigate on Suksaha's motives.[21]
  • September 2: the Deliberative Council recommends that Suksaha and all his male members of his clans be arrested and interrogated.[21]
  • September 4: the Council finds Suksaha guilty of twenty-four "grave crimes" and recommends that he and many of his male relatives be executed, as well as many members of the imperial guard who had supposedly connived in Suksaha's schemes.[21]
  • September 8: after the execution of Suksaha, the emperor makes the two surviving regents Oboi and Ebilun dukes of the first rank.[21]
  • October check date: Grand Secretary Bambursan, one of Oboi's closest allies, is named chief editor of the "Veritable Records" (實錄 shílù) of the Shunzhi reign.[22]

1668

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1669

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  • January: Ferdinand Verbiest formally impeaches the leaders of the Bureau of Astronomy, claiming they made major mistakes in their calculations.[24] The commission that is named to investigate the charges is full of Kangxi supporters, who eventually confirm the charges.[24]
  • February: the empress dowager announces in an edict that the young emperor should no longer live in her palace (the Qingning Palace), and will move instead to the Wuying Palace.[24] By moving outside of the central compound of the Forbidden City, the emperor puts himself out of reach of the Imperial Bodyguard, which is faithful to Oboi.[24]
  • April: Verbiest is named assistant director of the Bureau of Astronomy.[24]
  • June 14: the Kangxi Emperor issues an angry edict accusing Oboi of insulting behavior, favoritism in bureaucratic appointments, and monopolizing government matters, both by blocking memorials destined for the emperor and by organizing a clique to discuss official policy.[24] The second regent Ebilun is also censored for failing to oppose Oboi. All the accused (including 14 members of Oboi's clique) are immediately arrested and tried by the Deliberative Council under the leadership of Kangxi's ally Giyesu.[25]
  • June 26: after a short trial, the Deliberative Council announces its verdict: Oboi, Ebilun, the 14 members of Oboi's clique, and 9 more people should be sentenced to death, often with all the male members of their families.[25] To avoid a bloodbath, the Kangxi Emperor only confirms nine death sentences, condemns many to a lashing, and pardons others.[25] Ebilun himself is reprieved, and Oboi is only imprisoned (he would later die in confinement).[25] Kangxi is now fully in charge of the Qing government.[25]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Dennerline 2002, p. 118.
  2. ^ a b c d Kessler 1976, p. 25.
  3. ^ Oxnam 1975, p. 52.
  4. ^ Oxnam 1975, pp. 48 (on the four men helping Jirgalang) and 62 (appointment of the four regents).
  5. ^ See for instance Oxnam 1975, pp. 62–63 and 205-7; Kessler 1976, p. 20; Wakeman 1985, p. 1015; Dennerline 2002, p. 119; and Spence 2002, p. 126.
  6. ^ Kessler 1976, pp. 34 (edict pressuring officials "to make a speedy collection of tax arrears") and 182, note 66 (date of edict; military exigencies).
  7. ^ Kessler 1976, p. 33.
  8. ^ Kessler 1976, pp. 33–34.
  9. ^ a b Kessler 1976, p. 34.
  10. ^ Kessler 1976, p. 26.
  11. ^ Fang 1943, p. 258.
  12. ^ Wang & Feng 2010, p. 43.
  13. ^ a b Wang & Feng 2010, p. 46.
  14. ^ Wang & Feng 2010, p. 47.
  15. ^ Wang & Feng 2010, p. 61.
  16. ^ Wang & Feng 2010, pp. 64–65.
  17. ^ a b Kessler 1976, p. 56.
  18. ^ Wang & Feng 2010, p. 71.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h Spence 2002, p. 129.
  20. ^ Kessler 1976, p. 51.
  21. ^ a b c d Spence 2002, p. 130.
  22. ^ Spence 2002, p. 132.
  23. ^ Spence 2002, pp. 132–33.
  24. ^ a b c d e f Spence 2002, p. 133.
  25. ^ a b c d e Spence 2002, p. 134.

Bibliography

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  • Kessler, Lawrence D. (1976), K'ang-hsi and the Consolidation of Ch'ing Rule, 1661–1684, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0226432033.
  • Oxnam, Robert B. (1975), Ruling from Horseback: Manchu Politics in the Oboi Regency, 1661–1669, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
  • Spence, Jonathan D. (2002), "The K'ang-hsi Reign", in Peterson, Willard J. (ed.) (ed.), Cambridge History of China, Vol. 9, Part 1: The Ch'ing Dynasty to 1800, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 120–82, ISBN 0-521-24334-3 {{citation}}: |editor-first= has generic name (help).
  • Wang, Sizhi 王思治; Feng, Erkang 冯尔康 (editors) (2010), Kangxi shidian 康熙事典 ["Events of the Kangxi reign"], Beijing: Zijincheng chubanshe 紫禁城出版社 ["Forbidden City Press"], ISBN 978-7-5134-0019-0 {{citation}}: |first2= has generic name (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |author-name-separator= (help).
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