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The Daoguang Emperor (September 16, 1782 - February 25, 1850) was the seventh emperor of the Manchu Qing dynasty, and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1820 to 1850.

Early Years

He was born in the Forbidden City, Beijing, and was given the name Mianning (綿寧), changed into Minning (旻寧) when he became emperor: the first character of his private name was changed from Mian (綿) to Min (旻) so that his brothers and cousins of the same generation would not have to change the first character of their names (a character identical for all relatives of the same generation), which they should normally have done given that the private name of an emperor is taboo and cannot be written or pronounced. This novelty was introduced by his grandfather the Qianlong Emperor who thought it not proper to have a whole generation of people in the imperial family changing their names on an emperor's accession to the throne.

He was the second son of Yongyan (永琰), who became the Jiaqing Emperor in 1796. His mother, the principal wife of Yongyan, was Lady Hitara, of the (Manchu) Hitara clan, who became empress when Jiaqing ascended the throne in 1796. She is known posthumously as Empress Xiaoshu Rui (孝淑睿皇后).

Reign as Emperor and the Opium trade

Daoguang inherited a declining empire with western imperialism encroaching upon the doorsteps of China. During his reign China experienced major problems with opium, which was imported into China by British merchants. Opium had started to trickle into China during the reign of his great grandfather Emperor Yongzheng but were only limited to about 200 boxes annually. By Emperor Qianlong's reign, the amount had increased to 1000 boxes, 4000 boxes by Jiaqing's era and more than 30,000 boxes during Daoguang's reign. He made many edicts against opium in the 1820s and 1830s, which was carried out by the famous Lin Zexu. Whilst Lin Zexu's effort to halt the spread of opium in China was quite successful, the Daoguang emperor suddenly relinquished Lin's authority and banished him to Xinjiang. Daoguang's decision was a blow to China's effort to halt the influx of opium and deepened the European's resolution to enter the vast Chinese market which eventually led to the First Opium War against Britain. Technologically and militarily inferior to the European powers and coupled by the incompetence of the Qing government, China lost this war and was forced to surrender Hong Kong at the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. Henceforth, Daoguang became the first emperor of the Qing dynasty to have lost a portion of its sovereign territories.

Death and Legacy

Daoguang died on February 25, 1850 at the Old Summer Palace (圓明園), 8 km/5 miles northwest of the walls of Beijing. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son. Daoguang failed to realized the resolution of the Europeans and although the Europeans were outnumbered, outgunned and were at a disadvantage of being thousands of miles away from home, Daoguang did not use this to his advantage. He had a poor understanding of the British and the industrial revolution Britain has undergoned but instead turned a blind eye to the rest of the world. It was said that Daoguang did not even know where Britain was located in the world. His 30 years reign introduced the initial onslaught by western imperialism and foreign invasions that would plagued China, in one form or another, for the next one hundred years.

He was interred amidst the Western Qing Tombs (清西陵), 120 kilometers/75 miles southwest of Beijing, in the Muling (慕陵 - meaning "Tomb of longing", or "Tomb of admiration") mausoleum complex.

See also

Treaty of Nanking (1842) First Opium War

• 1782 births
• 1850 deaths
• Qing Dynasty emperors