The Authoritarianism of Emperor Yongzheng

Two of the longest-reigning emperors in Chinese history ruled during the Qing Dynasty: Kangxi, who sat on the throne from 1662 until 1722, and his grandson Qianlong, who ruled from 1735 until 1799. The figure sandwiched between them was Emperor Yongzheng. Son of Kangxi and father of Qianlong and to some extent eclipsed by both, Yongzheng was in fact an important and highly competent ruler. His competence, though, was substantially dedicated to centralizing imperial authority around his own ...