Yunti, Prince Xun
Yunti, born Yinti and renamed in 1706 as Yinzheng before being forced to change his name again in 1722, formally known as Prince Xun, was a Manchu prince and military general of the Qing dynasty.
He was trusted by his father, the emperor Kangxi, to lead the imperial forces against the dynasty's greatest threat of the time, the Dzungar Khanate. He proved a successful and popular military leader. He was later imprisoned by the new emperor, who was his full-blood brother – Yongzheng. Yongzheng suppressed the evidences of Yinti's accomplishments and also possible evidences of his right to the throne.
Life
Kangxi era
Yunti was born "Yinti". But in 1706 when he became an adult, the name was changed to "Yinzheng". He was the 14th son of the Kangxi Emperor. His mother was Empress Xiaogongren, who also bore the Yongzheng Emperor. Later during the Yongzheng era, the emperor said that Yinzheng's name was similar to that of the emperor, Yinzhen, so it was changed to "Yinti".In 1709, Yinzheng was granted the title of a beizi. In 1718, after Dzungar forces defeated a Qing army along the Salween River in Tibet, the Kangxi Emperor appointed Yinzheng as "Great General Who Pacifies the Frontier" to lead an army of 300,000 into Tibet to attack the Dzungars and their leader, Tsewang Rabtan. It was believed that this was a sign that the Kangxi Emperor was considering Yinti as a potential heir to his throne. In February 1720, Yinti ordered his deputies Galbi and Yanxin to set out from Xining to take Lhasa, while he remained in Xining to build up support with their Mongol allies and then escort the Seventh Dalai Lama to Lhasa. On 24 September 1720, Yinzheng's army captured Lhasa and returned the Dalai Lama to the Potala Palace.
During the Kangxi era, it was known that the Jesuits at Peking cultivated a relationship with the prince, whom they believed would become the next empepor.
Recent research by Puente-Ballesteros shows that even when the prince was faraway commanding the Tibet campaign, he was entrusted with the sensitive and important task of composing the Medical Palace Memorials, which were based on reports of imperial doctors on Kangxi's and other imperial family members' health. This task was performed by the previous crown prince Yinreng and later by the third prince Yinzhi in many years before being entrusted to Yinzheng in the final years of Kangxi.
Yongzheng era
On 21 December 1722, just as Yinzheng was planning for a conquest of the Dzungar Khanate, according to official accounts, he received news of the Kangxi Emperor's death and was immediately summoned back to the capital, Beijing, to attend his father's funeral. His fourth brother, Yinzhen, succeeded their father and became historically known as the Yongzheng Emperor. It is now known, through Yongzheng's correspondence, that he was called back either by his own father, or his brother Yongzheng who wanted to deceive him into renouncing his military powers. Yinzheng was only informed of his father's death when he reached Shanxi. He initially had the idea of returning to his headquarters, but was persuaded not to do so. He then accepted that the throne was lost and decided to return to the capital, fully expecting to be executed by his brother.Yinzheng and his brothers had to change the character Yin in their names to Yun to avoid naming taboo, because the reigning emperor's personal name contained the character Yin.
In 1723, Yunti was promoted from beizi to junwang (second-rank prince). However, in the following year, he was demoted back to beizi. The Yongzheng Emperor perceived Yunti as a potential threat to his throne, so he stripped Yunti of his beizi title in 1725 and placed him under house arrest at Shouhuang Palace, in the present-day Jingshan Park. He seemed to have been moved many times. In 1734, he had a daughter with a maid servant somewhere near the Yuanyou Pagoda in the. By the time Yongzheng died in 1735, it was reported by the Korean emissaries that he was kept at the back garden of the Old Summer Palace. They also reported that shortly before his brother died, the security around the prisoner, who was guarded by one thousand armored soldiers, was only increased, even though otherwise his brother, who seemed to fear him the most, treated him well.
At one point, Yongzheng seemed to have offered Yinti freedom in exchange for service but he refused. He angrily retorted that, the man who was sent to persuade him, should be killed before he accepted to serve Yongzheng in any capability.
Qianlong era
In 1735, the Yongzheng Emperor died and was succeeded by his fourth son Hongli, who became historically known as the Qianlong Emperor. The Qianlong Emperor released Yunti in the same year after his coronation. In 1737, Yunti was restored to the ranks of nobility as a fuguo gong (a lesser duke). Ten years later, in 1747, he was promoted to beile. In 1748, he was further promoted back to junwang and granted the title "Prince Xun of the Second Rank".Yunti died on 16 February 1755 and was posthumously honoured as Prince Xunqin of the Second Rank. The Prince Xun peerage was inherited by his second son, Hongming, who became a beile in 1735.
Family
Primary Consort- Princess Consort Xunqin, of the Wanyan clan
- * Hongming, Prince Gongqin of the Third Rank, 2nd son
- * Hongkai, 4th son
- Secondary consort, of the Šušu Gioro clan
- * Hongchun, Prince Tai of the Second Rank, 1st son
- * Princess of the Third Rank, 2nd daughter
- ** Married Chenggunjab of the Harqin league on 10 February 1719
- * Lady of the Second Rank, 3rd daughter
- ** Married Halu of the Namdulu clan in December 1727
- * Princess of the Third Rank, 5th daughter
- Secondary consort, of the Irgen Gioro clan
- * First daughter
- * Princess of the Second Rank, 4th daughter
- ** Married Deshou of the Aohan Borjigin clan
- * Hongying, 3rd son
- Mistress, of the Wu clan
- * Sixth daughter
- Mistress, of the Irgen Gioro clan
- * Princess of the Fourth Rank, 7th daughter
- ** Married Erdengge of the Niohuru clan in December 1767
In fiction and popular culture
- Portrayed by Cheung Wai in The Rise and Fall of Qing Dynasty
- Portrayed by Huang Yinxun in Legend of YungChing
- Portrayed by Xu Zuming in Yongzheng Dynasty
- Portrayed by Derek Kwok in The King of Yesterday and Tomorrow
- Portrayed by Chen Zhihui in Huang Taizi Mishi
- Portrayed by Mao Zijun in Palace
- Portrayed by Lin Gengxin in Scarlet Heart
- Portrayed by Wei Qianxiang in Palace II
- Portrayed by Owen Cheung in Gilded Chopsticks
- Portrayed by Xin Yun Lai in ''Dreaming Back to the Qing Dynasty''