#304 - Qing 39: Twilight of the Dragon
August 31, 2025
41 min
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Episode 304 · August 31, 2025
#304 - Qing 39: Twilight of the Dragon
0:00 / 41:15
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History of China Episodes Around August 31, 2025
Episode 352 of 386 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
41:15This episode#304 - Qing 39: Twilight of the Dragon
Summary
As both the Qianlong Emperor's extensive reign and the Eighteenth Century itself comes to a close, the Qing Empire faces - in spite of its outward posturing of timeless grandeur and invulnerability - an ever more uncertain future. By this time his successor, the Jiaqing Emperor, assumes power in fact, the winds of historic change have already begun to blow.
Time Period Covered:
~1735-1800
Major Historical Actors:
The Qianlong Emperor [Aisin-Gioro Hongli) [r. 1735-1796, d. 1799]
The Jiaqing Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yongyan) [r. 1796-1820]
Grand Secretary Heshen [1750-1799]
Major Sources Cited:
Crossley, Pamela Kyle. A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology.
Hsü, Immanuel C. Y. The Rise of Modern China. 6th ed.
Jones, Susan Mann, and Philip A. Kuhn. “The Chia-ch’ing Reign.” In The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9, Part Two: The Ch’ing Empire to 1911.
Rowe, William T. China’s Last Empire: The Great Qing.
Woodside, Alexander. The Centre and the Borderlands in Chinese Political Culture.
Woodside, Alexander. “The Ch’ien-lung Reign” In The Cambridge History of China, Volume 9, Part One: The Ch’ing Empire to 1800.
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