Emperor Shunzhi, named Aisin-Gioro Fulin.	Emperor Yongzheng, named Aisin-Gioro Yinzhen.	The Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City, where both Shunzhi and Yongzheng lived.

The Manchurian Qing Dynasty was China’s last imperial regime. All nine Qing emperors that ruled from Beijing, other than the last, Aisin-Gioro Puyi, built magnificent tombs for themselves in Zunhua and Yixian counties of Hebei Province. These mausoleums, respectively 50 km east and 50 km west of Beijing are known as the Eastern and Western Qing Tombs. They are filled with priceless treasures fit to accompany rulers of that bygone age on their last journey. They are also the source of a wealth of folk literature in the oral story telling tradition, engendered by enigmatic gaps in official Qing documentation.

Occupancy of the Xiaoling Mausoleum Open to Question

The Xiaoling Mausoleum is the official final resting place of Emperor Shunzhi, named Aisin-Gioro Fulin, born in 1638. Official Qing Dynasty records state that the emperor died in 1661 at the age of 24, and that he was buried in Xiaoling in the Eastern Qing Tombs of Zunhua County. Official Qing records about this willful and headstrong ruler have been supplemented with many folk legends. One story is that the emperor died of a broken heart upon the death of his beloved concubine; another is that he actually ended his days as a monk in the Wutai Mountains. Whether or not the Xiaoling Mausoleum is actually occupied, therefore, is uncertain.

Fulin’s ascent to the throne at the age of five was the result of court intrigue. His mother, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, and his uncle, military despot Prince Regent Dorgon, ruled on his behalf for eight years. During this time young Fulin witnessed a succession of brutal power struggles that abruptly ended his childhood innocence, instilling in him a recalcitrance that stayed with him for the rest of his days. He took the reins of imperial power in 1651 at the age of 14, upon Prince Regent Dorgon’s death from illness. Having survived under his uncle’s despotic shadow, the new monarch immediately settled old accounts. He accused Dorgon of treason, stripped him of his imperial titles and honors, and had all his family members and associates killed.

Fulin was an intelligent, well-read and ambitious emperor, eager to consolidate China under Manchurian rule. He adopted a series of measures that confined the prerogatives of Manchurian aristocrats and helped propel national economic development. But his efforts to lessen conflict between the ruling Manchurians and the predominantly Han population were obstructed owing to his lack of political and military support.

Fulin first found spiritual sanctuary in religion through his acquaintance with Johann Adam Schall von Bell, a Jesuit missionary and astronomer who later became his adviser. The pair met in 1651, when the German scholar instructed the emperor in astronomy. Fulin was deeply impressed with the German’s profound knowledge and developed great respect for him. The Western missionary, meanwhile, took every chance to convert the young emperor by cultivating his interest in Christianity. The two became good friends.

It was also in 1651 that Fulin first became interested in Buddhism. His association with Monk Hanpucong, abbot of the Haihui Temple in Beijing, prompted his eventual decision to abandon Christianity in favor of Buddhism. He was given a Buddhist name “Xingchi” and frequently invited esteemed monks from around the country to give lectures at the palace. Upon the deaths of his beloved concubine Dong’e and their son four years later, the emperor renounced his imperial office and embraced the eternal peace of Buddhism.

Fulin’s first marriage was a political alliance between the Manchurian royal family and the Mongolian aristocracy. His mother, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, arranged the union with a Mongolian princess. He eventually deposed her, but not before nominating one of his Mongolian concubines as the new empress.

Dong’e was the daughter of a high-ranking Manchurian official. Official Qing documents make no mention of her status prior to marrying into the imperial family. It was rumored that she was a prince’s widow. Dong’e was a frequently observed visitor at the imperial palace before she married Fulin. She stood out among other aristocratic Manchurian women for her rare combination of brains and beauty. She and Fulin shared many common interests and beliefs, most notably Buddhism. Dong’e entered the imperial palace in the eighth moon of the 13th year of the Shunzhi Reign (1656) at the age of 18. The same month she was given the imperial title Xian Fei (Imperial Concubine of Virtue), according to The History of the Qing Dynasty: Biographies of Empresses and Imperial Concubines. Dong’e received more imperial favor than any of the emperor’s other wives or concubines. She was promoted to second-level imperial concubine, a rank second only to the empress, during the 12th moon of the same year. At the official ceremony marking her newly elevated status the emperor declared a general amnesty. It was plain that he held his beloved concubine in far higher regard that his empress.

Dong’e was a modest, sincere and kind-hearted woman who did her best to stay out of court intrigue. Upon bearing the emperor a son, she dissuaded Fulin from making him crown prince. She also stopped him from deposing his second empress and putting Dong’e in her place, saying it would imperil her. The mutual devotion of the imperial couple made Dong’e the target of domestic hatred and resentment, particularly by the empress dowager.

When Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang fell ill she excused the empress from her filial duty of attending her. She instead ordered Dong’e, who was still weak after parturition, to keep a standing 14-hour vigil at her bedside. This Dong’e bore without complaint. But when her three-month-old son died she was inconsolable. Fulin did all he could to comfort her, flouting imperial convention by conferring on the unnamed infant the title Prince Rong. But his efforts could not protect Dong’e from the malice of the empress and the other concubines. Exhausted from the agonizing effort of smiling as she daily attended the empress dowager. Dong’e finally collapsed. Unable to rise from her bed for three years, she died in September 1660 at the age of 22.

Dong’e’s death sent Fulin into a spasm of grief. He appointed a monk to tonsure his head, shed his dragon robe and donned a kasaya. It was only when Master Monk Yulin threatened to burn the monk who had tonsured him at the stake that the emperor took off his kasaya and resumed his imperial duties. It was in a manner that defied all imperial propriety. He conferred the posthumous title Empress Xiaoxian on Dong’e and dedicated a 4,000-character memorial to her. He also suspended all court procedures for five days and ordered officials above fourth rank to wear mourning livery for 27 days. Just three months after Dong’e’s death, the young emperor died of smallpox in the Forbidden City at the age of 24, according to official Qing records. He was buried in the Xiaoling Mausoleum, a site he had personally chosen.

Folk literature, however, tells a different story: that upon the death of Dong’e, Fulin abandoned his imperial family and duty to become a monk in the Wutai Mountains, where his son, Emperor Kangxi, visited him on several occasions. The Qing records that Fulin died of smallpox were an imperial face-saving measure, and Xiaoling was actually an empty tomb.

The popular alternative version of Emperor Shunzhi’s death has persisted for centuries, but is so far unsubstantiated. Its veracity comes into question, bearing in mind that although the Eastern Qing Tombs were robbed several times, Xiaoling was untouched. Some attribute its apparent inviolability to the protection of Buddha. The more likely explanation is Fulin’s last recorded wish that no gold, jade or other precious articles be interred with him; robbing his tomb, therefore, would have been pointless. Only Xiaoling itself holds the answer to the riddle of whether Fulin indeed died at the tender age of 24, or spent his last days in the Wutai Mountains.

Is a “Gold-Headed” Emperor at Rest in Tailing ?

The Tailing Mausoleum of Qing Emperor Yongzheng in Yixian County is another source of folk fantasy. There are several explanations as to why Yongzheng ignored time-honored protocol and chose a tomb site 100 kilometers away from that of his grandfather Shunzhi and father Kangxi. One that seems feasible is, having unscrupulously maneuvered himself into the throne and mercilessly persecuted his royal brothers and insiders, Yongzheng was loath to face his forefathers in the nether world. Yongzheng was the most controversial of all the Qing emperors. The circumstances surrounding his enthronement and death are still a matter for conjecture.

Yongzheng’s father, Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722), ruled for 61 years. He had more than 50 official wives and fathered 35 sons, 24 of whom survived into adulthood, and 20 daughters. Kangxi’s wealth of issue made choosing a crown prince a difficult matter. Of his two-dozen sons, only the second (the crown prince Yunreng), fourth (Prince Yong) and eighth (Prince Lian) were considered competent successors to the throne. The crown prince and Prince Lian actively formed their respective cliques, but Prince Yong maintained a modest stance and a low profile. He kept his distance from official circles, using spies to keep him up-to-date on his rivals’ activities. The first to fall in the struggle for the throne was the crown prince of the previous three decades. He had a strong clique and was overly aggressive in his intent to succeed Kangxi, who eventually deposed him. It was then Prince Lian’s turn to conspire in a manner no less ruthless than his brother. Enraged, Kangxi put him under house arrest and executed his main conspirators. In an effort to contain the power struggle, he restored the crown prince, but was forced to depose him a second time. The old emperor then considered his fourth and 14th sons - full-blood brothers - as imperial candidates.

Kangxi died in the Changchun Garden in western Beijing in December 1722. Seven days later, Prince Yong was crowned Emperor Yongzheng. Kangxi’s reputedly last oral decree before expiring was that the fourth prince, Yinzhen's noble, competent character made him suitable to rule the empire. Longkeduo, commander of the capital garrison, made the announcement. Days later, he produced a written decree to the same effect, claiming that the deceased emperor had written the decree a few years previously. After Kangxi’s death, martial law was imposed, forbidding anyone from entering the capital. The 14th prince was thus unable to attend his father’s funeral upon completing his military service. Beijing buzzed with rumors: some said that Longkeduo had fabricated the imperial decree, others that Yongzheng had altered it to read that the “4th son,” rather than “14th son,” was heir to the imperial throne. Historians are now agreed that no so alteration could have been possible.

Yongzheng’s death is another conundrum. The imperial court did not specify the cause of his sudden death. Rumors were consequently rife. The most popular explanation was that the extent of executions Yongzheng had ordered during his rule had made him many enemies. An old foe named Lu Siniang had finally succeeded in assassinating and beheading the emperor. A gold head had consequently been placed on the headless emperor when he was buried at the Tailing Mausoleum. Extant historical documents, however, suggest that Yongzheng died from taking poisoned medicine.

A survey of the Western Qing Tombs in 1980 indicated that a robbery had occurred at Tailing. Relevant departments reported this to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, requesting restorative excavation. When digging commenced, reporters from various agencies gathered on the site, expecting an answer to the “gold head” riddle. But upon reaching a two-meter depth it was apparent that the tomb mound had not been touched. As digging stopped immediately in order to conserve the underground palace, the “gold head” theory remains unsolved.

Emperors Shunzhi, Kangxi, Qianlong, Xianfeng and Tongzhi, along with four empresses and five imperial concubines, are buried at the Eastern Qing Tombs in Zunhua County. The Western Qing Tombs in Yixian County hold four emperors -- Yongzheng, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Guangxu, three imperial concubines and seven royal offspring. The three early Qing Dynasty monarchs that ruled prior to the marching of Manchurian troops into Beijing are buried in their home city of Shenyang. The Eastern and Western Qing Tombs and the three Shenyang mausoleums are all inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.