Heshen (; ; 1 July 1750 – 22 February 1799) of the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

Niohuru The Niohuru (Manchu: ; in Manchu) were a prominent Manchu clan during the Qing dynasty. The clan had inhabited the Changbai Mountains since as early as the Liao dynasty. The clan was well known during the Qing dynasty for producing a variety of ...

clan, was an official of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

favored by the

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...

and called the most corrupt official in Chinese history. After the death of Qianlong, the

Jiaqing Emperor The Jiaqing Emperor (13 November 1760 – 2 September 1820), also known by his temple name Emperor Renzong of Qing, born Yongyan, was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fifth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, fro ...

confiscated Heshen's wealth and forced him to commit suicide. As an official, he acquired an estimated at 1.1 billion

tael Tael (),"Tael" entry
at the

richest men in history. Born Shanbao (Shan-pao; ), his name was later changed to Heshen. His

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

was Zhizhai (Chih-chai; ). He was a member of the

Plain Red Banner The Plain Red Banner () was one of the Eight Banners (lower five Banners) of Manchu military and society organization during the Later Jin and Qing dynasty of China. Famous members included: * Daišan * Wenxiang * Heshen, Clan Niohuru, considered ...

Ascendance

Heshen was the son of a

military officer and studied at a school for Manchu aristocratic boys. He lost his mother when he was young and it was said he and his younger brother had a hard life under his stepmother. However, Heshen was an excellent student, knowing

Middle Mandarin Mandarin () was the common spoken language of administration of the Chinese empire during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It arose as a practical measure, to circumvent the mutual unintelligibility of the varieties of Chinese spoken in different par ...

, Mongolian and

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

. In 1772, he began work in the Imperial Palace, assigned as an imperial

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

stationed at the gates to the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...

. Within a year of his initial employment, Heshen was promoted to vice-president of the Ministry of Revenue, and two months later was made a Grand Councilor. Within three months, he was promoted even further to the Minister of the

Imperial Household Department The Imperial Household Department (; mnc, , v=dorgi baita be uheri kadalara yamun) was an institution of the Qing dynasty of China. Its primary purpose was to manage the internal affairs of the Qing imperial family and the activities of the inn ...

, a post usually filled with the most meritorious officials. In 1777, at the age of 27, Heshen was given the privilege of riding a horse within the

, a prestigious privilege given only to high-ranking officials of elderly age. It was not long before Heshen was given control of both the Ministry of Revenue and the Civil Council, allowing him to control the revenue of the entire empire, and appoint his own henchmen to important posts within the officials. The Salar Jahriyya Sufi revolt was put down by

Fuk'anggan Fuk'anggan ( Manchu:, Möllendorff: fuk'anggan; ; 1748–1796), courtesy name Yaolin (), was a Manchu noble and general of the Qing Dynasty. He was from the Fuca clan () and the Bordered Yellow Banner of the Eight Banners. Fuk'anggan's father ...

along with Agui and Li Shiyao Gansu in 1784, but Heshen was recalled for his failure during the revolt. Heshen's hold on the Qianlong Emperor was further strengthened when in 1790, his own son was married to the emperor's tenth and favorite daughter, Hexiao. Once secure of the Qianlong Emperor's favor and approbation, Heshen enjoyed great freedom of action. He became openly corrupt and practiced

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

on a grand scale. His supporters within the imperial system followed his lead, and his military associates prolonged campaigns in order to continue the benefits of additional funds. He abrogated powers and official posts, including that of Grand Councilor, and regularly stole

public funds Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual o ...

and tax revenue. Taxes were raised again and again, and this led to the suffering of the people. Unfortunately, their suffering was compounded by severe floods of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

- an indirect result of the corruption where officials pocketed funds that were meant for the upkeep of canals and dams. Rising prices of rice led to many that simply starved to death. This widespread corruption and

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

was the start of a century that led to the downfall of the Qing Dynasty. In 1793, Heshen was responsible for hosting the Macartney Embassy to the imperial court.

Fall

After the

abdicated in February 1796, the range and damage of Heshen's corruption was now clear. However, Qianlong continued to rule China behind the scenes under the grand title of ''Taishang Huang'' ( Retired Emperor). It was not until Qianlong's death on 7February 1799 that his successor, the

, was able to prosecute Heshen. Just five days later, Heshen was arrested along with Minister Du Daozhao. Declared guilty by an imperial edict, he was condemned to slow slicing. The Jiaqing Emperor spared Heshen this dishonorable death out of respect for his half-sister Gurun Princess Hexiao, and instead ordered him to commit suicide by hanging. He carried out the sentence with a rope of golden silk in his home on 22 February. In the 24 years that Heshen enjoyed the Emperor's attention and favor he amassed a fortune. In the Jiaqing Emperor's confiscation of Heshen's property, his wealth estate included: 3,000 rooms in his estates and mansions, of land, 42 bank branches, 75 pawnbroker branches, 60,000 taels of pure gold, 100 large ingots of pure gold, (1,000 taels each), 56,600 medium silver ingots, (100 taels each), 9,000,000 small silver ingots, (10 taels each), 58,000 livres/pounds of foreign currency, 1,500,000 copper coins, 600 lb of top-quality Jilin ginseng, 1,200 jade charms, 230 pearl bracelets, 10 large pearls (each the size of longans), 10 large ruby crystals, 40 large sapphire crystals, 40 tablefuls of solid-silver eating utensils, (served 10 per table), 40 tablefuls of solid-gold eating utensils, (served 10 per table), 11 coral rocks (each over a meter in height), 14,300 bolts of fine silk, 20,000 sheets of fine sheep-fur wool, 550 fox hides, 850 raccoon dog hides, 56,000 sheep and cattle hides of varying thickness, 7,000 sets of fine clothing (for all four seasons), 361,000 bronze and tin vases and vessels, 100,000 porcelain vessels made by famous masters, 24 highly decorative solid-gold beds (each with eight different types of inlaid gemstones), 460 high quality European clocks, 606 servants, 600 women in his harem. His total property was ultimately estimated at around 1,100 million taels of silver, reputed to be equivalent to the imperial revenue of the Qing government for 15 years. Treasures discovered in his chief butler Liu Quan's quarter included 240,000 silver taels. The Jiaqing Emperor charged Heshen with 20 crimes, of which "defiance of imperial supremacy" and "power transcendence" accounted for half. His influence did not end with his death, as corruption continued to spread through both civil and military personnel. Bannermen developed habits that made them useless as a military force. The Chinese

Green Standard Army The Green Standard Army (; Manchu: ''niowanggiyan turun i kūwaran'') was the name of a category of military units under the control of Qing dynasty in China. It was made up mostly of ethnic Han soldiers and operated concurrently with the Manchu- ...

was beset with irregular practice and had lost much of its fighting spirit shown in the early Qing Dynasty. The habits of luxury and big spending led to moral degradation and the general decline of the dynasty. The Qianlong Emperor's Ten Great Campaigns were completed at the cost of 120 million taels, against an annual revenue of some 40 million taels. The result of these massive spendings and increasing trend towards luxury set the path towards financial instability within the later part of the Qing Dynasty.

In popular culture

For more than two hundred years Heshen has been a stock villain role, and continues to appear in theatrical, film and television productions. Chinese actors Wang Gang and Chen Rui have portrayed Heshen on screen: the former gave the character of Heshen a comical touch with his plump figure; the latter, who played Heshen in the 2003 television series ''

Qianlong Dynasty ''Qianlong Dynasty'' is a Chinese television series based on the novel ''Qianlong Huangdi'' (乾隆皇帝; ''The Qianlong Emperor'') by Eryue He. The series was preceded by ''Yongzheng Dynasty'' in 1997 and ''Kangxi Dynasty'' in 2001, both of which ...

'', was said to resemble the historical Heshen more closely as compared to Wang Gang. Hong Kong actor

Ruco Chan Ruco Chan Chin-pang (; born 14 January 1977) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. Chan is the first TVB actor to win My Favourite TVB Actor at the StarHub TVB Awards for three consecutive years (2014, 2015, 2016), and is also the first actor to make ...

played Heshen in the 2018 TVB series '' Succession War'', a fictional depiction of the final 28 days of his life.

Alternative views

It could be argued that Heshen's wealth was largely from gifts of the Qianlong Emperor, not from corrupt actions. The view of Heshen as a corrupt official originated after his death and from documents in Qing Dynasty historical archives. Only the emperor had the authority to determine what content was to be kept in those archives, which raises the possibility of bias against Heshen. Heshen, as a powerful official, threatened the authority of the Jiaqing Emperor. Officials during the Qianlong Emperor's reign may have feared or been jealous of his power. The Jiaqing Emperor could have used legal pretexts to legitimize these feelings and condemn Heshen to a death sentence.

Former residence

Several decades after Heshen's death, his former residence was given to Prince Gong as his official residence. The estate, known as the

Prince Gong Mansion Prince Gong's Mansion, also known as the Prince Kung Mansion, is a museum and tourist attraction located in Xicheng District, Beijing, just north of the Shichahai, Shichahai Lake. It consists of large siheyuan-style mansions and Chinese gar ...

, is now preserved as a museum and a tourist attraction. It is located at 17 Qianhai Road West in Beijing.

Family

*Maternal great-grandfather **A La Na (阿喇納), Deputy General, Count of the Third Rank (副將軍三等伯) *Maternal grandfather **Wumi Tai (伍彌泰) (1713–1786), a

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...

of the

Plain Yellow Banner The Plain Yellow Banner () was one of the Eight Banners of Manchu military and society during the Later Jin and Qing dynasty of China. The Plain Yellow Banner was one of three "upper" banner armies under the direct command of the emperor himself, ...

*Maternal grandmother **Lady Liugiya (劉佳氏) *Father **Changbao (常保), Banner vice-commander of

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

(福建副都統) *Mother **Lady Wumi (伍彌氏) *Younger brother **Helin (和琳) (26 August 1753 – 28 September 1796), father of Fengshen Yimian and two daughters *Younger sister-in-law **Lady Tatara (他他拉氏), daughter of Sulinga (蘇凌阿), mother of Fengshen Yimian *Nephew **Fengshen Yimian (豐紳宜綿) (1755–1813) *Nieces **Two daughters of Helin *Wife **Feng Jiwen (馮霽雯), granddaughter of Feng Yinglian (馮英廉); mother of Fengšeninde, Heshen's second son, and Heshen's three daughters *Concubine **Lady Chang (長氏) *Sons **Fengšeninde (豐紳殷德) (18 February 1775 – May 1810), married Gurun Princess Hexiao (固倫和孝公主) **second son (1794–?) *Daughters **Three daughters，including Primary consort of Yongyun (

Prince Chun (淳) Prince Chun of the First Rank, or simply Prince Chun, was the title of a Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty, princely peerage used in China during the Manchu people, Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1644–1912). As the Prince Chun peerage was not a ...

peerage)

Genealogic tree

References

External links

''The Qing Dynasty''
at

All Empires All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heshen 1750 births 1799 deaths Qing dynasty politicians from Beijing Forced suicides of Chinese people Grand Councillors of the Qing dynasty Grand Secretaries of the Qing dynasty Assistant Grand Secretaries Manchu Plain Red Bannermen Manchu politicians Niohuru clan