永瑆 Yǒngxīng
Biography
成哲親王永瑆
成哲親王永瑆，高宗第十一子。乾隆五十四年，封成親王。永瑆幼工書，高宗愛之，每幸其府第。嘉慶四年正月，仁宗命在軍機處行走，總理戶部三庫。故事，親王無領軍機者，領軍機自永瑆始。二月，儀親王永璇罷總理吏部，並命永瑆俟軍務奏銷事畢，不必總理戶部。三月，和珅以罪誅，沒其園第，賜永瑆。七月，永瑆辭總理戶部三庫，允之。八月，編修洪亮吉上書永瑆，譏切朝政，永瑆上聞，上治亮吉罪。語在亮吉傳。十月，上諭曰：「自設軍機處，無諸王行走。因軍務較繁，暫令永瑆入直，究與國家定制未符。罷軍機處行走。」
永瑆嘗聞康熙中內監言其師少時及見董其昌以前三指握管懸腕作書，永瑆廣其說，作撥鐙法，推論書旨，深得古人用筆之意。上命書裕陵聖德神功碑，並令自擇書跡刻為詒晉齋帖，以手詔為序。刻成，頒賞臣工。
十八年，林清變起，永瑆在紫禁城內督捕，上嘉其勤勞，免一切處分及未完罰俸。二十四年正月，加其子不入八分輔國公綿懃郡王銜。五月，祭地壇，終獻時，贊引誤，永瑆依以行禮。上以永瑆年老多病，罷一切差使，不必在內廷行走，於邸第閉門思過，罰親王半俸十年。綿懃亦罷內大臣，居家侍父。二十五年六月，綿懃卒，贈郡王。有司請諡，以非例斥之，著為令。
仁宗崩，有旨免迎謁。語見儀親王傳。十月，命曾孫載銳襲貝勒。道光二年十月，上還自行在，永瑆進食品十六器，以非例卻之。三年三月，薨，年七十二，賜銀五千治喪，諡曰哲。載銳襲郡王。綿懃及載銳父奕綬並追封如其爵。咸豐九年，薨，諡曰恭。子溥莊，襲貝勒，加郡王銜。卒，子毓橚，襲貝子。
Yongxing, Prince Chengzhe of the First Rank
Yongxing, Prince Chengzhe of the First Rank, was the eleventh son of Gaozong. In the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong he was made Prince Cheng of the First Rank. From childhood Yongxing was skilled in calligraphy; Gaozong loved him and often visited his mansion. In the first month of the fourth year of Jiaqing, Renzong ordered him to serve in the Grand Council and to take general charge of the Three Treasuries of the Ministry of Revenue. By precedent no Prince of the First Rank had headed the Grand Council; a prince heading the Grand Council began with Yongxing. In the second month, when Yongxuan, Prince Yi of the First Rank, was relieved of the general charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Yongxing too was ordered to give up the general charge of the Ministry of Revenue once the accounts of the military expenses had been settled. In the third month, when Heshen was put to death for his crimes, his garden mansion was confiscated and granted to Yongxing. In the seventh month Yongxing resigned the general charge of the Three Treasuries of the Ministry of Revenue, and this was allowed. In the eighth month the Compiler Hong Liangji sent Yongxing a letter sharply criticising the government; Yongxing reported it to the emperor, and the emperor punished Liangji. The story is in Liangji's biography. In the tenth month the emperor's edict said: "Since the Grand Council was set up, no prince has served in it. Because military affairs were rather heavy, We had Yongxing come in on duty for a time, but in the end this does not agree with the fixed institutions of the state. Let him cease to serve in the Grand Council." Edit
Yongxing had once heard a palace eunuch of the Kangxi period say that his master in youth had seen Dong Qichang write holding the brush with the front three fingers and the wrist raised. Yongxing developed this account into the "stirrup-pushing method", reasoning out the principles of calligraphy and grasping deeply how the ancients used the brush. The emperor ordered him to write the Stele of Sacred Virtue and Divine Merit at the Yu Tomb, and had him choose from his own writings to be carved as the Yijinzhai Model Calligraphies, with an edict in the emperor's own hand as its preface. When the carving was finished, copies were granted to the officials. Edit
In the eighteenth year, when the rising of Lin Qing broke out, Yongxing directed the arrests inside the Forbidden City; the emperor praised his diligence and excused him from all penalties and from the fines on his stipend not yet paid. In the first month of the twenty-fourth year his son Mianqin, Duke Who Assists the State, without the Eight Privileges, was given the rank of a Prince of the Second Rank. In the fifth month, at the sacrifice at the Altar of Earth, during the final offering the usher led the rite wrongly, and Yongxing performed it as he was led. The emperor, because Yongxing was old and often ill, relieved him of all duties; he need not serve in the inner court, but was to shut his gate in his mansion and reflect on his faults, and he was fined half his stipend as Prince of the First Rank for ten years. Mianqin too was relieved of his post as Minister of the Imperial Household and stayed at home to wait on his father. In the sixth month of the twenty-fifth year Mianqin died and was posthumously made Prince of the Second Rank. The officials concerned asked for a posthumous name for him; the emperor rejected this as against precedent, and made it a standing rule. Edit
When Renzong died, there was an order excusing Yongxing from coming to meet the new emperor. The words are in the biography of Prince Yi of the First Rank. In the tenth month his great-grandson Zairui was ordered to inherit as Beile. In the tenth month of the second year of Daoguang, when the emperor returned from his travelling lodge, Yongxing presented sixteen vessels of food, which were refused as against precedent. He died in the third month of the third year, at the age of seventy-two; five thousand taels of silver were granted for his funeral, and he was given the posthumous name Zhe. Zairui inherited as Prince of the Second Rank. Mianqin and Zairui's father Yishou were both posthumously given that same rank. In the ninth year of Xianfeng Zairui died, and was given the posthumous name Gong. His son Puzhuang inherited as Beile, with the rank of a Prince of the Second Rank. When he died, his son Yusu inherited as Beizi. Edit
The English was translated from the original by an AI, not checked sentence by sentence by a person, and is for reference; where it differs from the original, the original is right. Names are in pinyin. If a sentence is wrong, use “Edit” after the paragraph to correct it - no need to sign in.
Source: 清史稿 卷二百二十一 列传八 诸王七 (Draft History of Qing, juan 221, Biographies 8: Princes 7)
Wikipedia: Yongxing (prince) · Chinese Wikipedia: 永瑆 · Baidu Baike: 永瑆 (an article of the same name, not checked to be him)
Source
From the historical record: the notes below say where · qing-zongshi-00934
Notes (2)
- [Source] 清史稿 卷一百六十五 表五 皇子世表五 Draft History of Qing, juan 165, Table 5: Genealogical Table of the Emperors' Sons 5
- [Collation note] 表云：「高宗第十一子。乾隆五十四年封成親王，道光三年薨，諡曰哲」 The table: “Eleventh son of Gaozong. In Qianlong 54 (1789), made Prince Cheng of the First Rank. In Daoguang 3 (1823), died, given the posthumous name Zhe.”