Changning (prince)


, formally known as Prince Gong, was a Manchu prince of the Qing dynasty. He was born in the Aisin Gioro clan as the fifth son of the Shunzhi Emperor, making him a half-brother of the Kangxi Emperor.

Life

Changning received his princedom on 1 March 1671. In August 1690, he was named one of two commanders-in-chief for an expedition against Dzungar leader Galdan, a long-time enemy of the Qing Empire. Having been granted the title of "Great General Who Pacifies the North", he was ordered to march his armies through the Xifengkou Pass north of Beijing, and then to combine his forces with those of his half-brother, Fuquan, the other commander-in-chief, in order to attack Galdan. They reached Galdan's position on September 3, but after a battle that ended in a standstill, they let Galdan escape, a mistake for which Changning was stripped of his place on the Deliberative Council of Princes and High Officials. In 1696, Changning took part in a new campaign that decisively weakened Galdan before the latter's final defeat in 1697. When he died on 20 July 1703, Changning was not given posthumous honors equal to his princely rank, and was not allowed to pass on his title to his descendants, who instead inherited diminished ranks according to the laws concerning the transmission of Qing nobility titles.

Family

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In fiction and popular culture