Yunsi

Yunsi (29 March 1680 – 5 October 1726), born as Yinsi, was a Manchu prince of the Qing dynasty. The eighth son of the Kangxi Emperor, Yunsi was favoured by many officials at the imperial court to be the successor but ultimately lost the power struggle to his fourth brother Yinzhen. Upon Yinzhen’s accession as the Yongzheng Emperor, Yunsi was granted the title of Prince Lian, and appointed imperial chancellor and head of the Lifan Yuan, but faced constant suppression and censure from the emperor. In 1726 he was stripped of his titles, expelled from the imperial clan, charged with a litany of offenses, and imprisoned, where he died in disgrace. He was posthumously restored to the imperial clan, without titles, during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.

Early life Yunsi was born to the Kangxi Emperor and Consort Liang, a Manchu woman of the Plain Yellow Banner, and raised by the Consort Hui, mother of Yinzhi, the first son of the Kangxi Emperor. Consort Liang was seen by some historians as coming from a disadvantaged background, because she was a member of the "sin jeku" slave caste before she became the Kangxi Emperor's consort. While the low status of her mother's family affected Yinsi's prestige within the ranks of the princes, At the age of only 18, Yinsi was granted the rank of doroi beile, the third highest rank of nobility. a fortune teller by the name of Zhang Mingde was sent to Yinsi. Zhang foretold that Yinsi was predestined for greatness. Yinzhi, long pre-occupied with supernatural ways to influence temporal affairs, relayed Zhang's seemingly auspicious predictions about Yinsi's future to the emperor in an attempt bolster Yinsi's case for becoming crown prince. In response, the emperor, rather than rewarding Yinsi, sentenced Zhang to death by lingchi in order to discourage others from becoming involved in the struggle for succession. The Zhang Mingde episode was a huge blow to Yinsi politically and resulted in his own house arrest.

The Kangxi Emperor, disillusioned by the ambitions of his remaining sons and the ferocity with which they were plotting against one another, reinstated Yinreng in the crown prince position in 1709. However, the latter was once again stripped of his Crown Prince title in 1711. After the second removal, Kangxi became determined to select another prince as his successor. He issued an order for officials at court to divulge their own preferences on which of his sons should be the next crown prince. In what became essentially a straw-poll vote, the majority of court officials petitioned to the Kangxi Emperor that Yinsi should assume the position of Crown Prince.

Meaning of "Akina" "Āqínà" is a Chinese transliterating words of a Manchu term. Some scholars have speculated that the original Manchu term is "Acina" , which means "to carry (with your crime)". But according to Hetu Dangse (Chinese: 黑圖檔), a thematic archive of historical documents from the Qing Dynasty now preserved in the Archives of Liaoning Province, the original term is "Akina" . . It is now usually interpreted as "frozen fish"

Location of residence According to the Jingshi Fangxiang Zhigao (京师坊巷志稿), the Prince Lian family compound was located near Taijichang Road southeast of the Forbidden City, due west of the family compound of Fuquan, the Prince Yu. Its interior structure was altered shortly after Yunsi's expulsion from the imperial clan in 1725, and converted to a storehouse during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. Nevertheless, some parts of the original structure may have survived to the present day. Its approximate location is near the present-day Wangfujing Station of the Beijing Subway, near the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.

Family Primary Consort

Primary consort, of the Gorolo clan (嫡福晉 郭絡羅氏; d. 1726)

Concubine

Mistress, of the Zhang clan (張氏) Hongwang (弘旺; 27 January 1708 – 16 December 1762), first son

Mistress, of the Mao clan (毛氏) Princess of the Third Rank (郡主; 24 June 1708 – 11 January 1776), first daughter Married Sun Wufu (孫五福) in July/August 1724

In fiction and popular culture Portrayed by Eric Wan in The Rise and Fall of Qing Dynasty (1988) Portrayed by Mark Cheng in Legend of YungChing (1997) Portrayed by Wang Huichun in Yongzheng Dynasty (1999), Li Wei the Magistrate (2001) and Li Wei the Magistrate II (2004) Portrayed by Savio Tsang in The King of Yesterday and Tomorrow (2003) Portrayed by Huang Leixin in Huang Taizi Mishi (2004) Portrayed by Liu Dekai in The Book and the Sword (2008) Portrayed by Feng Shaofeng in Palace (2011) and Palace II (2012) Portrayed by Kevin Cheng in Scarlet Heart (2011) Portrayed by Louis Cheung in Gilded Chopsticks (2014) Portrayed by He Zhi Long in Dreaming Back to the Qing Dynasty (2019)