Who is the longest ruling emperor of China?
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 1711 – 7 February 1799) was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. Born Hongli, the fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796. On 8 February, he abdicated in favour of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor—a filial act in order not to reign longer than his grandfather, the illustrious Kangxi Emperor. Despite his retirement, however, he retained ultimate power as the Emperor Emeritus (or Retired Emperor) until his death in 1799; he thus was one of the longest-reigning "de facto" rulers in the history of the world, and dying at the age of 87, one of the longest-lived. As a capable and cultured ruler inheriting a thriving empire, during his long reign the Qing Empire reached its most splendid and prosperous era, boasting a large population and economy. As a military leader, he led military campaigns expanding the dynastic territory to the largest extent by conquering and sometimes destroying Central Asian kingdoms. This turned around in his late years: the Qing empire began to decline with corruption and wastefulness in his court and a stagnating civil society.
Jia Yinghua
Through the years, Jia Yinghua interviewed hundreds of people, and collected documents and files carrying hundreds of thousands of words depicting the lives of the last emperor, the last eunuch, and other figures who lived in the royal palace in the late Qing Dynasty, and some of these documents are barely known to the public. He also has some precious photographs taken in the late Qing Dynasty which could be found in nowhere else. He audio taped some figures since the late Qing Dynasty for hundreds of hours at his own expenses, and shot a huge amount of documentary films of historic figures since the same period of time, such as, The Last Eunuch Traveling in The Imperial Palace, The Last Eunuch Recalling His Life, Documentary of The Life of The Last Royal Family, etc., attracting great eyesight from both inside and outside China.
What’ s more, he is also one of the storytellers for the large-volume documentary The Imperial Palace.
Around Feb. 12th, 2012, major portal sites, like www.sina.com.cn, www.yahoo.com successively presented a video program Decoding The Last Imperial Decree lectured by Jia Yinghua. Coincidentally, on the same day 100 years ago, the then 6-year-old emperor Xuantong announced his abdication with an imperial decree, signaling the end of the feudal imperial system for more than 2,000 years in the land of China.