Family background

Yixuan was born in the Aisin-Gioro clan as the seventh son of the Daoguang Emperor. His mother was Noble Consort Lin of the Uya (烏雅氏) clan. Four months after his birth, Lady Uya, a concubine of the Daoguang Emperor who was recently promoted to "Noble Lady Lin" (琳貴人), was further elevated to the status of "Imperial Concubine Lin" (琳嬪), a rare distinction. Lady Uya's rapid rise through the ranks continued, and she was promoted to "Consort Lin" (琳妃) and "Noble Consort Lin" (琳貴妃) in 1842 and 1847 respectively. The Tongzhi Emperor granted her the posthumous title "Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangshun" (莊順皇貴妃), making her second only to the Empress.

During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi emperors reigns

In February 1850, after the Daoguang Emperor's death, Yixuan's fourth brother, Yizhu, ascended the throne and became historically known as the Xianfeng Emperor. The Xianfeng Emperor made Yixuan a junwang (second-rank prince) under the title "Prince Chun of the Second Rank" (醇郡王). Yixuan kept a low profile in politics throughout the Xianfeng Emperor's 11-year reign.

In 1860, by the Xianfeng Emperor's decree, Yixuan married Wanzhen of the Yehe Nara clan, who was a younger sister of Noble Consort Yi, one of the Xianfeng Emperor's consorts. The marriage forged a close bond between Yixuan and Noble Consort Yi. The Xianfeng Emperor died in August 1861, leaving the throne to his five-year-old son, Zaichun, who would reign as the Tongzhi Emperor. On the Xianfeng Emperor's death, a power struggle emerged over the regency for the emperor, with one faction led by Sushun, and princes Duanhua and Zaiyuan, and another faction led by Yixuan's sixth brother, Prince Gong, as well as the Xianfeng Emperor's empress, honoured with the title of Empress Dowager Ci'an, and Noble Consort Yi, the mother of the new emperor, honored with the title of Empress Dowager Cixi. In November 1861, Yixuan sided with Prince Gong and the two dowager empresses and launched the Xinyou Coup to seize the regency from Sushun and his faction. Yixuan personally led imperial forces to arrest Sushun and bring him back to Beijing, where he was executed.

As a consequence of the Xinyou Coup, Yixuan found himself elevated to the highest ranks in the imperial court. In the 14-year reign of the Tongzhi Emperor from 1861–1875, he had a dual career in the military and civil services. In 1872, he was promoted from junwang (second-rank prince) to a qinwang (first-rank prince), hence he became known as "Prince Chun of the First Rank" (醇親王). In 1874, he was dismissed from office by the Tongzhi Emperor, along with Prince Gong, and several others, due to his involvement in a reprimand of the emperor for his poor conduct, only to be reinstated, along with the others, thanks to the intervention of the dowager empresses.

During the Guangxu Emperors reign

In January 1875, the Tongzhi Emperor died without an heir, so Empress Dowager Cixi chose Yixuan's second son, Zaitian, to be the new emperor. Zaitian was adopted into the Xianfeng Emperor's lineage; this meant that he was nominally no longer Yixuan's son. As the Xianfeng Emperor's "son", Zaitian was installed on the throne and became historically known as the Guangxu Emperor. This choice brought advantages to Cixi: Zaitian was her nephew (Zaitian's mother, Wanzhen, was Cixi's younger sister); Zaitian's father, Yixuan, had been a loyal supporter of Cixi; Zaitian was still young so Cixi could continue ruling as regent. As for Yixuan himself, however, Cixi's choice was a catastrophe for him. When he heard that his son had been chosen to be the new emperor, he reportedly hit himself and wept bitterly before sinking into unconsciousness.

In the last centuries of imperial China, it was very unusual for an emperor's father to be still alive while the emperor was reigning. The only prior example in the Qing dynasty was that of the situation between 1796 and 1799, when the Qianlong Emperor abdicated in favour of his 15th son, the Jiaqing Emperor, and became a taishang huang (retired emperor). Since filial piety is a highly revered value in Chinese culture, it meant that Yixuan, the biological father of the reigning emperor, would be endowed with the highest honours and privileges. However, Yixuan perceived himself to be in an extremely dangerous and uncomfortable position, given the prickly nature of Empress Dowager Cixi and her obsessional paranoia of any potential threat to her status.

The first decision that Yixuan made, after his son became the emperor, was to resign from all his official positions. He tried to keep a low profile but could not avoid being showered with honours and privileges, which he tried to decline as much as possible. Soon after his son became the emperor, Yixuan was awarded the "iron-cap" privilege, which meant that he could pass on his Prince Chun title to his descendants without the title being downgraded one grade per generation.

In 1876, Yixuan wrote a memorial to the Guangxu Emperor, condemning in advance anyone who would propose to grant him a special position in the hierarchy on the grounds that he was the emperor's biological father. Following resignation from his military and civil posts, he was entrusted with the education of the young emperor, to which he consented. In the following years, with the disgrace of his sixth brother Yixin (Prince Gong), Yixuan unwillingly became the second most powerful figure in the imperial court after Empress Dowager Cixi. The empress dowager even ordered all court officials to discuss matters with Yixuan before making decisions.

Empress Dowager Cixi's co-regent, Empress Dowager Ci'an, died suddenly in 1881 and was rumoured to have been poisoned by Cixi. This made Yixuan even more cautious and eager to please Cixi in all possible ways. When the Guangxu Emperor reached adulthood in early 1887 and was ready to take over the reins of power from Empress Dowager Cixi, Yixuan formally requested Cixi to prolong her regency.

In 1885, Empress Dowager Cixi appointed Yixuan as "Controller of the Admiralty", putting him in charge of supervising the building of a new imperial navy. Yixuan was sent on an inspection tour to the naval shipyards on the coast of China.

Before her adopted son, Emperor Guangxu, took over the throne in 1889, Cixi wrote out explicit orders that the navy should continue to develop and expand gradually. However, after Cixi went into retirement, all naval and military development came to a drastic halt. Japan』s victories over China has often been falsely rumored to be the fault of Cixi. Many believed that Cixi was the cause of the navy』s defeat by embezzling funds from the navy in order to build the Summer Palace in Beijing. However, extensive research by Chinese historians revealed that Cixi was not the cause of the Chinese navy』s decline. In actuality, China』s defeat was caused by Emperor Guangxu』s lack of interest in developing and maintaining the military. His close adviser, Grand Tutor Weng Tonghe, advised Guangxu to cut all funding to the navy and army, because he did not see Japan as a true threat, and there were several natural disasters during the early 1890s which the emperor thought to be more pressing to expend funds on.

Yixuan died on 1 January 1891, shortly before the enlargement works on the Summer Palace were completed. His fifth son, Zaifeng, inherited his title "Prince Chun of the First Rank". Yixuan was granted a posthumous name xian (賢), so his full posthumous title became "Prince Chunxian of the First Rank" (醇賢親王).

Names and titles

• Names:

　• Clan name / family name: Aisin-Gioro (愛新覺羅 Àixīn Juéluó)

　• Personal name: Yixuan (奕譞 Yìxuān|w=I-hsüan)

　• Courtesy name: Pu'an (樸菴 Pǔ ān)

　• Pseudonym: Master of the Jiusi Hall (九思堂主人 Jǐusītáng Zhǔrén) or Withdrawn Master (退潛主人 Tuìqiǎn Zhǔrén)

• Titles:

　• Prince Chun of the Second Rank (醇郡王 Chún Jùnwáng). Yixuan held this title from 1850 to 1872.

　• Prince Chun of the First Rank (醇親王 Chún Qīnwáng), simplified to Prince Chun (or Prince Ch'un in Wade–Giles). Yixuan held this title from 1872 until his death in 1891.

　• Posthumous title (in full): Prince Chunxian of the First Rank (醇賢親王 Chúnxián Qīnwáng)

• Other references:

　• Seventh Prince (七王爺 Qī Wángyé)

Prince Chun Tomb

Tomb of Prince Chun

Yixuan was interred in a tomb of princely status, now popularly known as the "Seventh Prince's Grave" (七王墳), located 35 km/22 miles northwest of Beijing. According to Puyi's autobiography, a ginkgo tree grew on the tomb of Yixuan, and became very tall and imposing. This fact was reported to Empress Dowager Cixi and greatly alarmed her. In the Chinese language, the first character of the word "ginkgo tree" is bai (白), while the first character of the word "emperor" is huang (皇), which combines the character bai with the character wang (王 – meaning "prince", 親王). A ginkgo (白) growing on the tomb of Yixuan (王) was interpreted as a sign that a new emperor (皇) would emerge in the house of Yixuan. This was unacceptable for the very superstitious Cixi, as obsessed as ever with thwarting any challenge to her power, and so she promptly had the tree felled. The tomb of Yixuan was restored by the People's Republic of China after 1949 and is now one of the tourist attractions around Beijing.

The tomb and surrounding area appears in Quentin Tarantino's 2004 film Kill Bill: Volume 2 as the home and training grounds of the legendary Shaolin monk Pai Mei.

Prince Chun Mansion

A former residence of Yixuan, now known as the Prince Chun Mansion, is located near Shichahai, Beijing.

Family

Consorts and Issue:

• Yehenara Wanzhen, primary consort (嫡福晉 葉赫那拉氏; 13 September 1841 – 17 June 1896).

　• Zaihan (載瀚; 4 February 1865 – 9 December 1866), first son

　• Zaitian, the Guangxu Emperor (德宗 載湉; 14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), second son

　• Third son (13 February 1875 – 14 February 1875)

　• Zaiguang (載洸; 27 November 1880 – 18 May 1884), fourth son

• Secondary consort, of the Yanzha clan (側福晉 顏扎氏), personal name Yujuan (玉娟)

　• First daughter (11 April 1861 – 24 November 1866)

• Secondary consort, of the Liugiya clan (側福晉 劉佳氏; 1866–1925), personal name Cuiyan (翠妍)

　• Zaifeng, Prince Chun of the First Rank (醇親王 載灃; 12 February 1883 – 3 February 1951), fifth son

　• Zaixun, Prince of the Third Rank (貝勒 載洵; 20 May 1885 – 1949), sixth son

　• Zaitao, Prince of the Third Rank (貝勒 載濤; 23 June 1887 – 2 September 1970), seventh son

　• Second daughter

• Secondary consort, of the Ligiya clan (側福晉 李佳氏; 1869–1928), personal name Daniu (大妞)

　• Third daughter (23 November 1887 – 1914)

　　• Married Songchun (松椿; d. 1927) of the Manchu Fuca clan in 1905

Ancestry

道光、咸豐時期

1840年出生，是道光皇帝的第七子。1850年2月咸豐登基時，十歲的奕按例封為「多羅醇郡王」。1860年，奕奉旨與懿貴妃葉赫那拉氏的妹妹成婚，依例先行分府出宮，他受賜的府邸坐落在宣武門內的太平湖東岸，即現在的中央音樂學院所在的地方，今稱南府。分府後，仍留任內廷行走。咸豐年間，奕在政治上並不出色，但咸豐帝死後，奕積極配合慈安、慈禧太后發動辛酉政變，親自捉拿了顧命八大臣之首肅順，再加上娶了慈禧太后之妹為嫡福晉，所以慈禧太后開始重用奕。

同治、光緒時期

辛酉政變之後，二十一歲的奕開始擔任正黃旗漢軍統帥、正黃旗領侍衛內大臣、御前大臣、後扈大臣、管理善撲營事務、署理奉宸苑事務、管理正黃旗新舊營房事務、管理火槍營事務和神機營事務。1864年慈禧太后為奕「加親王銜」，任正紅旗滿洲都統，次年任正黃旗滿洲都統、總理善撲勇射大臣、弘德殿行走、稽查弘德殿皇帝讀書事務。1869年主驅逐洋人，激勵紳民打毀天主教堂，盛傳天津教案為他所主使。事後因懲凶賠款，憤請辭職。當年又因支持慈安太后對慈禧的親信太監安得海處斬，為慈禧太后所恨。1872年晉封和碩醇親王，是為第一代醇親王。1873年，同治皇帝親政，被免去弘德殿行走之職。

載湉是奕的二子。同治沒有孩子，1874年他去世後，慈禧挑選載湉繼承大統。在場的奕聽到這一消息，當場暈厥過去。親歷其事的翁同龢在日記中描述當時的情景道：「維時醇郡王驚遽敬唯，碰頭痛哭，昏迷伏地，掖之不能起。」又一說是因為慈禧太后為報復奕殺安德海的仇，因此挑選奕譞的兒子載湉當皇帝，讓奕譞嘗痛失兒子的痛苦。

光緒即位後，奕譞為了自保，辭去了所有官職，只負責照料毓慶宮皇帝讀書事務。在百般推辭之後，才在1887年接受了王爵「世襲罔替」的恩典，意為子孫世代可以承襲王爵，不必按例降級。按照清朝制度，原來的醇親王府成為「潛龍邸」，奕譞應搬出。于是慈禧撥款十六萬兩銀子，修繕什剎後海的一座貝子府賞給奕。1888年，奕全家搬到這座「北府」。是年，光緒皇帝大婚。按道理皇帝結婚即算成年，慈禧應歸政，然而慈禧並不願意，于是就由奕帶頭，請求太后繼續「訓政」。二月戊寅，慈禧太后頒懿旨，公開斥責官員吳大澂要求尊崇奕譞的請求，稱奕譞對「深宮派辦事宜。靡不殫竭心力。恪恭盡職。每遇優加異數。皆再四涕泣懇辭。前賞杏黃轎。至今不敢乘坐。其秉心忠赤。嚴畏殊常。非徒深宮知之最深。」，並出示奕譞在光緒元年所上，提前反對官員可能在光緒帝親政後鼓勵推崇皇帝親生父母的奏摺，以示「自古純臣居心。何以過此」。

光緒十年到光緒十六年，監理軍機，總理海軍衙門事務，光緒五年，受賜御書「懋德嘉績」匾額、賜食親王雙俸，光緒十二年賜乘杏黃轎，光緒十三年王爵世襲罔替，光緒十五年受賜金桃皮鞘戎服刀、增護衛給帑修第，光緒十六年死後配享太廟，光緒十八年寢廟制祀典用天子之禮。為清朝十二個鐵帽子王的其中一位。

奕十分了解慈禧太后，因而一生小心侍奉慈禧太后，故不同于六兄奕䜣而官途一帆風順。他經歷了同治帝之死、慈安太后暴卒後，更加謹小慎微，兢兢業業，把取信討好慈禧視成唯一的本份。他負責建設海軍的時候（李鴻章是會辦大臣），為了讓慈禧太后有安享天年之地，動用以北洋水師名義籌措的經費修建頤和園。在頤和園工程最緊張的階段，正值直隸省和京師遭受特大水災，御史吳兆泰因為怕激起災民鬧事，建議暫時停工，因此奪官，「交部議處」。而醇親王卻一言不發，鞠躬盡瘁地完成了修建任務。亦有人認為他一心取悅慈禧太后，無非是為了其子光緒皇帝能穩固皇權，不再受慈禧擺佈，但若此說成立，奕此計實亦是無功，在他死後，其子光緒帝於1898年因戊戌政變被慈禧太后軟禁，直至駕崩。1891年頤和園完工，他也與世長辭了。

逸事

奕不同於最後被封鐵帽子王的慶親王奕劻，表現是醇親王不愛財，從其過世前留給兒孫輩的一首打油詩可看得出來：

財也大，產也大，後來子孫禍也大，若問此理是若何，子孫錢多膽也大，天樣大事都不怕，不喪身家不肯罷；

財也小，產也小，後來子孫禍也小，若問此理是若何，子孫錢少膽也小，些微產業知自保，儉使儉用也過了。

家族

妻妾

• 嫡福晉葉赫那拉氏，名婉貞 (1841年-1896年)，道員承恩公惠徵之女，慈禧太后之妹，光緒帝生母。光緒二十二年五月初八日辰刻病死。

• 大側福晉葉赫顏扎氏，來福之女。慈禧太后在光緒五年內務府選秀時將其賜予醇親王為官女子，光緒七年病故後被追封為側福晉。

• 二側福晉劉佳氏，名翠妍（1866年–1925年），五品典衛德慶之女。宣統帝之祖母。翠妍本是奕府的鑲白旗包衣，後來因為翠妍被收房，家族遂從包衣抬入滿軍旗，姓氏從劉氏改為劉佳氏。光緒九年正月生醇賢親王第五子載灃，同年十月奕譞請求冊封側室劉佳氏為側福晉。

• 三側福晉李佳氏，內務府正白旗二甲錫恆管領下清茶房承應掌德純之女。光緒十年二月二十日，正白旗拜唐阿德純之女長春宮下官女子大妞賞予醇親王為官女子。光緒十三年十月生醇賢親王第三女郡君，郡君生下十五日後，奕譞請求冊封其為側福晉。光緒二十二年正月，醇親王門上為查明醇賢親王庶福晉李佳氏出身之事上奏。

• 官女子某氏，名大妞，鑲黃旗英俊佐領下蘇拉長清之女。光緒十二年二月，被賞給醇親王。

兒女

兒子

• 第一子：載瀚，嫡福晉那拉氏所生，同治四年乙丑正月初六日辰時生，五年丙寅十一月初三日未時卒，年兩歲。

• 第二子：載湉，嫡福晉那拉氏所生，即光緒帝。

• 第三子：未命名，嫡福晉那拉氏所生，光緒元年乙亥正月初八日子時生，初九日午時卒。

• 第四子：載洸，嫡福晉那拉氏所生，光緒六年庚辰十月二十六日酉時生，十年甲申四月二十四日申時卒，年五歲。

• 第五子：載灃（字「伯涵」、號「靜雲」），側福晉劉佳氏所生。宣統帝之父，攝政王，襲醇親王。

• 第六子：載洵（字「仲泉」、號「癡雲」），側福晉劉佳氏所生，過繼給瑞郡王奕誌為嗣。清末海軍大臣。

• 第七子：載濤（字「叔源」、號「野雲」），側福晉劉佳氏所生，一開始過繼給貝子奕謨為嗣，後改繼給鍾郡王奕詥為嗣。清末軍諮府大臣。1949年後任中央人民政府馬政局顧問、中國人民解放軍總後勤部馬政部顧問、第一、二、三屆全國人大代表。

女兒

• 第一女：嫡福晉那拉氏所生（名義上），第一側福晉顏扎氏所生（實際上）。咸豐十一年辛酉三月初二日申時生，同治五年十月十八日辰時卒，年六歲。●附註：前面妻妾欄顯示，顏扎氏是慈禧太后在光緒五年（1879年）內務府選秀時將其賜予醇親王為官女子，光緒七年（1881年）病故後被追封為側福晉。何以會在咸豐十一年（1861年）辛酉三月初二日申時就能生育奕譞的第一女呢？

• 第二女：側福晉劉佳氏所生，三歲殤。

• 第三女：側福晉李佳氏所生，光緒十三年十月初九生，嫁一等忠勇公松椿為妻，於民國三年(1914年)去世，年二十八歲。

電視劇

• 《少女慈禧》：1983年，亞洲電視電視劇集，由陳亮飾演

• 《滿清十三皇朝之皇城爭霸》：1992年，亞洲電視電視劇集，由關偉倫飾演

• 《戲說慈禧》：1993年，中視電視劇集，由黃文豪飾演

• 《走向共和》：2003年，中國中央電視台電視劇集，由錢學格飾演

• 《台灣1895》：2008年，中國中央電視台電視劇集，由李琪飾演

• 《大太監》：2012年，無綫電視翡翠台電視劇集，由歐瑞偉飾演