Yingxiang 允祥, 1st Prince Yi

YIN-hsiang 胤祥, Nov. 16, 1686–1730, June 18, the first Prince I (怡親王), was the thirteenth son of Emperor Shêng-tsu. His mother (née Chang-chia 章佳, posthumous name 敬敏皇貴妃, d. 1699) was one of the Emperor's concubines. Yin-hsiang seems to have received but little favor from his imperial father and the part he took, if any, in the struggle of his half-brothers for the throne is not known. Late in 1722 Emperor Shêng-tsu died and Yin-chên [q.v.] succeeded to the throne. Early in 1723 the new Emperor made Yin-hsiang a prince of the first degree with the designation I. At this time princedoms were bestowed on several of the Emperor's half-brothers, including Yin-ssŭ [q.v.], his arch-enemy. Yin-hsiang soon proved his loyalty to the new Emperor and won his confidence. In 1723 he was placed in charge of the mismanaged Board of Revenue, and thereafter was showered with favors. He was granted many privileges not usually enjoyed by a prince, and in 1725 was offered the additional hereditary rank of a prince of the second degree. Early in 1726 he was placed in charge of river conservancy in Chihli and later in that year was rewarded with a tablet of eight characters written by the Emperor in praise of his loyalty, honesty, diligence and incorruptibility. A collection of his memorials concerning the rivers of Chihli, entitled to 怡賢親王疏鈔 I-hsien ch'in-wang shu-ch'ao, was printed in 1823 by Wu Pang-ch'ing 吳邦慶 (T. 霽峯, 1766–1848), in the 畿輔河道水利叢書 Chi-fu ho-tao shui-li ts'ung-shu, completed in 1824.

When Emperor Shih-tsung decided to subdue the Eleuths in the Illi valley he created (1729) a special Grand Council, known as Chün-chi ch'u (see under Yin-chên), which thereafter became the most important office in the empire. Yin-hsiang, Chang T'ing-yü and Chiang T'ing-hsi [qq.v.] were the first three Grand Councilors. A year later (1730) Yin-hsiang died and was deeply mourned by the Emperor. His original name, changed to Yün-hsiang 允祥 for to avoid the use of the word Yin in Emperor Shih-tsung's personal name, was ordered to be restored—the only instance of this kind in the annals of the dynasty. Yin-hsiang was canonized as Hsien 賢 and his memory was celebrated in the Temple of Eminent Statesmen. In 1754 his nephew, Emperor Kao-tsung, ordered that his name be entered in the Temple of Eminent Princes in Mukden and, early in 1775, the right of perpetual inheritance was added to his princedom of the first degree. This rank was inherited in 1730 by his seventh son, Hung-hsiao 弘曉 (T. 秀亭, H. 冰玉道人, posthumous name 僖, d. 1778), who was a noted poet. The additional rank of a prince of the second degree, with the designation Ning 寧, was inherited in 1730 by Yin-hsiang's fourth son, Hung-chiao 弘晈 (posthumous name 良).

The poems of Yin-hsiang, Hung-hsiao and Hung-chiao are represented in the anthology known as Hsi-ch'ao ya-sung-chi (see under T'ieh-pao). A small collection of Yin-hsiang's verse, entitled 交輝園遺稿 Chiao-hui yüan i-kao, 1 chüan, was printed in 1738 as a supplement to the collected works of Emperor Shih-tsung (see under Yin-chên). Hung-hsiao left a collection of poems, entitled 明善堂集 Ming-shan t'ang chi, 12 chüan, after the name of his studio for which Emperor Kao-tsung indited the characters in 1740. The Ming-shan t'ang was renowned in his day for the large collection of rare editions which it contained. It is reported that Yin-hsiang bought the books with the help of Ho Ch'o [q.v.]. This, however, seems improbable because Yin-ssŭ [q.v.] was the only prince with whom Ho Ch'o was really intimate, and because Ho died before Yin-hsiang rose to prominence. What seems more likely is that Ho bought books for Yin-ssŭ and that, after the latter was condemned, they came into the possession of Yin-hsiang. At all events, the collection was dispersed after the death of Tsai-yüan (see below), part of it going to the Hai-yuan ko library (see under Yang I-tsêng).

The palace of Yin-hsiang (known as I-wang fu 怡王府), situated in Mei-cha hu-t'ung 煤炸胡同, Peking, was relinquished by the family after his death and converted in 1734 into a monastery named Hsien-liang ssŭ 賢良寺. The family then moved to T'ou-t'iao 頭條 hu-tung, east of the present College of Chinese Studies, where the Ming-shan t'ang was located. It was here that Lord Elgin (James Bruce, see under Yeh Ming-ch'ên) and his entourage resided during his stay in Peking from October 27 to November 9, 1860.

Hung-chiao's branch of the family resided, after about 1730, in a palace located east of the present Peking Union Medical College. Since 1864 the palace has been known as I-wang fu.

The sixth Prince I, Tsai-yüan 載垣 (d. 1861), was a great-great-grandson of Yin-hsiang. He had the confidence of the reigning Emperor Wên-tsung and played an important role in his Court. In 1860, after Kuei-liang [q.v.] had failed in his diplomatic mission to detain the British and French Allies at Tientsin, he, assisted by Mu-yin (see under Su-shun), was sent to Tungchow to renew the negotiations there. From the 14th to the 17th of September he held conversations with Parkes (see under Yeh Ming-ch'ên), representative of the British High Commissioner. But on the 18th the negotiations broke off and Tsai-yüan ordered the arrest of Parkes and his party, thus bringing on retaliatory measures by the Allies (see under I-hsin). Tsai-yüan followed the Court to Jehol (see under I-chu) where he, Su-shun [q.v.], and several others were entrusted by the Emperor with great responsibilities. During the coup d'état of Empress Hsiao-ch'in [q.v.] in 1861 he was punished by being ordered to commit suicide. The Princedom I was discontinued for three years and then passed to Hung-chiao's branch of the family.

[1/170/13a; 1/226/11b; Ch'ing Huang-shih ssŭ-p'u, 3/15a (see under Fu-lung-an); 5/33/2b for Wu Pang-ch'ing; Ching-shih fang-hsiang chih (see bibl. under Ulgungga), 4/23a, 24a, 38a; T'ieh-pao [q.v.], Hsi-ch'ao ya-sung chi, passim; Ch'ou-pan I-wu shih-mo (see under I-hsin), Hsien-fêng, chüan 60–68; Lu Hsin-yüan [q.v.], I-ku t'ang hsü-pa, 1/2a.]

Fang Chao-ying

Aixinjueluo Yunxiang 愛新覺羅允祥

《清史稿》

怡賢親王允祥，聖祖第十三子。康熙三十七年，從上謁陵。自是有巡幸，輒從。六十一年，世宗即位，封為怡親王。尋命總理戶部三庫。雍正元年，命總理戶部。十一月，諭：「怡親王於皇考時敬謹廉潔，家計空乏，舉國皆知。朕御極以來，一心翊戴，克盡臣弟之道。從前兄弟分封，各得錢糧二十三萬兩，朕援此例賜之，奏辭不已，宣諭再四，僅受十三萬；復援裕親王例，令支官物六年，王又固辭。今不允所請，既不可；允其請，而實心為國之懿親，轉不得與諸弟兄比，朕心不安。」下諸王大臣議。既，仍允王請，命王所兼管佐領俱為王屬，加護衛一等一員、二等四員、三等十二員，豹尾槍二、長桿刀二，每佐領增親軍二名。二年，允祥請除加色、加平諸弊，並增設三庫主事、庫大使，從之。

三年二月，三年服滿。以王總理事務謹慎忠誠，從優議敘，復加封郡王，任王於諸子中指封。八月，加俸銀萬。京畿被水，命往勘。十二月，令總理京畿水利。疏言：「直隸衞河、淀河、子牙河、永定河皆匯於天津大直沽入海，衞河與汶河合流東下。滄、景以下，春多淺阻，伏秋暴漲，不免潰溢。請將滄州磚河、青縣興濟河故道疏濬，築減水壩，以洩衞河之漲；並於白塘口入海處開直河，使磚河、興濟河同歸白塘出海；又濬東、西二淀，多開引河，使脈絡相通，溝澮四達；仍疏趙北、苑家二口以防衝決。子牙河為滹沱及漳水下流，其下有清河、夾河、月河同趨於淀，宜開決分注，緩其奔放之勢。永定河故道已湮，應自柳義口引之稍北，繞王慶坨東北入淀，至三角淀，為眾水所歸，應逐年疏濬，使濁水不能為患。又請於京東灤、薊、天津，京南文、霸、任丘、新、雄諸州縣設營田專官，募農耕種。」四年二月，疏言直隸興修水利，請分諸河為四局，下吏、工諸部議，議以南運河與臧家橋以下之子牙河、苑家口以東之淀河為一局，令天津道領之；苑家口以西各淀池及畿南諸河為一局，以大名道改清河道領之；永定河為一局，以永定分司改道領之；北運河為一局，撤分司以通永道領之：分隸專官管轄。尋又命分設京東、京西水利營田使各一。三月，疏陳京東水利諸事。五月，疏陳畿輔西南水利諸事。皆下部議行。

七月，賜御書「忠敬誠直勤慎廉明」牓，諭曰：「怡親王事朕，克殫忠誠，職掌有九，而公爾忘私，視國如家，朕深知王德，覺此八字無一毫過量之詞。在朝諸臣，於『忠勤慎明』尚多有之，若『敬誠直廉』，則未能輕許。期咸砥礪，以副朕望。」七年六月，命辦理西北兩路軍機。十月，命增儀仗一倍。十一月，王有疾。八年五月，疾篤，上親臨視，及至，王已薨，上悲慟，輟朝三日。翌日，上親臨奠，諭：「怡親王薨逝，中心悲慟，飲食無味，寢臥不安。王事朕八年如一日，自古無此公忠體國之賢王，朕待王亦宜在常例之外。今朕素服一月，諸臣常服，宴會俱不必行。」越日，復諭舉怡親王功德，命復其名上一字為「胤」，配享太廟，諡曰賢，並以「忠敬誠直勤慎廉明」八字加於諡上。白家疃等十三村民請建祠，允之。撥官地三十餘頃為祭田，免租賦。命更定園寢之制，視常例有加。又命未殯，月賜祭；小祥及殯，視大祭禮賜祭；三年後，歲賜祭。皆特恩，不為例。乾隆中，祀盛京賢王祠。命王爵世襲。