This new entry in the Longman Library of World Biography series offers an intimate and provocative account of the Manchu emperor Qianlong (1711-1799), one of the worldrs"s great empire-builders, who helped build the foundation of the modern Chinese nation. During the 64 years of Qianlongrs"s rule, Chinars"s population more than doubled, its territory increased by one-third, its cities flourished, and its manufactures tea, silk, porcelain were principal items of international commerce. Based on original Chinese and Manchu-language sources, and drawing on the latest scholarship, this is the biography of the man who, in presiding over imperial Chinars"s last golden epoch, created the geographic and demographic framework of modern China. This accessible account describes the personal struggles and public drama surrounding one of the major political figures of the early modern age, with special consideration given to the emperorrs"s efforts to rise above ethnic divisions and to encompass the political and religious traditions of Han Chinese, Mongols, Tibetans, Turks, and other peoples of his realm. In addition to becoming familiar with one of the most remarkable figures in world history, readers will find that learning about Emperor Qianlong will add greatly to their appreciation of Chinars"s place in the world of the eighteenth century and will deepen their understanding of Chinars"s place in the world today.

About the Author Mark C. Elliott is the Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. Professor Elliott began the study of Chinese history at Yale, where he earned his BA and MA, and completed his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. He is among the very few historians in the United States trained in the use of Manchu-language sources, upon which his first book, The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China (Stanford, 2001), is based. He is currently at work on a new book examining the connections between the Qing empire and modern China.