Yunxi, Prince Shen

A Qing imperial prince

Yunxi, formerly Yinxi, was the Kangxi emperor's twenty-first son. He accompanied the emperor on journeys beyond the passes late in the Kangxi period. Under Yongzheng he was first granted the rank beizi in 1730 and was soon promoted to beile. After Qianlong's accession, he received the title Prince Shen of the Second Rank (Shen junwang). These successive promotions matter when identifying the status he held at a particular date; his final title should not be projected backward over his entire life.

Artistic reputation and lineage

Yunxi is also remembered in biographical records for his poetry and painting. He used the artistic sobriquet Ziqiong daoren ('Daoist of Purple Jasper'). In this context, daoren is a literary self-designation; on its own it does not establish that he entered a Daoist religious order or held an ecclesiastical position. His princely rank and his artistic interests describe different aspects of his life.

Yunxi died in 1758 and received the posthumous name Jing, hence the designation Prince Shenjing. His line was subsequently continued by Yongrong, Qianlong's sixth son, who entered the branch as an appointed heir. Yongrong's subsequent princely titles and accomplishments in painting, scholarship, or calculation belong to Yongrong's own biography. Adoption into a collateral branch of the imperial clan must not be confused with direct biological descent.