Prince Chun Yixuan
Yixuan was the seventh son of Emperor Daoguang. In the 30th year of Daoguang’s reign (1850), his fourth brother Yixin ascended the throne and immediately appointed Yixuan as the Prince of Chun. In the 11th year of the Tongzhi era (1872), Yixuan was promoted to Prince Chun. During this period, he was primarily in charge of the affairs of the Shenji Camp. When the Sino-French War broke out in the 10th year of the Guangxu era (1884), Yixuan advocated for war—his sixth brother, Prince Gong Yixun, advocated for peace. Empress Dowager Cixi, who was highly dissatisfied with Yixun, who served as the Chief Minister of the Zongli Yamen (Office for the Management of the Business of All Foreign Countries) and the head of the Grand Council, dismissed all the Grand Council ministers led by Yixun on the charge of being “listless and sticking to old ways.” She then reorganized the Grand Council, appointing Prince Shiduo of the Li family as the head of the council and announcing that major issues should first be discussed with Prince Chun Yixuan. From then on, Yixuan began to hold significant power over the nation’s military and political affairs. After the Sino-French War, the Qing government recognized the importance of the navy. In the 11th year of Guangxu (1885), the Admiralty Office was established, with Prince Chun Yixuan in charge. The following year, ironclad warships such as the Dingyuan, ordered from Germany, arrived at the Beiyang Fleet’s naval port. Li Hongzhang, the Viceroy of Zhili, invited Prince Chun to review the Beiyang Navy.
As the head of the Admiralty Office, Prince Chun Yixuan reviewing the navy on horseback was quite a curiosity in the history of modern naval reviews. The Manchus had won their empire on horseback, and nobles prided themselves on their skills in archery and horsemanship. Although most Qing nobles had neglected these skills by the late Qing period, Prince Chun Yixuan remained deeply fond of horses. In his early years managing the Shenji Camp, he often trained on horseback with the troops, and his poetry collection *Jiusi Hall Poems* contains many verses about horses. He once commanded Shenji Camp training while riding a leopard-spotted horse: “De Sheng is strong indeed, but paired with skill, it becomes perfect. The noble steed’s four hooves are light, shining like linked coins in the sun. I, a man from the eastern land, ride this leopard of the southern hills. Directing the troops beneath the banner, I grasp the key to their formations.” He likened this leopard-spotted horse to a leopard of the southern hills, praising its strength and nimble hooves. Riding this horse under the blazing military banner to command the Shenji Camp drills, he felt he could master the formations and gain confidence in leadership.
In the late Qing period, there was a saying about “divine appointments and ghostly missions.” “Ghostly missions” referred to working at the Zongli Yamen, while “divine appointments” meant serving in the Shenji Camp, which was managed by Prince Chun Yixuan. Both were considered well-paid “plum positions” at the time, so families with connections often sent their underage children to serve. The Shenji Camp was mainly composed of bannermen, including many young boys who could barely ride or handle firearms. After taking charge of the Shenji Camp, Prince Chun Yixuan imposed strict requirements on archery and horsemanship training. He first promoted those skilled in riding and shooting, then “strictly ordered the wing commanders to ensure even the younger recruits practiced horseback archery and rifle shooting, promoting those who became proficient to fill vacancies.” Under his training, within half a year, the young soldiers of the Shenji Camp became adept with their rifles and accurate riders.
After taking charge of the Shenji Camp, Yixuan’s ninth brother, Prince Fu Yizhu, gave him a yellow-flower horse. Yixuan was overjoyed and used this horse to oversee cavalry drills, even composing a poem titled *Poem of Joy on Receiving a Yellow-Flower Horse from My Ninth Brother, Which Proved Highly Effective for Supervising Cavalry Training*: “A fine breed from the western regions, swift and strong in flight. Though I lack Bole’s discernment, I laugh at He Zhizhang’s lack of skill. I’ve heard it fought on distant borders, battle-hardened and bold. Unwilling to be fed mere fodder, it raises its head in the stable.” This was a fine horse that Yizhu had obtained from the western regions, and Yixuan was extremely pleased riding it. There is an allusion here: Du Fu once wrote in *Song of the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup*, “He Zhizhang rides a horse as if in a boat, dizzy and falling asleep in a well.” Yixuan mocked He Zhizhang’s poor horseback riding in verse, actually boasting of his own superior equestrian skills.
Yixuan also greatly cherished a horse gifted by Xiling’a, the Mongol Commander-in-Chief of the Plain Yellow Banner. This horse had fought on the battlefield and experienced combat, so Yixuan said it was a “steed that broke through encirclements in its day.” Xiling’a’s gift of his warhorse ignited Yixuan’s fighting spirit. Riding the horse and firing his gun, he startled flocks of wild geese, showing rare vigor and passion.
In addition to horses gifted by nobles and generals, Yixuan also bought his own. He composed a poem for a red horse he purchased: “A noble steed with powerful sinews and vigorous veins, its majestic bearing puts all others to shame. Its hooves are strong even in winter, chasing the wind; its coat gleams with sweat-blood patterns across a thousand miles. It steps nimbly among the rocky crags, scattering deer in all directions. Amidst Beijing’s ten-foot-thick red dust, it still lifts its head longing for the clouds beyond the frontier.” Back when Emperor Xianfeng was “inspecting” Rehe, Yixuan often visited Rehe, where he bought this red horse at the horse market. The poem reveals Yixuan’s criteria for selecting horses: first, strong bones and vigorous sinews, with a proud and unmatched bearing; second, hooves that remain strong and wind-chasing even in winter, with a coat marked by sweat-blood patterns. Thus, Yixuan believed this red horse to be a steed capable of covering a thousand miles.
Yixuan had deep feelings for the horses he rode. He once wrote the poem *Lament for an Old Horse*, expressing his reluctance to abandon an old horse that had been with him for over a decade and shared his heart. He instructed his servant to graze the old horse well in the fields, but the servant, blinded by greed, withheld food. This enraged Yixuan and made him feel he had betrayed the horse, hence he wrote, “O horse, I have wronged you; they were as base as fraudulent shamans.”
In 1903, American painter Katherine Carl came to the Summer Palace to paint a portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi. Cixi had Carl stay in the Weixiu Garden, Prince Chun’s garden in Haidian not far from the Summer Palace. In her book *With the Empress Dowager of China*, Carl wrote: “One day, in a quiet corner near the stables, I saw some small tombstones. Upon inquiry, I learned they were erected by the prince in memory of his deceased dogs and horses. The tombstones bore the names of the buried animals and words of praise from their master. Prince Chun was very fond of animals—in all the princely households, only his stables and kennels were the most luxurious and imposing.” This shows that Yixuan’s deep affection for horses was unmatched among Qing nobles.
Prince Chun Yixuan’s seventh son, Zaizhen, was deeply influenced by his father and became obsessed with horses. Among the nobles of the late Qing period, Zaizhen was well-known for his skills in judging, raising, and riding horses. The book *Imperial Uncle Zaizhen* has a section titled “Expert Horsemanship,” dedicated to stories about Zaizhen and horses. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Zaizhen attended the Second Session of the First National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in 1950. He submitted a proposal to Premier Zhou Enlai and Chairman Mao Zedong about improving horse breeds for military use. Mao praised Zaizhen’s proposal and appointed him as an advisor to the Horse Administration Bureau of the Artillery Command of the People’s Liberation Army. Zaizhen made great contributions to the improvement of military horses in New China and supplied a large number of high-quality horses for transportation during the Korean War. Zaizhen’s deep love for horses can be traced back to the subtle influence of his father, Prince Chun Yixuan.