• 9th Qing Emperor of China Xianfeng, 1831

Yizhu succeeded the throne in 1850, at age 19, and was a relatively young Emperor. He inherited a dynasty that faced not only internal but also foreign challenges. Yizhu's reign title, Xianfeng (咸丰/咸豐), which means "Universal Prosperity", did not reflect the situation. In 1850 the first of a series of popular rebellions began that would nearly destroy the dynasty. The Taiping Rebellion began in December 1850, when Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka leader of a syncretic Christian sect, defeated local forces sent to disperse his followers. Hong then proclaimed the establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the rebellion spread to several provinces with amazing speed. The next year the Nien Rebellion started in North China. Unlike the Christian Taipings', the Nien movement lacked a clear political program, but they became a serious threat to Beijing with the mobility of their cavalry - based armies. Fixed between two powerful forces the Qing suffered repeated defeats.

In 1853 the Taiping captured Nanjing and for a while it seemed that Beijing would fall next; but the Taiping northern expedition was defeated and the situation stabilized. Xianfeng dispatched several prominent mandarins, like Zeng Guofan, and Imperial relatives, like the Mongol general Sengge Rinchen, to crush the rebellions, but they only obtained limited success. The biggest revolt of the Miao people against Chinese rule in history started in 1854, and ravaged the region until finally put down in 1873. In 1856 an attempt to regain Nanjing was defeated and the Panthay Rebellion broke out in Yunnan.

Meanwhile, an initially minor incident on the coasts triggered the Second Opium War. Anglo - French forces, after inciting a few battles (not all victories for them) on the coast, called for "negotiations" with the Qing Government. Xianfeng, under the influence of the Concubine Yi (懿貴妃, later the Empress Dowager Cixi), believed in Chinese superiority and would not agree to any colonial demands. He delegated Prince Gong for several negotiations but relations broke down completely when a British diplomatic envoy, Sir Harry Parkes, was arrested during negotiations on 18 September.

The Anglo - French invasion clashed with Sengge Rinchen's Mongolian cavalry on 18 September near Zhangjiawan before proceeding toward the outskirts of Beijing for a decisive battle in Tongzhou District, Beijing. On 21 September, at the Battle of Palikao, Sengge Rinchen's 10,000 troops, including élite Mongolian cavalry, were completely annihilated after several doomed frontal charges against the concentrated firepower of the Anglo - French forces, which entered Beijing on 6 October.

On 18 October 1860, the western forces went on to loot and burn the Imperial Summer Palaces of Qīngyī Yuán (清漪园/清漪園) and Yuánmíng Yuán (圆明园/圓明園). Upon learning about this news, Xianfeng's health quickly deteriorated.

While negotiations with the European powers were being held, Emperor Xianfeng and his Imperial entourage fled to the northern palace in Jehol under pretext of an annual Imperial hunt. As his health worsened, Xianfeng's ability to govern also deteriorated, and competing court ideologies in court led to the formation of two distinct factions — one under the rich Manchu Sushun, Princes Yi and Zheng, and the other under the Concubine Yi, supported by General Ronglu and Yehenala Bannermen.

Xianfeng died on 22 August 1861, at the imperial summer resort (行宮 xinggong) in Jehol, 230 kilometers northeast of Beijing. His successor was his one surviving son, Zaichun, who was barely 6 years old. A day before his death, Xianfeng had summoned Sushun and his group to his bedside, and gave them an Imperial Edict that dictated the power structure during the young Emperor's minority. The edict appointed four members of the Imperial line (Zaiyuan, the Prince Yi; Duanhua, the Prince Zheng; Duke Jingshou; and Sushun) and four Ministers (Muyin, Kuangyuan, Du Han, and Jiao Youying) as the eight members of a new regency council to aid the young Emperor. By tradition, after the death of an Emperor, the body was to be accompanied to the Capital by the regents. Concubine Yi and the Empress, who were now both given titles of Empress Dowager, traveled to Beijing ahead of time, and planned a coup that ousted Sushun from the regency. The Concubine Yi would subsequently rule China for the next 47 years, as the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Emperor Xianfeng was interred in the Eastern Qing Tombs (清東陵), 125 kilometers / 75 miles east of Beijing, in the Dingling (定陵 "Tomb of Quietude") mausoleum complex.

Xianfeng's reign saw the continued decline of the Qing dynasty. Rebellions in the country, which began the first year of his reign, would not be quelled until well into the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor and resulted in millions of deaths. Xianfeng also had to deal with the British and French and their ever growing appetite to expand trade further into China. Xianfeng, like his father, the Daoguang Emperor, understood very little about Europeans and their mindset. While Westerners saw different nations as equals deserving mutual respect as an international norm, Xianfeng viewed non - Chinese Europeans as inferior and regarded the Europeans' repeated requests to be treated as equal as an offense. When the Europeans introduced the long held concept of an exchanged consular relationship, Xianfeng quickly rebuffed the idea.

During the Second Opium War, repeated requests by Europeans to meet Xianfeng were also denied. At the time of Xianfeng's death, he had not even once met any foreign dignitaries.

• Father: Daoguang Emperor (1782 – 1850)
• Mother: Empress Xiaoquancheng – Imperial Consort Quan, of the (Manchu) Niuhuru clan, who was made Empress in 1834, and is known posthumously as Empress Xiaoquancheng.

• Consorts:

1. Empress Xiaodexian (孝德顯皇后薩克达氏) (d. January 1850). Entered the Forbidden City as Lady Sakda of the Sakda clan, raised to the rank of Empress after her death when Yizhu became the Xianfeng Emperor. She was granted the posthumous title of Empress Xiaodexian.
2. Empress Dowager Ci'an (慈安太后) of the Niuhuru clan (1837 – 1881).
3. Empress Dowager Cixi (Noble Consort Yi 懿貴妃) (1835 – 1908).
4. Consort Li, posthumously known as Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangjing (庄靜皇貴妃) (1837 – 1890).
5. Imperial Noble Consort Duanke (端恪皇貴妃) of the Tunggiya clan (1844 – 1910).
6. Noble Consort Mei (玫貴妃) (1837 – 1890), she gave birth to the emperor's second son who died young.
7. Noble Consort Wan (婉貴妃) (d. 1894) of the Manchu Sujiro clan.
8. Consort Lu (璷妃) (d. 1895) of the Manchu Nara clan.
9. Consort Ji (吉妃) (d. 1905) of the Wang clan.
10. Consort Xi (禧妃) (d. 1877) of the Chahala clan.
11. Consort Qing (慶妃) (d. 1885) of the Han Chinese Zhang clan.
12. Imperial Concubine Yun (雲嬪) (d. 1855) of the Wugiya clan.
13. Imperial Concubine Rong (容嬪) (d. 1869) of the Manchu Irgen - Gioro clan.
14. Imperial Concubine Shu (璹嬪) (d. 1874) of the Manchu Yehenara clan.
15. Imperial Concubine Yu (玉嬪) (d. 1862) younger sister of Imperial Concubine Shu.
16. First Class Female Attendant Ping (玶常在) (d. 1857) of the Manchu Irgen - Gioro clan. She entered the palace as a concubine of the fourth rank but for unknown reason she was demoted by three rank. In 1856 she was promoted by one rank but she died the following year.
17. First Class Female Attendant Chun (瑃常在) (d. 1859).
18. First Class Female Attendant Xin (鑫常在) (d. 1859).

• Children:

1. Zaichun, (son of Empress Dowager Cixi) who became the Tongzhi Emperor after the Xianfeng Emperor's death.
2. Second son (1858) by Noble Consort Mei. He was posthumously given the title of Prince Min of the Second Rank (憫郡王).
3. Kurun Princess Rong'an (榮安固倫公主) (1855 – 1875), daughter of Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangjing.

1. Adoptive daughter: Kurun Princess Rongshou (榮壽固倫公主) (1854 – 1924) was the oldest daughter of Prince Gong.

The Xianfeng Emperor had a large sexual appetite. He was a lover of opera and alcohol, and often became violent with his servants. He was known to smoke opium.