Songgotu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Songgotu (Manchu: ; simplified Chinese: 索额图; traditional Chinese: 索額圖; pinyin: Suǒ'étú; 1636-1703) was a minister during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing Dynasty. He was an uncle of the emperor's primary spouse, Empress Xiaochengren of the Hešeri clan, who died during childbirth. He was also the son of Sonin, one of the four regents appointed to assist the young Kangxi Emperor during his minority. He was the uncle of Yinreng, who was crown prince throughout most of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.

Songgotu helped the young Kangxi Emperor get rid of Oboi, a regent during the reign of the young emperor. Gradually, he gained more and more power and became one of the most prominent officials under Kangxi. He was involved in a long power struggle with Mingzhu, another leading official at that time. He also acted as a diplomat and signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk with Russia. Songgotu was later found guilty of attempt to murder Kangxi, along with a series of corruption charges, and was imprisoned and died of starvation.

In fiction

The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎記), a wuxia novel by Louis Cha. In the story, Songgotu was an aristocrat who befriended the protagonist Wei Xiaobao.

References

Hummel, Arthur William, ed. Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644-1912). 2 vols. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1943.
Spence, Jonathan. Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-hsi. Jonathan Cape (1974) ISBN 0-224-00940-0.

Persondata
Name	Songgotu
Alternative names	Suoetu
Short description	Qing Dynasty statesman
Date of birth	1636
Place of birth
Date of death	1703
Place of death

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