prince An

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Prince An of the First Rank, or simply Prince An, was the title of a princely peerage used in China during the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1644–1912). As the Prince An peerage was not awarded "iron-cap" status, this meant that each successive bearer of the title would normally start off with a title downgraded by one rank vis-à-vis that held by his predecessor. However, the title would generally not be downgraded to any lower than a feng'en fuguo gong except under special circumstances. The first bearer of the title was Abatai (1589–1646), the seventh son of Nurhaci, the founder of the Qing dynasty. In 1644, he was awarded the status of a junwang (prince of the second rank) by his nephew, the Shunzhi Emperor, under the title "Prince Raoyu of the Second Rank" (Manchu: ᡩᠣᡵᠣᡳ ᠪᠠᠶᠠᠨ ᡤᡳᠶᡡᠨ ᠸᠠᠩ doroi bayan giyūn wang) or simply "Prince Raoyu". The title was renamed to "Prince An of the Second Rank" in 1651 when it was passed down to Abatai's fourth son, Yolo (1625–1689). In 1723, the Yongzheng Emperor abolished the Prince An peerage on the grounds that Yolo had "sowed discord among key ministers and disrespected the Emperor". However, in 1778, the Qianlong Emperor considered Abatai and Yolo's past contributions to the Qing Empire, and decided to restore the Prince An peerage as a feng'en fuguo gong title – the lowest possible grade for a princely peerage. Qikun, a great-great-grandson of Yolo, was selected to inherit the title. The title was passed down over a total of ten generations and was held by ten persons.