The historian Jonathan Spence characterizes the Daoguang Emperor as a "well meaning but ineffective man" who promoted officials who "presented a purist view even if they had nothing to say about the domestic and foreign problems surrounding the dynasty".

[1] The Daoguang Emperor was born in the Forbidden City, Beijing, in 1782, and was given the name Mianning (绵宁; 綿寧; Miánníng; Mien-ning).

In 1813, while he was still a prince, Mianning also played a vital role in repelling and killing Eight Trigrams invaders[clarification needed] who stormed the Forbidden City.

[2][3] After a friend betrayed him in March 1827, Khoja was sent to Beijing in an iron litter and subsequently executed,[4] while the Qing Empire regained control of their lost territory.

The Uyghur Muslim Sayyid and Naqshbandi Sufi rebel of the Afaqi suborder, Jahangir Khoja was sliced to death (Lingchi) in 1828 by the Manchus for leading a rebellion against the Qing.

In 1811, a clause sentencing Europeans to death for spreading Catholicism had been added to the statute called "Prohibitions Concerning Sorcerers and Sorceresses" (禁止師巫邪術) in the Great Qing Legal Code.

[8][page needed] The Daoguang Emperor granted the title of "Wujing Boshi" (五經博士; Wǔjīng Bóshì) to the descendants of Ran Qiu.

Although the Europeans were outnumbered and thousands of miles away from logistical support in their native countries, they could bring far superior firepower to bear at any point of contact along the Chinese coast.

The Qing government was highly dependent on the continued flow of taxes from southern China via the Grand Canal, which the British expeditionary force easily cut off at Zhenjiang.

His 30-year reign saw rising economic tensions, sectarian instability and foreign interventions which would eventually lead to the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911.