Yihe (å¥Âè©¥; 14 March 1844 â 17 December 1868) was Daoguang Emperor's eighth son and the first holder of Prince Zhong peerage. As the peerage was not granted perpetual inheritability, Yihe's potential successors would hold diminished ranks.
Yihe was born on 14 March 1844 to Imperial Noble Consort Zhuangshun, lady Uya in the Garden of Elegant Spring in Yuanmingyuan. Yihe had also one elder brother, Yixuan, and one younger brother, Yihui.
In 1850, Yihe started studying in the Imperial Study. His tutors were editor in the Hanlin academy Zhong Fucheng (éÂÂç¦Âæ¿), future regent under the minority of the Tongzhi Emperor Kuang Yuan (å¡æºÂ) and Weng Xincun (ç¿Âå¿ÂÃ¥ÂÂ). That same year, Yihe was granted a title of Prince Zhong of the Second Rank (éÂÂé¡çÂÂ) at the age of barely 6 years. Due to his prematurity, Yihe did not have sufficient rights to compete for succession.
Yihe's ultimate career started during the minority of Tongzhi Emperor. Yihe was appointed to make sacrifices at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in 1864. From that year on, he presided at the sacrificial rites in the Imperial ancestral temple on behalf of the teenage emperor and two empresses dowagers and Shamanic rites in the autumn 1866. In 1865, he was entrusted with the affairs of the Hall of Uprightness and Objectivity (ä¸Âæ£殿).
Yihe died in 1868 and was posthumously honoured as Prince Zhongduan of the Second Rank.
Yihe was married to lady Niohuru (å«¡ç¦Âæ é®ç¥Âç¦Âæ°Â), daughter of first class marquis Chong'en (ä¸ÂçÂÂ侯å´Âæ©) and grand niece of Empress Xiaoherui. As Yihe did not have children, Zaiying and Zaitao were adopted as his successors.