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Emperor of China: Self-portrait of K'ang-Hsi: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi
A remarkable re-creation of the life of K'ang-hsi, emperor of the Manchu dynasty from 1661-1772, assembled from documents that survived his reign. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index.
257 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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March 15, 2014
An fascinating window on Imperial Qing China in the words of Emperor K'ang-Hsi (reigned 1661-1722). I've never read anything like it. To think that author Spence created this "memoir" by assembling disparate fragments. The result is a dazzling continuous whole. Outstanding and highly recommended.
January 7, 2019
Manchu Monarch’s Memorable Moments and More
Jonathan Spence has not written any bad books. If you want readable, interesting books about China which take unusual angles, choose any of his. This one, which focuses on the life of the Qing (Manchu) emperor Kang-hsi (now spelled Kangxi) who ruled for 61 years, from 1661 to 1722, is no exception. China at that time was powerful and mostly peaceful, though a vicious civil war marked eight years in the 1670s. Though you may learn much Chinese history here, that is not the main aim of the book. Spence went through reams of Qing Dynasty documents and even got hold of some of Kang-hsi’s personal letters. From these he created a text in which the Emperor seems to speak for himself, a kind of faux-autobiography. It’s an interesting idea, a historical montage if you will, with all the dots connected by an author who lived more than 250 years later. The emperor is a big hunting aficionado, writes poetry, and is very interested in traditional medicine. As he grew older, medical topics loom larger---probably a human universal. He admonishes readers to regulate what they eat and drink and describes various herbs and remedies. He criticized the Western missionaries who flew like buzzards around the court, hoping to see Chinese religion crash, and commented that they hardly understood Chinese culture, but wanted to give advice anyhow. They did prove useful in many ways and the emperor acknowledges this fact. He rubbishes Taoist quacks who claimed to have pulled off various incredible feats. Like other Chinese emperors (and most other absolute monarchs as well) he condemns many people to execution or to the “lingering death”. He praises himself for all the people he pardoned, exiled, or otherwise showed mercy. The problems of choosing which of his many sons to succeed him are among the most interesting parts. Several of said sons were total wastrels, whom he repeatedly punishes then forgives. He reiterates the Confucian principles of ruling---to listen to the people, while remaining true to the Rules of Heaven. The ultimate responsibility for China’s welfare was his, after all. Though there are many fascinating details of an emperor’s life, inevitably there are large sections of idealistic moralizing and repetition of various philosophies. These may really have been what he would have written if he’d put this life story together, but they seem too pat and rather trite for today’s readers.
Kang-hsi comes across as very human. What a fate, to be emperor of the largest nation on earth! Perhaps he would have written something closer to the heart, if he’d known such a work would be compiled. But as it is, his personality comes out between the lines, a man, who despite his nearly unlimited power, remained true to a philosophy of moderation, thought, interest in education, and moral principles. Spence has created a portrait that, though it might have been photoshopped (if I may use such an anachronistic term) is still a detailed and accurate picture of life at the top in those times.
Jonathan Spence has not written any bad books. If you want readable, interesting books about China which take unusual angles, choose any of his. This one, which focuses on the life of the Qing (Manchu) emperor Kang-hsi (now spelled Kangxi) who ruled for 61 years, from 1661 to 1722, is no exception. China at that time was powerful and mostly peaceful, though a vicious civil war marked eight years in the 1670s. Though you may learn much Chinese history here, that is not the main aim of the book. Spence went through reams of Qing Dynasty documents and even got hold of some of Kang-hsi’s personal letters. From these he created a text in which the Emperor seems to speak for himself, a kind of faux-autobiography. It’s an interesting idea, a historical montage if you will, with all the dots connected by an author who lived more than 250 years later. The emperor is a big hunting aficionado, writes poetry, and is very interested in traditional medicine. As he grew older, medical topics loom larger---probably a human universal. He admonishes readers to regulate what they eat and drink and describes various herbs and remedies. He criticized the Western missionaries who flew like buzzards around the court, hoping to see Chinese religion crash, and commented that they hardly understood Chinese culture, but wanted to give advice anyhow. They did prove useful in many ways and the emperor acknowledges this fact. He rubbishes Taoist quacks who claimed to have pulled off various incredible feats. Like other Chinese emperors (and most other absolute monarchs as well) he condemns many people to execution or to the “lingering death”. He praises himself for all the people he pardoned, exiled, or otherwise showed mercy. The problems of choosing which of his many sons to succeed him are among the most interesting parts. Several of said sons were total wastrels, whom he repeatedly punishes then forgives. He reiterates the Confucian principles of ruling---to listen to the people, while remaining true to the Rules of Heaven. The ultimate responsibility for China’s welfare was his, after all. Though there are many fascinating details of an emperor’s life, inevitably there are large sections of idealistic moralizing and repetition of various philosophies. These may really have been what he would have written if he’d put this life story together, but they seem too pat and rather trite for today’s readers.
Kang-hsi comes across as very human. What a fate, to be emperor of the largest nation on earth! Perhaps he would have written something closer to the heart, if he’d known such a work would be compiled. But as it is, his personality comes out between the lines, a man, who despite his nearly unlimited power, remained true to a philosophy of moderation, thought, interest in education, and moral principles. Spence has created a portrait that, though it might have been photoshopped (if I may use such an anachronistic term) is still a detailed and accurate picture of life at the top in those times.
December 27, 2021
A brilliant portrayal.
January 1, 2012
The Chinese Emperor K'ang-hsi (1654-1722) reigned from eight years old for sixty-one years. This biography about him is pieced together from his fragmented writings and is illustrated from his own authentic brush-and-ink ideographs and from the marginal drawings with which he would have been familiar. Its fragmentary origin is hard to detect because the book reads like a good story, or even like a letter. K'ang-hsi tells about his actions, his worries, his practice of governing, his country, and his predecessors (former Chinese emperors). K'ang-hsi in a few facts shows his importance in Chinese history, but Spence's biography describes K'ang-hsi in flesh-and-blood, as the longest ruling Chinese emperor. K'ang-hsi advises today's reader about his ideas on fair government and healthy living, on revered gods and ancestors, and on plans for his successor. Readers, whose knowledge of China is a little or a lot, will truly enjoy this biography. If you can't get a copy of Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi, parts of it are in the Google Preview.
September 16, 2011
A very interesting read for historians. Spence gives readers amazing insight into the life and mind of Kangxi, one of the Qing dynasty's longest reigning emperors. I had to read this for a history class and write a position paper on what made Kangxi's role as emperor so "heavy". My professor couldn't have picked a better book; Spence's text is very rich and engrossing.
June 7, 2026
Jonathan Spence does something fascinating here, creating a patchwork quilt 'autobiography' from the collected writings of the Kangxi emperor, stitching them together in thematic chapters arranged in loose chronology to give an insight into one of the most well-documented emperor's personalities.
Spence highlights in his foreword that Kangxi is an unusually open book for historians. Firstly, as a native Manchu speaker who learned Chinese script after, he writes more directly and with less allusion than many other emperors with greater mastery of the language. Secondly, he created a vast textual footprint, from poetry and calligraphy to scrawled letters to favourite courtiers showing his thoughts processes informally.
The first five parts of the books stitch these together to reflect certain aspects of Kangxi: 'In Motion' shows his passion for hunting and touring the country; 'Ruling' details the principles he tried to govern by and reflections on certain failures like the civil war; 'Thinking' highlights his curiosity, and includes his interactions with Jesuits; 'Growing Old' reveals how medicine played increasingly on his mind as he aged; and 'Sons' shows his frustration and resentment at his children failing to live up to the standards he wanted from his successor, and the despair he felt selecting an heir. These five chapters all begin with a well-selected short poem written by Kangxi himself.
After these five, Spence ends on an unofficial "draft" valedictory edict, unedited by Spence, which was Kangxi's own attempt to sum up his reign as he neared death—and perhaps, he argues, this allows the reader to "explore the power that memory has to transcend time", re-evaluating the early chapters as Kangxi himself did. This can then be contrasted with the pruned and edited "official" valedictory statement put out on his behalf by his courtiers when he died, included by Spence as an appendix, where unseemly references to his ill-health, frustration, criticism of superstition, and bluntness about aspects of ruling are all removed, and a new optimistic concluding paragraph selecting an heir are inserted. Says Spence: "It is a pleasure as a historian, after 250 years, to relegated the "final" edict to an appendix, and to let Kangxi's original draft speak for itself".
So, when speaking for itself, what does Kangxi's musings say? He is someone proud of his Manchu heritage, who views hunting ability as an integral part of his own identity and a vital part of preparing troops for war, who is conscious and exacting about the logistics of moving and camping in numbers, who values "an inflexible will and careful planning" higher than "highflown but empty" classics of military strategy. Someone who wanted to be "merciful where possible" and was careful to comb through execution lists sent to the palace, removing as many as reason and convention could allow and taking pride that "in all my reign, I only executed one scholar for treasonous writing". Who dismissed certain superstition—teasing a courtier for thanking a spirit for a river level dropping when the simple explanation was lack of rain at the source—while carefully completing the rituals expected of emperor and carefully studying and following the i ching. Who stated, in his valedictory draft, that, now an old man plagued with dizziness and frustrated by bitter court factionalism, "I regard the whole country as a worn-out sandal, and all riches as mud and sand".
It's interesting seeing this oscillation laid out through snippets throughout his life, different issues pressing forward. Always he tries to emphasise that good governance is doing right by the people of the country, emphasising how he listened to peasants while on tour, cut through obsequience in the palace, and demoted egoists and tyrants. Yet martial threats (Galdan, civil war), external threats (Russians, the Western trade empires), and failures of officials (corruption by governors, fighting over which son will succeed him) dog him, and clearly exhausted him out as he ages.
In 'Growing Old', we see him reflect "old officials who cling to office when incompetent must be removed", then reveals with discomfort that as bouts of dizziness plague him his memory is slipping; in 'Valedictory' he says emperors are not as fortunate as officials, "there is no place for rulers to rest"—no retirement, no playing with their sons free of responsibility; in lines removed after his death, he says he "cannot hold back my tears of bitterness", and concludes that "I've revealed my entrails and showed my guts, there's nothing left for me to reveal. I will say no more."
And yet, for the bitterness and doubt he felt in the few years before his death, historians regard his reign as the first in the High Qing period, a century long golden age.
After the six chapters and two appendices, there's a notes section prior to the bibliography, that contains snatches of information about how the book was constructed. The extent of these notes is normally just to say lines x-y on page z are from which primary source, and they can be hard to parse. I wish the notes or the foreword gave more information about the sources.
Spence highlights in his foreword that Kangxi is an unusually open book for historians. Firstly, as a native Manchu speaker who learned Chinese script after, he writes more directly and with less allusion than many other emperors with greater mastery of the language. Secondly, he created a vast textual footprint, from poetry and calligraphy to scrawled letters to favourite courtiers showing his thoughts processes informally.
The first five parts of the books stitch these together to reflect certain aspects of Kangxi: 'In Motion' shows his passion for hunting and touring the country; 'Ruling' details the principles he tried to govern by and reflections on certain failures like the civil war; 'Thinking' highlights his curiosity, and includes his interactions with Jesuits; 'Growing Old' reveals how medicine played increasingly on his mind as he aged; and 'Sons' shows his frustration and resentment at his children failing to live up to the standards he wanted from his successor, and the despair he felt selecting an heir. These five chapters all begin with a well-selected short poem written by Kangxi himself.
After these five, Spence ends on an unofficial "draft" valedictory edict, unedited by Spence, which was Kangxi's own attempt to sum up his reign as he neared death—and perhaps, he argues, this allows the reader to "explore the power that memory has to transcend time", re-evaluating the early chapters as Kangxi himself did. This can then be contrasted with the pruned and edited "official" valedictory statement put out on his behalf by his courtiers when he died, included by Spence as an appendix, where unseemly references to his ill-health, frustration, criticism of superstition, and bluntness about aspects of ruling are all removed, and a new optimistic concluding paragraph selecting an heir are inserted. Says Spence: "It is a pleasure as a historian, after 250 years, to relegated the "final" edict to an appendix, and to let Kangxi's original draft speak for itself".
So, when speaking for itself, what does Kangxi's musings say? He is someone proud of his Manchu heritage, who views hunting ability as an integral part of his own identity and a vital part of preparing troops for war, who is conscious and exacting about the logistics of moving and camping in numbers, who values "an inflexible will and careful planning" higher than "highflown but empty" classics of military strategy. Someone who wanted to be "merciful where possible" and was careful to comb through execution lists sent to the palace, removing as many as reason and convention could allow and taking pride that "in all my reign, I only executed one scholar for treasonous writing". Who dismissed certain superstition—teasing a courtier for thanking a spirit for a river level dropping when the simple explanation was lack of rain at the source—while carefully completing the rituals expected of emperor and carefully studying and following the i ching. Who stated, in his valedictory draft, that, now an old man plagued with dizziness and frustrated by bitter court factionalism, "I regard the whole country as a worn-out sandal, and all riches as mud and sand".
It's interesting seeing this oscillation laid out through snippets throughout his life, different issues pressing forward. Always he tries to emphasise that good governance is doing right by the people of the country, emphasising how he listened to peasants while on tour, cut through obsequience in the palace, and demoted egoists and tyrants. Yet martial threats (Galdan, civil war), external threats (Russians, the Western trade empires), and failures of officials (corruption by governors, fighting over which son will succeed him) dog him, and clearly exhausted him out as he ages.
In 'Growing Old', we see him reflect "old officials who cling to office when incompetent must be removed", then reveals with discomfort that as bouts of dizziness plague him his memory is slipping; in 'Valedictory' he says emperors are not as fortunate as officials, "there is no place for rulers to rest"—no retirement, no playing with their sons free of responsibility; in lines removed after his death, he says he "cannot hold back my tears of bitterness", and concludes that "I've revealed my entrails and showed my guts, there's nothing left for me to reveal. I will say no more."
And yet, for the bitterness and doubt he felt in the few years before his death, historians regard his reign as the first in the High Qing period, a century long golden age.
After the six chapters and two appendices, there's a notes section prior to the bibliography, that contains snatches of information about how the book was constructed. The extent of these notes is normally just to say lines x-y on page z are from which primary source, and they can be hard to parse. I wish the notes or the foreword gave more information about the sources.
April 1, 2026
Spence shows once again that he is an excellent writer of narrative prose as well as a rigorous historian with linguistic skills across the board. This book manages to bring to life the inner thoughts, actions, work, and dynamics of an emperor of China, specifically the longest reigning emperor in Chinese history. Spence draws from Kangxi's voluminous writings, letters, poems, and edicts to write a sort of autobiography surrounding five themes. The work is inspiring, entertaining, illuminating, and educational.
June 5, 2018
Beautifully written book that offers insights in the head of a man living a life of almost mythical proportions, considered by his subjects the connection between Heaven and Earth himself. As his own words and edicts are used, an honest account is given of his personal life, difficulties, beliefs and political views in ways that are not accessible of almost any other great leaders in history. Highly recommended for those with a special interest in early modern Chinese history.
October 2, 2025
set in the 1700s, this is a biography of a very intelligent man.
August 19, 2016
One of the strangest and most worthwhile books I've ever read on China. Back in the 1970s, the historian Jonathan Spence realized that China's early modern history had few of the detailed autobiographies and personal memoirs so important to historians of the West. Spence doesn't speculate on why, but he implies that the autocratic and hierarchical court and focus on official documents left little time for independent and personal literature. Spence therefore worked to compile all the personal anecdotes and reminiscences of the Emperor Kangxi, the second Qing emperor, who ruled from 1661 to 1722, that were scattered about innumerable documents and notes, and he made a semi-coherent autobiography out of them. Spence doesn't quite state where his edits and organizations end and where Kangxi's voice begins, but one does feel that he strove to convey Kangxi's personality and words as honestly as possible.
Unlike so many other early histories of China, one gets the sense from this book of a real individual. Kangxi was obsessed with his health and aging, and his regular laments on his teeth and dizziness can be tiring. But he was also dedicated to touring his domain and collecting the plants and flowers he found there. He regularly celebrated the wonders of the hunt on horseback, as his Manchu ancestors had. He consulted the I Ching for fortunes, but counseled his underlings to convey truthfully bad omens (this was the equivalent, after all, of demanding honest research and science from his Bureau of Astronomy). Kangxi clearly liked to experience things for himself, which adds to the piquancy and realism of the story. He questioned the keepers of Confucius's home about the layout and garden, and he wrote letters about the quality of noodles and grapes in different regions.
I actually wished for more about how Kangxi governed China, but Spence does include some discussion of this. Kangxi complains about the short and uninformative petitions and memorials he received at the palace from provincial underlings (he was always, always responding to memorials, up to 500 a day he said, as well as signing off on every execution and on every form of execution). He describes his battle against recalcitrant former Ming generals, and the need for leniency when reincorporating their supporters. Kangxi wonders out loud about how to deal with the Jesuits who came to China, and mentions how he made them fill out registrations and forms and controlled their movements ("some of their words were no different from the wild and improper teachings of the Buddhists and the Taoists"), but how he also advised listening to them and learning about their technology. He successfully defended the Jesuits who had moved to China earlier in the century, from a new Jesuit, de Tournan, who came from the Pope to corral those the church worried had adopted too many Chinese teachings.
Each of these little anecdotes and stories and observations may seem disconnected, but they emerge as a comprehensible whole. This is a magnificent work of scholarship as well as a deft portrait of recognizable man, all the more amazing in that that man's life is almost impossible to imagine in the modern world.
Unlike so many other early histories of China, one gets the sense from this book of a real individual. Kangxi was obsessed with his health and aging, and his regular laments on his teeth and dizziness can be tiring. But he was also dedicated to touring his domain and collecting the plants and flowers he found there. He regularly celebrated the wonders of the hunt on horseback, as his Manchu ancestors had. He consulted the I Ching for fortunes, but counseled his underlings to convey truthfully bad omens (this was the equivalent, after all, of demanding honest research and science from his Bureau of Astronomy). Kangxi clearly liked to experience things for himself, which adds to the piquancy and realism of the story. He questioned the keepers of Confucius's home about the layout and garden, and he wrote letters about the quality of noodles and grapes in different regions.
I actually wished for more about how Kangxi governed China, but Spence does include some discussion of this. Kangxi complains about the short and uninformative petitions and memorials he received at the palace from provincial underlings (he was always, always responding to memorials, up to 500 a day he said, as well as signing off on every execution and on every form of execution). He describes his battle against recalcitrant former Ming generals, and the need for leniency when reincorporating their supporters. Kangxi wonders out loud about how to deal with the Jesuits who came to China, and mentions how he made them fill out registrations and forms and controlled their movements ("some of their words were no different from the wild and improper teachings of the Buddhists and the Taoists"), but how he also advised listening to them and learning about their technology. He successfully defended the Jesuits who had moved to China earlier in the century, from a new Jesuit, de Tournan, who came from the Pope to corral those the church worried had adopted too many Chinese teachings.
Each of these little anecdotes and stories and observations may seem disconnected, but they emerge as a comprehensible whole. This is a magnificent work of scholarship as well as a deft portrait of recognizable man, all the more amazing in that that man's life is almost impossible to imagine in the modern world.
October 27, 2009
《康熙字典》，亦都寫做《康煕字典》，喺大清康熙年間由翰林院嘅張玉書同陳廷敬主編，參考大明嘅《字彙》、《正字通》兩本書而編寫嘅中文辭典。由康熙五年寫到康熙五十五年（1716年）至成書，重印次數多到數唔倒。
《康熙字典》總共有 4萬7035 隻字，分成 12 集，用 214 個部首分類，有反切注音、出處、參考等等。另外仲附有《字母切韻要法》同《等韻切音指南》。
《康熙字典》字頭之下列有嗰個字嘅唔同音切同意義，除僻字僻義之外都有引書為證。清代法律規定，凡讀書人應考科舉考試，寫嘅字必須攞《康熙字典》做標準，因此，該書對學術界影響好大，成書之後，好鬼流行，即使，今時今日仲係一本好嘅工具書。
《康熙字典》有清代嘅木刻本，晚清時，上海出現幾種影印本，中華書局舊時用同文書局嘅影印本做底本，製成鋅版，而家利用存版重印，並且附有王引之嘅字典考證擺響後面，攞嚟參考。
《康熙字典》總共有 4萬7035 隻字，分成 12 集，用 214 個部首分類，有反切注音、出處、參考等等。另外仲附有《字母切韻要法》同《等韻切音指南》。
《康熙字典》字頭之下列有嗰個字嘅唔同音切同意義，除僻字僻義之外都有引書為證。清代法律規定，凡讀書人應考科舉考試，寫嘅字必須攞《康熙字典》做標準，因此，該書對學術界影響好大，成書之後，好鬼流行，即使，今時今日仲係一本好嘅工具書。
《康熙字典》有清代嘅木刻本，晚清時，上海出現幾種影印本，中華書局舊時用同文書局嘅影印本做底本，製成鋅版，而家利用存版重印，並且附有王引之嘅字典考證擺響後面，攞嚟參考。
January 6, 2022
Probably the most down-to-earth biography (autobiography) about a Qing Emperor I've read so far. The perspective and organization of the book are truly interesting. It speaks more of Kang Xi's own reflection and emotions instead of all those grand works he accomplished, bringing this Son of Heaven to a mere commoner especially in the part where he talks about his sons, how he loves his heir apparent and feels sorrow when he's deviated from the right track. Another field that the book sheds light on is how Kangxi actually embraces western technology and missionaries, forming a noteworthy contrast with later Qianlong's attitude. Overall, I'd say Kangxi is one of the role model emperors. But 1st person perspective definitely overlooks/ omits many of Kangxi's mistakes and darker side. So this book is not that objective for sure, but Spence did try his best to compile a detailed and comprehensive picture of Kangxi.
February 14, 2018
What a great idea. This book is basically an autobiography (or self-portrait) of someone who never wrote an autobiography (or self-portrait), by taking what he did write, and grouping it by certain subject matters. It doesn't hurt that it's of one of the smartest and most interesting Chinese emperors.
Interesting notes:
How he spotted cheaters on national examinations
"The Seven Military Classics are full of nonsense" (p. 22)
His notes on the difference between Manchus and Chinese (p .44)
His discussions on Catholicism (page 81) and Jesus
His discussions on Western knowledge (p. 68) and Western doctors (p. 99)
His discussions on Math
His comments on his son's odd behavior
Interesting notes:
How he spotted cheaters on national examinations
"The Seven Military Classics are full of nonsense" (p. 22)
His notes on the difference between Manchus and Chinese (p .44)
His discussions on Catholicism (page 81) and Jesus
His discussions on Western knowledge (p. 68) and Western doctors (p. 99)
His discussions on Math
His comments on his son's odd behavior
September 24, 2020
As a work of historical fiction, as I believe this work must be treated, Spence has delivered a masterwork, delving deep into themes of religion and politics, as well as the commonplaces of literature: the loss of innocence, the fraught relationships between fathers and sons, the pains and sorrows of aging, the entirely understandable desire to be understood. Spence has succeeded in at least one of his aims. His Kangxi, the Kangxi that he has puzzled together out of the fragments he was working with, is indeed a vibrant and full human being, and it is a pleasure to read about him.
See full review here:
https://www.silkandchai.info/2020/09/...
See full review here:
https://www.silkandchai.info/2020/09/...
June 28, 2025
This book gets five stars because of the originality of this piece of writing - bringing one of the most influential Chinese emperors ever to have lived back to life in a way that reveals the contradiction that although he was the most powerful man, at the end of the day he was also a part of a system. A system he tried to perfect, but which outlived his efforts and eventually determined how he would be remembered. A humbling portrait of how systems can be more powerful than those at the top of the hierarchy.
March 29, 2026
picked this book up in a thrift store without any expectation. this was an introduction for me into chinese history, and i found myself captivated by it's unique take on documenting history. although this book didn't give much emphasis on the historical events of that time period (that isn't the book's main aim), it shows how how power, responsibility, and doubt actually played out in k'ang-hsi's mind. sometimes it can feel a bit slow or narrow in scope, but overall it’s thoughtful and quietly compelling.
4 stars!! really engaging if you’re into more reflective, character-driven history.
4 stars!! really engaging if you’re into more reflective, character-driven history.
July 5, 2017
as a chinese, kangxi is one of my favorite emperors thrughout the whole history, and i remmber the TV series KANGXI ,played by Chen daoming really atrractive for me. by the way ,kangxi might be the first chinese who started learning English.
the tv series KANGXI: http://www.iqiyi.com/a_19rrjs52kt.htm...
the tv series KANGXI: http://www.iqiyi.com/a_19rrjs52kt.htm...
January 8, 2022
Spence provides and translates a compilations of musings written by the renowned Chinese scholar-emperor Kangxi. I went into this books with higher hopes, expecting to gain a better understanding of that period of Chinese history. Save for the final few chapters about the struggles for succession, this book is almost purely an unadorned window into Kangxi's mind.
November 5, 2016
Fascinating insight into the life of and times of an Emperor in ancient China told in an interesting way, with original documentation. Not a story to read, but rather more an historical document to study.
January 3, 2024
Goodreads has eaten my uncompleted reviews twice. Very frustrating.
This is remarkable in the extreme.
The details of K’ang-hsi’s thinking and experiences are unique.
The ability to cobble bits from the historical record to craft a narrative about K’ang-hsi’s life and times is special.
This is remarkable in the extreme.
The details of K’ang-hsi’s thinking and experiences are unique.
The ability to cobble bits from the historical record to craft a narrative about K’ang-hsi’s life and times is special.
February 5, 2026
I enjoyed reading this historical depiction of a the great Chinese emperor Kang-Hsi. Some of his actual letters and writings are documented in the book which helps paint the picture of the attitude of the time and the natural environment etc.. A good read.
Read
August 5, 2021read in: junior year
February 5, 2023
Kangxi was a cool dude and cool emperor
April 8, 2023
don't like spence, idk why im taking this class
January 11, 2024
Cool dude
March 27, 2025
This book was for class and it took everything out of me to actually read it.
It was actually interesting and kept me engaged when I actually locked in and read.
It was actually interesting and kept me engaged when I actually locked in and read.
September 14, 2025
Where’s the smut? (Satire)
It had some banger lines though.
It had some banger lines though.
December 2, 2022
[2022.11.30_145]
第一次讀史景遷的作品，的確是奇特且獨具個人風格的寫作手法，若非腦中存擋大量史料並全盤消化，並且隨時抓取適當素材，作品不可能得以呈現這樣的風貌。翻譯也很厲害。
【31 Mar 2022/readmoo/158】
第一次讀史景遷的作品，的確是奇特且獨具個人風格的寫作手法，若非腦中存擋大量史料並全盤消化，並且隨時抓取適當素材，作品不可能得以呈現這樣的風貌。翻譯也很厲害。
【31 Mar 2022/readmoo/158】
June 16, 2024
Seemed like a cool dude
May 29, 2022
"We must urge on Heaven in its work, not just rely upon it. Similarly, in our own lives, though fixed by fate, yet that fate comes from our own minds, and our happiness is sought for in ourselves." (58)
"One should make concessions to the fat, the old, and the ill; they have to move ore slowly and avoid the heat of the day." (109)
"One of the greatest Manchu taboos is against letting people hold you up under the armpits; and even when my feet swelled so that I could barely move -- to touch them even lightly was an agony and I had to have the bound in a kerchief and supported on a padded chair -- I would only allow a little help to hold me and I leaned on no stick ... But today's youth have themselves held up with two hands under each arm for no reason -- it's disgusting, uncanny." (104)
"One should make concessions to the fat, the old, and the ill; they have to move ore slowly and avoid the heat of the day." (109)
"One of the greatest Manchu taboos is against letting people hold you up under the armpits; and even when my feet swelled so that I could barely move -- to touch them even lightly was an agony and I had to have the bound in a kerchief and supported on a padded chair -- I would only allow a little help to hold me and I leaned on no stick ... But today's youth have themselves held up with two hands under each arm for no reason -- it's disgusting, uncanny." (104)
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