Emperor of China Spence, J. Essay

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So, too, must Emperor K'ang Hsi have the same issues of balance, and the idea of what would be his legacy. In a bit of humor, he says, "How many white-haired emperors have there been in the past? If my hair and whiskers whiten, won't that be a splendid tale for later generations?

We also tend to think of the Chinese, particularly historically, as rather unemotional and rigid in their thinking. Whether this is from the popular media and our own innate prejudices or not, or whether the previous translations of materials from the European Age of Discovery (1550 onward) are biased, I was amazed at the openness and flexibility that this Emperor had. Some of his ideas, in fact, seemed very similar to the entire debate that was boiling in Europe during the Enlightenment. How can a State be supportive of its citizens without taxation? But how can taxation be fair? What is the ultimate responsibility of the Emperor? Since the Jesuit missionaries taught K'ang Hsi to play the harpsichord, one wonders whether or not there were some spirited discussions about political philosophy as well? Or, as the Emperor himself said, what are the "ways in which man's power can develop heaven's work?"

Finally, what was most empowering about the book is that it is a portrait of a real individual -- never perfect, and indeed, one who made terrible mistakes and caused a long war. This is history as one needs to read it -- the realities of the time; the fact that his heir-apparent was less than honest and very Shakespearian in his conniving.

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So, too, we find humor in the fact that the Emperor had 30 consorts (one for every night of the month and then a night of rest?) and 56 children to pass on his legacy. So too, it was interesting that some of the same things all of us think about regularly were also part of K'ang Hsi's world when he reflects about life, "one can say it is happy. One can say it's fulfilled. One can say I've….....

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