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The Kangxi Emperor ruled for sixty years, from [[1661]] when he was seven years old, wielding actual power from the age of 13 until his death in [[1722]] at the age of 68. He is said to have woken up early every day to read memorials to the throne, before meeting with officials, presiding over palace [[Chinese imperial examinations|examinations]], and engaging in other obligations. The emperor is said to have been an extremely knowledgeable scholar, and a great supporter of scholarship, supporting the compilation of [[Kangxi Dictionary|a new dictionary]], [[Imperial Encyclopedia|a vast 5,000 volume encyclopedia]]<!--古今圖書集成-->, and the official [[History of the Ming]] (''Míng shǐ''), the last of which was begun under his predecessor, the [[Shunzhi Emperor]], and was completed under the [[Qianlong Emperor]] in the 1730s.
The Kangxi Emperor ruled for sixty years, from [[1661]] when he was seven years old, wielding actual power from the age of 13 until his death in [[1722]] at the age of 68. He is said to have woken up early every day to read memorials to the throne, before meeting with officials, presiding over palace [[Chinese imperial examinations|examinations]], and engaging in other obligations. The emperor is said to have been an extremely knowledgeable scholar, and a great supporter of scholarship, supporting the compilation of [[Kangxi Dictionary|a new dictionary]], [[Imperial Encyclopedia|a vast 5,000 volume encyclopedia]]<!--古今圖書集成-->, and the official [[History of the Ming]] (''Míng shǐ''), the last of which was begun under his predecessor, the [[Shunzhi Emperor]], and was completed under the [[Qianlong Emperor]] in the 1730s.
In the first years of his reign, government was dominated by a group of four regents, led by the [[Manchu]] general [[Oboi]]. Armed with a document they claimed was written by Kangxi's father, expressing regret for many of his policies, these regents forced through a series of wide-ranging reforms. Seeking to restore power to the Manchus, they stripped many Chinese scholar-officials of their scholarly qualifications, executed the top palace [[eunuch]] and abolished the eunuch offices, imprisoned [[Society of Jesus in China|Jesuit]] scholar [[Johann Adam Schall von Bell]], and promoted a number of Manchu officials to higher positions, while demoting their Chinese counterparts. Expanding on the ''[[qianjie]]'' policy put into place in [[1657]], the regents also in [[1661]] pulled all Chinese twenty miles inland from the [[East China Sea]] coast, a move aimed at protecting them from [[wako|pirate raids]], but which caused considerable suffering.<ref>Jonathan Spence, ''The Search for Modern China'', Second Edition, W.W. Norton & Co. (1999), 43-44.</ref>
The emperor also made six tours of the southern provinces, and oversaw the renewal of dikes on the Huai and Yellow Rivers, the dredging of the [[Grand Canal]], and the opening of four ports to foreign trade. He maintained [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] astronomers in his court and encouraged the continued adoption of elements of European science.
The emperor also made six tours of the southern provinces, and oversaw the renewal of dikes on the Huai and Yellow Rivers, the dredging of the [[Grand Canal]], and the opening of four ports to foreign trade. He maintained [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] astronomers in his court and encouraged the continued adoption of elements of European science.
He also enforced continued policies of ethnic separation aimed at ensuring that [[Manchus]], and not [[Han Chinese]], retained superiority and control of the state. Though clearly devotedly engaged in pursuits of Chinese scholarly cultivation, the Kangxi Emperor also practiced and performed his Manchu identity, building a summer palace on the Mongolian steppe, where he often engaged in falconry and hunted on horseback. However, he also took various steps to earn the support of the Chinese scholar-bureaucrats, and of Han Chinese more broadly.
He also enforced continued policies of ethnic separation aimed at ensuring that [[Manchus]], and not [[Han Chinese]], retained superiority and control of the state. Though clearly devotedly engaged in pursuits of Chinese scholarly cultivation, the Kangxi Emperor also practiced and performed his Manchu identity, building a summer palace on the Mongolian steppe, where he often engaged in falconry and hunted on horseback. However, he also took various steps to earn the support of the Chinese scholar-bureaucrats, and of Han Chinese more broadly.
The Kangxi reign saw the suppression of the [[Revolt of Three Feudatories]] ([[1673]]-[[1680]]) and the final defeat of the last of the [[Ming loyalists]], as the Qing took [[Taiwan]] in [[1684]]. Kangxi strengthened the borders of the empire, and established in [[1668]] a "willow palisade" blocking off Han Chinese access to large portions of the [[Manchuria|Manchu homelands]]. He also restored the [[Chinese imperial examinations|civil service examination system]], improved official communication networks (including those for covert state information). Kangxi's reign also saw considerable agricultural and commercial expansion, but the Court failed to revise its tax codes appropriately to best capture state revenues from these developments.<ref>Jonathan Spence, ''The Search for Modern China'', Second Edition, W.W. Norton & Co. (1999), 4-5.</ref>
The Kangxi reign saw the suppression of the [[Revolt of Three Feudatories]] ([[1673]]-[[1680]]) and the final defeat of the last of the [[Ming loyalists]], as the Qing took [[Taiwan]] in [[1684]]. Kangxi strengthened the borders of the empire, and established in [[1668]] a "willow palisade" blocking off Han Chinese access to large portions of the [[Manchuria|Manchu homelands]]. He also restored the [[Chinese imperial examinations|civil service examination system]], improved official communication networks (including those for covert state information). Kangxi's reign also saw considerable agricultural and commercial expansion, but the Court failed to revise its tax codes appropriately to best capture state revenues from these developments.<ref>Spence, 4-5.</ref>
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