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| ==Majority== | | ==Majority== |
| + | Kangxi was hale and hearty of body, and skilled at horseriding, hunting, and so forth, and thus had little difficulty maintaining the support of his Manchu officials and subjects. At the beginning of his reign, however, the Qing still faced considerable difficulties in having the support of the Chinese people. Many Chinese scholar-officials killed themselves following the fall of Beijing, took up arms against the invasion, or simply resigned their posts and refused to serve the new "barbarian" dynasty. In [[1673]], the entire southeast & southwest, [[Wu Sangui]] and two other Chinese generals given extensive lands as their personal fiefs in thanks for their subjugation of those regions, now led those regions in rising up against the Qing, earning considerable popular support. This [[Revolt of Three Feudatories]] was not quashed until [[1681]], and loyalists based on [[Taiwan]] continued to harass the coast, and maritime shipping, until the Qing took the island in [[1683]]. |
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| + | In the face of such popular opposition, Kangxi took steps from as early as [[1670]] to show his support for Confucian philosophy and statecraft. The [[Six Courses in Morals]] reissued by his predecessor in [[1652]] were now expanded to Sixteen and reissued again by Kangxi in 1670 as a "Sacred Edict" emphasizing Confucian hierarchy, frugality, diligence, and other Confucian values. Kangxi also made a show of studying the [[Chinese classics]] and practicing calligraphy, and offered additional, special forms of the [[Chinese imperial examinations|civil service exams]] aimed at attracting the service of those who otherwise refused to sit the exams for a "barbarian" dynasty.<ref>Spence, 60-61.</ref> |
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| 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 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 Jesuit astronomers in his court and encouraged the continued adoption of elements of European science. |
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− | 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 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. |
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− | The Kangxi reign saw the suppression of the [[Revolt of Three Feudatories]] ([[1673]]-[[1681]]) 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>
| + | 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 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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