Emperor of China: Self-portrait of K'ang-Hsi: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi

by Jonathan D. Spence, K'Ang-Hsi, Kangxi

Book Overview

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. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067972074X
• Release Date: October 1988
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.9" x 0.7" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

Spence makes history (and Kangxi here) alive

A remarkable portrait of a Chinese emperor. I have read few other books on Chinese history by Spence, and they inform the reader in an engaging style that is a true genius, and this, I think, is one of his best. Don't miss the selection of letters in the appendix - it hits home the portrayal of the emperor as a real person, not a historical fiction cooked up by the court historians.

Dr. Hambly - interested in Chinese history.

This is an excellent book of absorbing interest. Not only does it open a wondow on Chinese history as told in the first person by one of its greatest emperors, it sheds light on the nature of power and the way absolute monarchs exert their power. It is a unique book, touching at times and terrifying at others. Being an absolute monarach wasn't easy, even for an enlightened emperor. The book is essentially a collection of the writings of a Mogul emperor describing in detail his life and the way he exercised power, including the decisions he had to make about his use of capital punishment. This book has something for everyone who is interested in the world about them.

It's good to read a non-Western history for a change

In this book, Jonathan Spence has assembled a narrative montage from the fragmentary surviving writings of the ruler of a great nation who lived three hundred years ago and half a world away. In so doing, Spence has crafted a work that reads seamlessly as if it were Emperor K'ang Hsi's own memoirs. Knowing as we do that even democracies frequently fail to produce leaders equal to the task of governance, one is pleasantly amazed when a hereditary ruler proves more than able wisely to govern in an enlightened fashion. In fact, in some ways the emperor comes across as very modern, so that the chapter entitled "Sons", with it's strong supernatural component, strikes one as all the more disturbing -- like finding a skull while perusing beloved family heirlooms. I say this without intended condescension, because the events described in that chapter would be accepted matter-of-factly in many American Christian churches, particularly those with fundamentalist or charismatic leanings. I don't pretend to bring any deep historical/philosophical erudition to my consideration of this book, but I think that any book that illuminates the life of a great man is worth reading, and if he has qualities of wisdom and humility, so much the better, and if he lived in a time and place that I had little fore-knowledge of, the book is twice worthy. I highly recommend "Emperor of China".

excellent introduction to late imperial China

Jonathan D. Spence has accomplished a lot in this remarkable biography of the second emperor of the last Chinese imperial dynasty Qing, K'and-Hsi, for the general audience. Based on the writing of the emperor, court records and later secondary sources, book follows the emperor through his struggles with opposition, Manchurian and Han nobility, his troubled relationships with his numerous sons, his old age, and his legacy. Remarkable in its vividness is last few chapters, where the emperor legacy is laid out based on the official court-issued papers, and the informal drafts of the will. I would like to see more description of court ceremony; and perhaps a more thorough reflection on the Manchu / Han opposition; but those subjects are well covered in the other book by the same author (e.g. "The Search for Modern China"). Great starting point for anybody interested in Chinese history.

A Gem of a Book!

I often find myself falling asleep after reading autobiographies or bibliographies because they are too long-winded, too boring or too long. Yet after reading the first few pages of this gem of a book, I was kept glued until the very end. And I still wanted to read it again. Professor Spence has made Kang Xi come to live; as you read, you imagine it is Kang Xi himself speaking even though he lived over 200 years ago. In reading this book, I chuckled at Kang Xi's sense of humour, was surprised how down-to-earth he sounded, and emphatised with his despair and disappointment at his heir-apparent.