Emperor of China; Jonathan D. Spence
Brandon Vorlicek
History 101
David Reeves
Emporor of China Essay From 1661 to 1722 the emperor of China, K’ang-hsi, has lived a strenuous yet fruitful life exceeding above and beyond the standards that a normal emperor usually lives up to within his ruling time. The author of the book “Emperor of China” by Jonathan D. Spence has translated documents written by the emperor himself (K’ang-hsi) in order to almost perfectly portray a “self-portrait” of the emperor in the span of his reign during the Ch’ing dynasty. My essay will consist of a few ways on how a king ought to rule according K’ang-Hsi’s point of view. I will also be explaining examples through quotes in the book of his actions and how they correlate to being a sufficient and exceedingly proper ruler for his time period. Lastly, I will explain the certain traits that a ruler should have in order to meet the standards of being a proper ruler. K’ang-his has put much thought and planning into his actions of being a ruler when making important decisions and giving consequences. He seems to rely much upon thought processes, cause, effect, and karma. There is many quotes in the book that I could state on how K’ang-Hsi has exhibited substantial amounts of deep thought process and planning in order to come to the best alternative. A proper ruler such as K’ang-Hsi, ought to rule off of the best alternative when making an important decision. One such quote that caught my interest is on page 20 of the book where he thought of “seven different alternatives on how to proceed” in the capture of Galdan. He then thought of three separate tactics on capturing Galdan thereafter. He also stated that Galdan was overconfident and unable to think far ahead. K’ang-Hsi was right in my opinion of how he described Galdan based on the specific tactics that he initiated when trying to capture and kill him. K’ang-Hsi relies very much off of his officials and higher ranking people within his army, he takes advice from the right
History 101
David Reeves
Emporor of China Essay From 1661 to 1722 the emperor of China, K’ang-hsi, has lived a strenuous yet fruitful life exceeding above and beyond the standards that a normal emperor usually lives up to within his ruling time. The author of the book “Emperor of China” by Jonathan D. Spence has translated documents written by the emperor himself (K’ang-hsi) in order to almost perfectly portray a “self-portrait” of the emperor in the span of his reign during the Ch’ing dynasty. My essay will consist of a few ways on how a king ought to rule according K’ang-Hsi’s point of view. I will also be explaining examples through quotes in the book of his actions and how they correlate to being a sufficient and exceedingly proper ruler for his time period. Lastly, I will explain the certain traits that a ruler should have in order to meet the standards of being a proper ruler. K’ang-his has put much thought and planning into his actions of being a ruler when making important decisions and giving consequences. He seems to rely much upon thought processes, cause, effect, and karma. There is many quotes in the book that I could state on how K’ang-Hsi has exhibited substantial amounts of deep thought process and planning in order to come to the best alternative. A proper ruler such as K’ang-Hsi, ought to rule off of the best alternative when making an important decision. One such quote that caught my interest is on page 20 of the book where he thought of “seven different alternatives on how to proceed” in the capture of Galdan. He then thought of three separate tactics on capturing Galdan thereafter. He also stated that Galdan was overconfident and unable to think far ahead. K’ang-Hsi was right in my opinion of how he described Galdan based on the specific tactics that he initiated when trying to capture and kill him. K’ang-Hsi relies very much off of his officials and higher ranking people within his army, he takes advice from the right