After China was unified at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, appeared the outstanding politician Emperor Kangxi. He made great contribution to Chinese history by his vigorous measures to make the country strong.
Emperor Kangxi studied Confucian classics in his childhood and he really worked very hard. Thanks to his efforts to incorporate Chinese cultural tradition in his administration, the early Qing Dynasty experienced a period of prosperous time. 
Kangxi began to attend to state affairs at his age of fourteen. He developed a regular habit to handle the state affairs in person. Every morning he would attend to court meetings in the Forbidden City. Even if he was out of the palace, the reports submitted from different ministries must be sent to his temporary residence. He persisted in this way of work and this started a tradition of personal attending to state affairs for emperors of the Qing Dynasty in the following years.
When Emperor Kangxi began his reign, the country had not been truly unified and peace far from settled. Kangxi first put down the rebellion of three separatist warlords and then tried to deal with the issue of Taiwan, then occupied by separatists.
The national hero Zheng Chenggong had performed immortal feats in recovering Taiwan from some Dutch colonists. But after his death his descendants took a separatist road. They asked Qing Court for the same political status as those of the tribute-paying subject small states like Ryukyu, now called Okinawa, and Korea. Emperor Kangxi flatly refused this unreasonable demand. In 1683 Emperor Kangxi named Shilang the navy commander and let him attack Penghu. Zheng Keshuang, Zheng Chenggong's grandson, capitulated. Qing court set administrative organs in Taiwan and fulfilled the unification of China with its whole territory.
 In the early Qing Dynasty a Jungar chieftain with some neighboring country as backup launched a mutiny and tried to set up an independent state. Emperor Kangxi personally commanded an army to defeat Jungar rebels for three times and thus protected the unity of China. Besides, Emperor Kangxi twice sent troops to attack Yaksa and signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk by which the northern border was defined and the threat from the northeast was removed.
Tibet has had close tie with China ever since Tang Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty it became part of China's territory. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty Emperor Shunzhi granted the golden certificate and golden seal to Dalai Lama. Emperor Kangxi granted the fifth Bainqen the title of "Bainqen Erdini". Since then, it has become a regulation that the titles of Dalai Lama and Bainqen must be granted by the central government.
The Qing government established the Ministry of National Affairs to deal with affairs concerning ethnic groups. A series of policies suitable for ethnic groups and border regions were adopted.
Under the reign of Emperor Kangxi, China, with a vast territory, united nationalities and prosperous society became an unprecedented consolidated country.
After Emperor Kangxi, Emperors Yongzheng and Qianlong carried down his ruling principles and brought about a period of prosperity. This, however, was the last flourishing period in the Chinese feudal society. Just at that time, the epoch-making industrial revolution was under way in Europe and the old China began to decline at the beginning of 19th century. |
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Chinese History 
