Emperor of China Spence, J.

Emperor of China

Spence, J. (1988). Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi. New York: Vintage.

Up to now, most of the supplementary materials we have read have dealt with the peasant or rural classes in China, with the family, and with individuals who were swept up in the grand historical processes. Emperor of China changes that. Jonathan Spence used as many fragmentary writings as possible to give us an action-packed and very readable book on the life and mind of K'ang His, one of the Quing dynasty's longest reigning emperors. While some of the details read like James Michener (e.g. A bit too many details and over-explanations), the overall book seemed like it was taken out of the pages of the New York Times or Washington Post instead of the writings of a ruler who lived over 300 years ago. Well-seated in the modern paradigm of democracies, I was quite amazed that K'ang His, a hereditary ruler, was so enlightened and "modern" in his thinking about governing, law, society, and the long-term vision of what was best for his people.

What the audience learns about is centered around the Chinese political system -- and both public and private aspects of the life of the Emperor. When reading historical biography, one is often prone to ask -- so what? Why is this important? What do we learn from this? For me, this book was interesting because it was so relevant to the entire political process that, most likely, occurs in every government. More than that, though, the manner in which the Emperor dealt with Machiavellian intrigue, Court sycophants, and the extraordinarily huge bureaucratic system can be a lesson in management for any modern multinational corporation.

In The Good Earth and Daughter of Han, we are thrust into the world of poverty and deprivation. What is most important to the characters is the ability to survive so that the family name can continue. However, an underlying theme from both books is that of the way that the individual must balance themselves within the political and social forces of their time. So, too, must Emperor K'ang Hsi have the same issues of balance, and the idea of what would be his legacy. In a bit of humor, he says, "How many white-haired emperors have there been in the past? If my hair and whiskers whiten, won't that be a splendid tale for later generations?

We also tend to think of the Chinese, particularly historically, as rather unemotional and rigid in their thinking. Whether this is from the popular media and our own innate prejudices or not, or whether the previous translations of materials from the European Age of Discovery (1550 onward) are biased, I was amazed at the openness and flexibility that this Emperor had. Some of his ideas, in fact, seemed very similar to the entire debate that was boiling in Europe during the Enlightenment. How can a State be supportive of its citizens without taxation? But how can taxation be fair? What is the ultimate responsibility of the Emperor? Since the Jesuit missionaries taught K'ang Hsi to play the harpsichord, one wonders whether or not there were some spirited discussions about political philosophy as well? Or, as the Emperor himself said, what are the "ways in which man's power can develop heaven's work?"