Kangxi Emperor
Qing · 4th ruler
康熙帝 Kāngxī Dì愛新覺羅玄燁 Àixīnjuéluó Xuányè
Wade–Giles: K'ang-hsi Emperor · Ai-hsin-chüeh-lo Hsüan-yeh
Reigned 1661–1722 (61 years)
Reigned 61 years (1661–1722). Died at 69 (East Asian reckoning) of natural causes. 4th ruler of Qing.
Facts
- Reign
- 5 February 1661 – 20 December 1722 (4th ruler of Qing)
- Length of reign
- 61 years
- Born
- 4 May 1654
- Died
- 20 December 1722
- Age at accession
- 8
- Age at death
- 69
- Cause of death
- Natural causesNatural death or illness (including old age)
- Path to the throne
- Designated heirSucceeded the previous ruler of the same regime, who had chosen the heir (by testament, naming a crown prince, etc.)
- Predecessor
- Shunzhi Emperor
- Successor
- Yongzheng Emperor
- Era names
- 康熙 Kāngxī (proclaimed 1661)
Ages are given in East Asian reckoning (sui): a person is one year old at birth and gains a year at each New Year, so the figure is one or two years higher than the Western age.
Life
In brief
He put down the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, brought Taiwan to submission, and fixed the border with Russia at Nerchinsk. The assessment in the Draft History of Qing says that although he inherited the throne, what he actually achieved was equal to founding a state.
Road to the throne
He was the third son of the Shunzhi Emperor. By his testamentary edict the Shunzhi Emperor made him crown prince and appointed four regents: Sonin, Suksaha, Ebilun and Oboi. The Shunzhi Emperor died in 1661, and the Kangxi Emperor took the throne as a child.
Reign and death
In the year he began to rule in person, Oboi killed his fellow regent Suksaha together with his whole family. The Kangxi Emperor kept a group of strong young guards busy with wrestling games, and had them seize Oboi when he came to court and put him in prison. In 1673 he granted the request of Wu Sangui and the others to have their feudatories abolished; Wu Sangui rose in revolt that winter, and the revolt went on until his grandson Wu Shifan killed himself in 1681. In his later years he deposed the crown prince Yinreng, restored him the next year, and deposed him again in 1712. In 1722 he fell ill at the Changchunyuan; on the day he became critically ill he summoned his fourth son Yinzhen (the Yongzheng Emperor), had an edict proclaimed giving him the throne, and died that night. The stories that the Yongzheng Emperor altered the testamentary edict or poisoned his father spread in later times; the Draft History of Qing records nothing of the kind either in the annals or in the biography of Longkodo.
Translated from the Japanese text of this site, which is written from the official histories. Years are given in the Western calendar; months are omitted because the histories use the Chinese lunar calendar.
During the reign
Number of times each event is recorded in the official histories. How each item is counted
- Era name changes
- 1
- General amnesties
- 11
- Empresses installed
- 3
- Crown princes deposed
- 2
- Personal campaigns
- 3
- Rebellions suppressed
- 14
- Rebellions faced
- 14
- Capital relocations
- 0
Emperors of Qing
- 2ndHong Taiji清太宗 Qīng Tàizōng愛新覺羅皇太極 Àixīnjuéluó Huángtàijí1636–1643 · 7 years · Unknown, age 521636–16437 yearsUnknown, age 52
- 3rdShunzhi Emperor順治帝 Shùnzhì Dì愛新覺羅福臨 Àixīnjuéluó Fúlín1643–1661 · 17 years · Natural causes, age 241643–166117 yearsNatural causes, age 24
- 4thKangxi Emperor康熙帝 Kāngxī Dì愛新覺羅玄燁 Àixīnjuéluó Xuányè1661–1722 · 61 years · Natural causes, age 691661–172261 yearsNatural causes, age 69
- 5thYongzheng Emperor雍正帝 Yōngzhèng Dì愛新覺羅胤禛 Àixīnjuéluó Yìnzhēn1722–1735 · 12 years · Disputed, age 581722–173512 yearsDisputed, age 58
- 6thQianlong Emperor乾隆帝 Qiánlóng Dì愛新覺羅弘曆 Àixīnjuéluó Hónglì1735–1796 · 60 years · Natural causes, age 891735–179660 yearsNatural causes, age 89
- 7thJiaqing Emperor嘉慶帝 Jiāqìng Dì愛新覺羅顒琰 Àixīnjuéluó Yóngyǎn1796–1820 · 24 years · Natural causes, age 611796–182024 yearsNatural causes, age 61
- 8thDaoguang Emperor道光帝 Dàoguāng Dì愛新覺羅旻寧 Àixīnjuéluó Mínníng1820–1850 · 29 years · Natural causes, age 691820–185029 yearsNatural causes, age 69
- 9thXianfeng Emperor咸豐帝 Xiánfēng Dì愛新覺羅奕詝 Àixīnjuéluó Yìzhǔ1850–1861 · 11 years · Natural causes, age 311850–186111 yearsNatural causes, age 31
- 10thTongzhi Emperor同治帝 Tóngzhì Dì愛新覺羅載淳 Àixīnjuéluó Zàichún1861–1875 · 13 years · Natural causes, age 191861–187513 yearsNatural causes, age 19
- 11thGuangxu Emperor光緒帝 Guāngxù Dì愛新覺羅載湉 Àixīnjuéluó Zàitián1875–1908 · 33 years · Assassinated, age 381875–190833 yearsAssassinated, age 38
- 12th, 13th, 14thPuyi宣統帝 Xuāntǒng Dì愛新覺羅溥儀 Àixīnjuéluó Pǔyí1908–1912; restored 1917; restored 1934–1945 · 14 years · Natural causes, age 621908–1912; restored 1917; restored 1934–194514 yearsNatural causes, age 62