Kangxi Revives Classical Chinese Learning

1680

The Kangxi Emperor, determined to win over Ming loyalist scholars, commissioned vast state-sponsored projects of classical editing, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and histories. Han literati found themselves courted by Manchu rule. Qing cultural prestige was being built volume by volume, and the strategy proved brilliantly effective: within a generation, many of China's finest scholars had made their peace with the new dynasty.