K'ang-hsi [key], 1654–1722, 2d emperor of the Ch'ing dynasty of China (1661–1722). He extended Manchu control and promoted learning in the arts and sciences. K'ang-hsi conquered the feudatories of S China (1673–81), took Taiwan (1683), established China's first diplomatic relations with Russia (1689), and pushed the Ölöds from Outer Mongolia (1697). Repeated tax reductions, attention to water conservation, and imperial tours of inspection earned him a reputation for benevolence. He employed Jesuit missionaries to map the empire and to teach mathematics and astronomy.
See study by J. D. Spence (1974).
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