Reviews

Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi by Jonathan D. Spence, Kangxi

spitzig's review against another edition

4.0

Great book. I would have liked to learn more about the time he was alive and what he did. But, I think the book gave a good idea of what he was like, as a man.

Best quote: "Don't have too much sex when you are young...For example, I only have 300 women in my palace."

kweiler's review against another edition

4.0

A very interesting read for historians. Spence gives readers amazing insight into the life and mind of Kangxi, one of the Qing dynasty's longest reigning emperors. I had to read this for a history class and write a position paper on what made Kangxi's role as emperor so "heavy". My professor couldn't have picked a better book; Spence's text is very rich and engrossing.

gannent's review

4.0

A really interesting portrait of the emperor in his own words. The way that the author constructed the book is really creative and shows a lot about the inner thoughts and life of the emperor. If you're looking for a biography that will tell you dates and times and important events, this isn't it. But if you are looking for the thoughts, the life and times of the emperor this book is for you. The only thing that really bugged me was the use of the wade-giles romanization system instead of pinyin, but that's just a sign of the times.