K'ANG-HSI

born May 4, 1654, Peking died Dec. 20, 1722, Peking Pinyin Kangxi (reign name), personal name (WadeGiles romanization) Hsan-yeh, temple name (Ch'ing) Sheng Tsu, posthumous name, or shih, Jen Ti second emperor of the Ch'ing dynasty (reigning 16611722). To the Chinese empire he added parts of Russia and Outer Mongolia and extended control over Tibet. He opened four ports to foreign trade and encouraged the introduction of Western education and arts and of Roman Catholicism. Additional reading Jonathan D. Spence, Tsao Yin and the Kang-hsi Emperor: Bondservant and Master (1966, reissued 1988), describes the nature of K'ang-hsi's reign through his relationship with a bondservant in the imperial household. See also Lawrence D. Kessler, Kang-hsi and the Consolidation of Ching Rule, 16611684 (1976); and Silas H.L. Wu, Passage to Power: Kang-hsi and His Heir Apparent, 16611722 (1979).