The China Heritage Quarterly reported on the “Reign of the Kangxi Emperor” conference sponsored by the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. This one-day conference, held in Spring 2009, provided a further understanding of the life and times of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661-1722).
At the event, Dr. Michael Chang presented a paper which re-examined the intentions behind the emperor’s well-known southern tours. Rather than being exclusively oriented towards gaining popular support, Dr. Chang suggests these tours were also aimed at displaying military might and promoting an ideology of ethno-dynastic conquest. Dr. Chang will further explore these ideas in a forthcoming article. And the official conference proceedings will be published this year by the Asian Civilisations Museum. For a complete write-up of Dr. Chang’s paper and the conference, please visit China Heritage Quarterly.
March 23, 2010