"Best Chinese Emperor?" Topic

Writing in Slingshot 268, John Walsh gives an account of Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty and his lesser-known campaigns in the south. This emperor left China prosperous and at peace, and with Chinese sea power at its apex.

Who do you think was the best emperor in Chinese history?

Li Shih Minh, founder of the Tang (or Tong) dynasty. Best emperor-general, anyway.

1st and 3rd Tang emperors, and a shout out for Empress Wu (best in the 'evil empress' role).

Yongle is a pretty solid choice.

Bruce Lee

8)

Agree that Yongle is a good choice but his reputation in China is not as good as you would think. He was and is admired for his political, military and cultural successes. He is also seen as a very violent and an emperor who ruled on emotion not reason. For example he killed 2,800 Palace maids when he thought that they caused the death of his favourite concubine. His navy and many of his Southern conquests did not last

I think that a better candidate would be the Kangxi Emperor who ruled for 61 years (1654-1722) and is regarded today in China as a model emperor who ruled on the basis of Confucian principles.

He was the 3rd Emperor of the Qing Dynasty and is noted for his efforts to improve both society and government and had the support of much of the people due to land and tax reforms. He abolished the three vassal states that had been set up in China after the Manchu conquest and firmly set central rule. He also established scientific links with Europe using European scholars to conduct astronomical and mathematical studies as well as to improve the casting of cannons. Note that all European contact and cooperation was under strict Chinese control.

He likely will not have any Slingshot articles written about him because his military campaigns were relatively minor which says a lot about his reign. His generals did have successes against the Mongols, reconquered Taiwan from the Dutch and solidified the border with Russia.

Yongzheng.

Flying guillotines. Need I say more? :)

Henry Pu Yi.

Shrimp Chow Mein. Lol…Now that was dumb!

The Emperor Shunzhi (1644-1661),Qing dynasty, who allowed us Brits our first cup of tea! Dashed important around these part, y'know!

My favourite is the Yellow Emperor, Huang-di, but he's a semi-mythical character.

Kublai, the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. Emperor of China but not chinese. So I don't know if he qualifies or not.

Funny, I was going to say Qin. As in, the guy who took China from the Warring States to an Empire in ~200BC.

Deng Xiaoping. His rule immediately followed that of my candidate for worst Chinese Emperor ever.

Yes, I know the Party is not technically a dynasty. Technically.

Speaking as a Chinese myself – Emperor Kangxi.

I agree with most of what Mapleleaf said. However, there is one thing that Yongle did right – he sponsored the various maritime expeditions by Zheng He.

BTW don't pronounce Yongle like "Google" – It should be Yong-Leh.

Speaking as a wargamer – Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (reign 141-87BC).

And to Pedrobear – sorry to disappoint, but "flying guillotines" is a myth.

That can't be, taskforce58 – I saw a movie on that one time…

Deng Xiaoping. His rule immediately followed that of my candidate for worst Chinese Emperor ever.

I think I'm going to have to share this with one of the history professors at school… He'd get a kick out of it!

What about Wu Ti/ Wu Di of the Western Han Dynasty (141 – 87 B.C.E.?). Didn't he conquer the Taklamakan Desert and the Tamrin Basin and wrest control of the Spice Trade from Tocharian Peoples' ancestors? He expanded trade and diplomatic missions to the West, profited greatly from the silk and spice trade and brought the Heavenly Horses of Central Asia to serve in the Han Cavalry and Chariotry (?). He sponsored explorers to make contact with foreign neighbours and sent embassies all over. He may even have had ex-Roman Legionaries and Auxillia serving in his army as slaves bought from the Parthians and Persians! He oversaw the establishment of Confucianism as the guiding moral and philosophical ideology/ faith in Western China. His reign was a time of prosperity and social growth and so I think he might be a contender for the # 1 Chinese Emperor.
Rod Robertson (A self-described Qara-Khitan fanatic).

Hi Rod

I also considered Wu Di but did not choose him for number one. From a Western point of view Wu looks good but his 50 years of war which seriously drained his economy and peoples' strength are not generally admired in China. He also did not have the amount of territory or people that Kangxi had and the Han dynasty ended less than a 100 years after Wu's death.

Mapleleaf:
From the warped perspective of someone who is infatuated with Tamrin Basin cultures (me) in order to be truly great an emperor must do something splashy in Western China. So perhaps a compromise. If Wu Di doesn't do it for you what about Tang Taizong (Li Shimin) first and greatest emperor of the Tang Dynasty. He too conquered the Tamrin Basin and therefore must be great. (At this point perceptive people should conclude that the writer is clearly obsessed with one tiny part of China and is probably mentally unhinged.) Kangxi was a builder and consolidator, a tireless bureaucratic and administrator and did great good for China during his reign. But, except in his early reign, as the Chinese proverb/ curse goes, he did not have to contend with "interesting times" and was therefore not as splashy as Taizong, nor dare I say, Wu Ti. Battling with angry mandarins not-withstanding. I am a war-gamer and a barbarian at heart so greatness can only be earned at the point of a spear. Keeping the sewers and bridges in good repair is admirable but lacks the panache of a sociopathic militarist with a god complex. Henry Fielding in the introduction to his great novel "Joseph Andrews" described historical figures as either "good" of "great" men but seldom both. I would classify Kangxi as the best ("goodest") emperor of China but not necessarily the greatest. Of course I am not being fair to Kangxi, but he was just too good and civic minded to be great!
Rod Robertson.

Mapleleaf:
P.S. That's a nice Bactrian camel you are perched upon – an import from the west no doubt! I approve! (As if that mattered.)
Rod Robertson