Editing Qing dynasty (section)

===Kangxi Emperor's reign and consolidation===
{{see also|Revolt of the Three Feudatories|High Qing era}}
[[File:Portrait of the Kangxi Emperor in Court Dress.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|The [[Kangxi Emperor]] ({{reign|1661|1722}})]]
The 61-year reign of the [[Kangxi Emperor]] was the longest of any emperor in Chinese history, and marked the beginning of the [[High Qing era]], the zenith of the dynasty's social, economic and military power. The early Manchu rulers established two foundations of legitimacy that help to explain the stability of their dynasty. The first was the bureaucratic institutions and the [[neo-Confucian]] culture that they adopted from earlier dynasties.{{sfnp|Rowe|2009|pp=32–33}} Manchu rulers and Han Chinese [[scholar-official]] elites gradually came to terms with each other. The [[Imperial exams#Qing dynasty (1636–1912)|examination system]] offered a path for ethnic Han to become officials. Imperial patronage of the ''[[Kangxi Dictionary]]'' demonstrated respect for Confucian learning, while the [[Sacred Edict]] of 1670 effectively extolled Confucian family values. His attempts to discourage Chinese women from [[foot binding]], however, were unsuccessful.

The second major source of stability was the [[Inner Asia]]n aspect of their Manchu identity, which allowed them to appeal to the Mongol, Tibetan and Muslim subjects.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kuzmin |first1=Sergius L. |last2=Dmitriev |first2=Sergey |year=2015 |title=Conquest dynasties of China or foreign empires? The problem of relations between China, Yuan and Qing |url=https://www.academia.edu/25907401 |journal=International Journal of Central Asian Studies |volume=19 |pages=59–92 |access-date=14 November 2017 |via=Academia}}</ref> Qing emperors adopted different images for these subjects in their multi-ethnic empire. The Qing used the title of Emperor (''Huangdi'' or ''hūwangdi''),<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Board of Rites and the Making of Qing China|author = Macabe Keliher|publisher = University of California Press|year = 2019|isbn = 9780520971769|page = 3}}</ref> along with [[Son of Heaven]] and ''[[Ejen]]'' in [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Manchu language|Manchu]]. Like [[Kublai Khan]] of the Mongol-led [[Yuan dynasty]] and [[Yongle Emperor]] of the [[Ming dynasty]], Qing rulers like the [[Qianlong Emperor]] portrayed the image of themselves as [[Chakravarti (Sanskrit term)|Buddhist sage rulers]] (wheel-turning kings), patrons of [[Tibetan Buddhism]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Farquhar |first1=David |year=1978 |title=Emperor As Bodhisattva in the Governance of the Qing Empire |journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=5–34 |doi=10.2307/2718931 |jstor=2718931}}</ref> to maintain legitimacy for Tibetan Buddhists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kapstein |first=Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1y8qAwAAQBAJ |title=Buddhism Between Tibet and China |publisher=Wisdom |year=2014 |isbn=9780861718061 |page=185}}</ref> Mongol subjects also commonly referred to the Qing ruler as [[Bogda Khan]],<ref>{{Cite book|title = China's Challenges and International Order Transition|author = Huiyun Feng|publisher = University of Michigan Press|year = 2020|isbn = 9780472131761|page = 151}}</ref> while Turkic Muslim subjects (now known as the [[Uyghurs]]) commonly referred to the Qing ruler as [[Khagan#Chinese khagans|Chinese khagan]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/s/saksaha/13401746.0012.004/--qing-dynasty-and-its-central-asian-neighbors?rgn=main;view=fulltext|title=The Qing Dynasty and Its Central Asian Neighbors |date=2014 |doi=10.3998/saksaha.13401746.0012.004 | access-date=September 17, 2023 |last1=Onuma |first1=Takahiro |journal=Saksaha: A Journal of Manchu Studies |volume=12 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Kangxi's reign began when the young emperor was seven. To prevent a repeat of Dorgon's monopolising of power, on his deathbed his father hastily appointed four regents who were not closely related to the imperial family and had no claim to the throne. However, through chance and machination, [[Oboi]], the most junior of the four, gradually achieved such dominance as to be a potential threat. In 1669, Kangxi disarmed and imprisoned Oboi through trickery{{snd}}a significant victory for a fifteen-year-old emperor. The young emperor faced challenges in maintaining control of his kingdom, as well. Three Ming generals singled out for their contributions to the establishment of the dynasty had been granted governorships in southern China. They became increasingly autonomous, leading to the [[Revolt of the Three Feudatories]], which lasted for eight years. Kangxi was able to unify his forces for a counterattack led by a new generation of Manchu generals. By 1681, the Qing government had established control over a ravaged southern China, which took several decades to recover.{{sfnp|Spence|2012|pp=48–51}}

[[File:The Emperor at the Kherlen river.jpg|thumb|The Qing army in [[Khalkha]] (1688)]]
To extend and consolidate the dynasty's control in Central Asia, the Kangxi Emperor personally led a series of military campaigns against the [[Dzungars]] in [[Outer Mongolia]]. The Kangxi Emperor expelled [[Galdan]]'s invading forces from these regions, which were then incorporated into the empire. In 1683, Qing forces received the surrender of [[Formosa]] (Taiwan) from [[Zheng Keshuang]], grandson of [[Koxinga]], who had conquered Taiwan from the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]] colonists as a base against the Qing. Winning Taiwan freed Kangxi's forces for a series of battles over [[Albazin]], the far eastern outpost of the [[Tsardom of Russia]]. The 1689 [[Treaty of Nerchinsk]] was China's first formal treaty with a European power and kept the border peaceful for the better part of two centuries. Galdan was ultimately killed in the [[Dzungar–Qing War]];{{sfnp|Perdue|2005}} after his death, his Tibetan Buddhist followers attempted to control the choice of the next [[Dalai Lama]]. Kangxi dispatched two armies to [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]], the capital of Tibet, and installed a Dalai Lama sympathetic to the Qing.{{sfnp|Spence|2012|pp=62–66}}