Kangxi Emperor

Xuanye, third son of the Shunzhi Emperor, took the throne in 1654 at age seven while four regents held real power. When he assumed personal rule six years later, his move to revoke the fiefdoms of feudal princes ignited the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, which he crushed. He forced the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan to submit, subdued the Mongols in the north and northwest, and sent an expedition that folded Tibet into Qing territory. At home, he welcomed Jesuits and the spread of Catholicism until the Chinese Rites controversy ended his tolerance. His court produced the Kangxi Dictionary, the Complete Tang Poems anthology, and the Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China. Late in his reign he became mired in a bitter succession dispute. He died in 1722 at 68; his fourth son took the throne as the Yongzheng Emperor, continuing the High Qing era Kangxi had opened.