• King Louis XIV of France (1638–1715) and the Kangxi emperor of Ming China (1654–1722) lived remarkably parallel lives. They both inherited their thrones in childhood and learned the art of statecraft from powerful women, in Louis’s case his mother, Queen Anne of Austria, and in Kangxi’s case his grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. Upon assuming personal control of their realms in adulthood, both men built magnificent palaces and gardens and proved their aptitude for hard work, discipline, and, above all, their thirst for glory and power. Although they never met in person, Louis sent Jesuit fathers to the Chinese court to spread European scientific and mathematical knowledge and the Catholic faith. The Kangxi emperor originally welcomed the Jesuits and was fascinated by the learning and technology they brought, but eventually banned them and Christianity from his realm (see “Christian Missionaries” in Chapter 21). The following descriptions of Louis XIV and the Kangxi emperor, written by a French courtier and a Jesuit missionary, respectively, underline the similar qualities observers noted in the two rulers.

The duc de Saint-Simon, Memoirs of Louis XIV, His Court, and the Regency

“[He was] the very figure of a hero, so impregnated with a natural but most imposing majesty that it appeared even in his most insignificant gestures and movements, without arrogance but with simple gravity. . . . He was as dignified and majestic in his dressing gown as when dressed in robes of state, or on horseback at the head of his troops.

He excelled in all sorts of exercise and liked to have every facility for it. No fatigue nor stress of weather made any impression on that heroic figure and bearing; drenched with rain or snow, pierced with cold, bathed in sweat or covered with dust, he was always the same. . . .

[He had] the ability to speak well and to listen with quick comprehension; much reserve of manner adjusted with exactness to the quality of different persons; a courtesy always grave, always dignified, always distinguished, and suited to the age, rank, and sex of each individual, and, for the ladies, always an air of natural gallantry. . . .

Nothing could be regulated with greater exactitude than were his days and hours. In spite of all his variety of places, affairs, and amusements, with an almanac and a watch one might tell, three hundred leagues away, exactly what he was doing. . . . If he administered reproof, it was rarely, in few words, and never hastily. He did not lose control of himself ten times in his whole life, and then only with inferior persons, and not more than four or five times seriously.”

Father Joachim Bouvet, The History of Cang-Hy, the Present Emperour of China

“His whole Deportment is very Majestick, being well proportion’d in his Limbs, and pretty Tall, the Feature of his Face very exact, with a large and brisk Eye, beyond what is observable among others of that Nation; He is a little crooked Nosed, and pitted with the Small-pox, but not so as to be in the least disfigur’d by them.

But the rare Accomplishments of his Mind, surpass infinitely those of his Body. His Natural Genius is such as can be parallel’d but by few, being endow’d with a Quick and piercing Wit, a vast Memory, and Great Understanding; His Constancy is never to be shaken by any sinister Event, which makes him the fittest Person in the World, not only to undertake, but also to accomplish Great Designs.

To be short, his inclinations are so Noble, and in all respects so Answerable to the High Station of so Great a Prince, that his People stand in Admiration of his Person, being equally Charm’d with his Love and Justice, and the Tenderness he shews for his Subjects, and with his virtuous Inclinations; which as they are always guided by the Dictates of Reason, so, they render him an Absolute Master of his Passions.”

Sources: J. H. Robinson, ed., Readings in European History, vol. 2 (Boston: Ginn, 1906), pp. 285–286; Father Joachim Bouvet, The History of Cang-Hy, the Present Emperour of China (London: F. Coggan, 1699), p. 2.

QUESTIONS FOR ANALYSIS