In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there was such a group of people in China, they were missionaries from the West, the more famous ones were Matteo Ricci, John Tang and Nan Huairen and so on. They not only preached in China, but also brought with them a lot of things that China said it didn't know and a lot of modern knowledge.
During the Kangxi Period, there was a missionary named Nan Huairen, who was more highly regarded, and he also helped Kangxi a lot, and was also his science teacher. So why didn't Kangxi learn from him and study the West?
This Nan Huairen was a Belgian who came to Macau in the early Qing Dynasty, later to Shaanxi province, and in 1660 to Beijing to participate in John Tang's revision of the calendar. John Tang's influence in the early Qing Dynasty was still very large, but after Shunzhi's death, he lost his protector and gave a complaint to people, and Yang Guang, who opposed the Western legal calendar, constantly sued John Tang, which also triggered the "calendar dispute". Nan Huairen was also imprisoned for this, but after being released, he was reactivated, took charge of the Heavenly Prison, and made astronomical instruments.
During the San Francisco Rebellion, he also designed the "Shenwei General" cannon, the "Wucheng Yonggu General" and the "Shengong Army" cannon, which contributed greatly to the development of firearms technology in the Qing Dynasty.
At the same time, he has compiled several geographical works and drawn several maps. For a period of five months, he taught geometry and astronomy to the emperor from morning to night, and also translated the "Geometric Original" into Manchu, accompanied the emperor on a tour, and surveyed the heavens and the earth for the emperor along the way.
After his death, Kangxi was very sad, personally wrote the altarpiece, held a solemn funeral for him, and gave him the nickname "Qinmin".
Objectively speaking, Nan Huairen did understand a lot and had a great influence on Kangxi, but it is a bit far-fetched to say that Kangxi began to learn from the West because of this.
After all, Nan Huairen was only a missionary, and his official position did not belong to the senior officials of the imperial court, and his influence was worrying. Moreover, at that time, the opposition of the DPRK and the Chinese government to him was not without, and it was impossible to expect Nan Huairen to do the work of Tong Kangxi.
Kangxi liked Western learning, and perhaps he was one of the few emperors in the Qing Dynasty who did not reject Western knowledge, but this was a personal hobby, unlike Peter of Tsarist Russia who studied the West. Peter studied the West to make the country stronger, while Kangxi did the opposite, he studied the West only to maintain imperial rule.
Nan Huairen contributed to the development of firearms during the San Francisco Rebellion, but Kangxi did not develop firearms because of this, which was not a problem for Nan Huairen, but it was impossible to develop firearms in the Qing Dynasty.
The Qing Dynasty people had blind confidence in some things, especially those who immediately won the world, they were very repulsive to firearms. Although they also use it, it is a bit difficult to develop it.
The Qing Dynasty has always preached the Manchu Han family, but in fact, this is not the case, the Qing court has always been relatively strict with the Han people, so many things that the Han people cannot learn or touch.
Besides, even if Kangxi wanted to promote Western studies, it could not be done, and the education at that time was the Eight Strands of Literature, and if it was not reflected in the imperial examination, then promoting it throughout the country would be tantamount to a fool's dream.
After the Kangxi Dynasty, Yongzheng banned the spread of Catholicism in China, and missionaries were expelled from China except for a few who served in the imperial court. Many missionaries were even reduced to painters in the palace, and their ability to truly embody their own value was insignificant.