The last feudal dynasty in ancient Chinese history was the Qing Dynasty established by the Manchus, and at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, state power was gradually unified under the rule of several emperors. Even, by the time of the fourth emperor, the last period of prosperity of China's feudal dynasty, the Kangxi Emperor was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
Shi Zai: Empress Xiaokangzhang greeted the empress dowager, and when she went out, she saw a dragon wrapped around her, and Empress Xiaozhuang knew that Empress Xiaokangzhang was pregnant. Empress Xiaozhuang said, "I had this kind of scene when I was pregnant with Emperor Shunzhi, and now, the Tong Jia clan is the same, and it will definitely send down Xiangrui." As soon as he was born, he was liked by his young parents and entrusted a reliable nurse to take him outside the Forbidden City to nurse him.
He was born in 1654, when his birth mother, Tong Jiashi, was only an unfavored noble concubine at that time. He contracted smallpox when he was seven years old, and in the Qing Dynasty, when medical conditions were backward, smallpox was an incurable disease, but he was lucky to survive, leaving only a few phongs on his face. Not only that, but the disease also gave him a lifelong immunity, which was also a contributing factor to his ascension to the throne.
When he was eight years old, the Shunzhi Emperor died, and the next year Tong Jia also died, and at a young age, he was hit by the double blow of the death of his parents. Later, he recalled: "When Tong Jiashi was sick in bed, his young self waited in front of the bed day and night, and did not think about tea and food. Until his later years, Kangxi recalled these two years and still said sadly:
“... ... I have not received a day's joy at the knees of my parents, which is a regret in the past sixty years... ..."
In 1667, the young Kangxi was officially pro-government with the support of his grandmother Empress Xiaozhuang, and "Kangxi" was taken from the meaning of "Guotai Min'an, the world prospered". Receiving a good education from an early age, he brought out the knowledge he learned to the fullest after his pro-government, and at the age of sixteen he designed to eliminate the courtiers Ao Bai, pacify san Francisco, attack Tsarist Russia, and ride the royal conquest.
It can be said that he reigned for sixty-two years, the longest reigning emperor in history, and his series of measures laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty and created a great situation of Kangqian's prosperity. As we all know, the Kangxi Emperor's real name is "Xuan Ye", which does not look like the name of an ancient person at first glance, it has a modern atmosphere. Not only that, as a prince and grandson, does this name have its own special meaning?
If you have read john Tang's biography, then this problem will be solved.
Born in Cologne, Germany in 1592, John Tang was a Jesuit monk, and for more than forty years since he came to China that summer in 1619, he has been contributing to the fusion of Chinese and Western cultures. He experienced the two dynasties of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, and made indelible contributions to the gradual study of the West and the East.
John Tang, who entered the local Jesuit school in Germany at the age of sixteen, was thrilled to see in the library the great achievements of western missionaries in the East in his early years, admired Matteo Ricci's ideas and efforts in China to combine Catholicism and Chinese Confucianism, and was even more ecstatic when he learned that Matteo Ricci had gained the emperor's respect for the mathematical and astronomical knowledge he had learned in China.
Later, he arrived in Macao with his parishioners, immersed himself in learning the Chinese and Chinese dialect culture, and, following the customs of the countryside, changing into traditional Chinese costumes, quietly studying and trying to find the fusion point of Chinese and Western cultures. At that time, at a time when the Ming Dynasty was in trouble with internal and external troubles, in the face of the brave soldiers of the Manchus, the imperial court decided to buy Western cannons in Macau, and the missionary entered the interior as a military expert.
Later, John Tang was respected by the Ming emperor for accurately calculating the lunar eclipse, and until the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he was also protected by the Qing court with his knowledge and skills in astronomy. Empress Xiaozhuang honored John Tang as a "righteous father", and the Shunzhi Emperor affectionately called him "Marfa", and he could freely enter and leave the court. Not only that, Tang John brought western clocks and telescopes into the imperial palace, he was the first foreigner in China to live in an official residence, three generations of honor and acceptance of the emperor's favor, but he was unmarried all his life and believed in Catholicism.
During Shunzhi's reign, he made suggestions for the government of the dynasty, and successively reported more than 300 seals, and the Shunzhi Emperor established the imperial heir, and also consulted Tang John. Because the Shunzhi Emperor once had smallpox, and at that time, only Tang Ruowang was well aware of the characteristics of smallpox in the imperial court, so he proposed: A child who survived smallpox must inherit the throne, so there was the Kangxi Emperor behind. And what does Kangxi's name have to do with him?
As early as the year before Kangxi's birth, the Shunzhi Emperor had given Tang John the title of "Teacher of Tongxuan", and three years later, he personally wrote the "Monument of the Catholic Church" for him, and at the same time, gave Tang John the title of "Tongxuan Jiajing". It can be seen that at that time, in the heart of the Shunzhi Emperor, the word "Xuan" actually carried a very heavy weight.
So, why is this word so important in Shunzhi's heart?
In fact, in the years before and after Xuan Ye's birth, it was the years when Western astronomical instruments were popular in the Qing court, and the celestial image has always been a kind of "mysterious theory" in the minds of ancient Chinese people, which can be regarded as a theosophical and heavenly profession at that time. Shunzhi believed in him so much that he gave the top position of Qin Tianjian to a foreigner, which was enough to see the emperor's respect and trust for Tang Ruowang.
Not only that, the Shunzhi Emperor also spent a huge amount of money to set aside land and built a Catholic church outside the Xuanwu Gate. The Shunzhi Emperor was so deeply Catholic that he did not convert to Buddhism until the last two years of his life, which shows how much John Tang influenced him. Therefore, this "Xuan" character is actually a series of Catholic beliefs deeply believed by the Shunzhi Emperor, such as the astronomical calendar taught by John Tang and machinery.
It can be seen from this that the origin of the name "Xuan Ye" is actually a good wish for the wisdom taught by Shunzhi to "Marfa" in the Central Plains. On July 15 of the fifth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, John Tang fell ill and died in his apartment. On November 16, 1988, Kangxi issued a tribute to John Tang: "... He died a long time ago, and he mourned. Tega was sent to offer sacrifices. Whoops, the glory of immortality, the reward of banditry. Er knows, Shank enjoys. ”
Resources:
"The Secret History of Xiaozhuang", "Kangxi Succession to the Great Unification - Missionary Tang Ruowang's Contribution"