Kangxi's Red Ticket

🏆This book won the 2024...🏆
Douban's Annual History and Culture Book, Douban's Annual Book, the Third "Xingdu Book Award", New Knowledge and Chinese Original Book Award Winners, China Reading News' Annual Top Ten Books, Beijing News' Annual Reading Recommendations, The Paper's Annual Top Ten Books Recommended by Editors, Sohu Culture's Annual Book Selection, JD Books' Annual Books, Nandu's Annual Top Ten Books, Phoenix Reading's Annual 10 Recommended Books, Searchlight Book Reviewers' Book List, Annual Top Ten Original Humanities and Social Sciences Works, First Financial Daily's Annual Top Ten Humanities Books, Wenhui Reading's Annual Reading List, Shanghai Ancient Books Store x The Paper's Annual Book List, Capital Library's "City of Reading" Book Recommendation Event "Read the List"
Literary Newspaper's Annual Book List, Blade Book Award's Annual Book, Spring Breeze Reading List's "Annual New Knowledge" Work, China Book Publishing and Media Business Daily's Annual Top Ten Books, 2025 Yangcheng Book Fair's Top Ten Books, "A High-Quality Historical Reader"
★Recommended by Xu Zhuoyun, Du Jiaji, Xia Bojia, Luo Xin, and Li Xuetao★
"This book is particularly compelling for its broad perspective, vivid narrative, novel themes, and profound reflections. Starting with a red note sent by Emperor Kangxi to the West, the author draws upon multilingual historical materials and multidisciplinary research to paint a high-definition historical picture, showcasing the interaction between missionaries and Qing rulers in the early Qing dynasty, and how the opportunity for profound cultural and technological convergence between Qing China and the modern West was achieved and ultimately lost. The book examines the political and cultural structures of the Qing dynasty and even other ancient dynasties from a perspective previously overlooked. Its fresh perspective, vivid details, and unique reflections make it a high-quality historical textbook."
——Award speech for the 3rd (2024) “Xingdu Book Award” New Knowledge·Chinese Original Book Award.
★From a global history perspective and through the eyes of the West, this book tells the story of a familiar yet unfamiliar Emperor Kangxi.
★A cutting-edge work on global history that is both academic and popular.
Scholars recommend:
Sun Litian's book explores the interactions between Jesuits and the imperial courts of the Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong dynasties of the Qing Dynasty. Jesuits arrived in China in the late Ming Dynasty, spreading Catholicism while also introducing Western ideas and technology. This process marked the cultural and intellectual integration of pre-modern China and the West. It was a crucial topic for China's transition from a relatively isolated East Asian empire to a Western-dominated modern world.
——Xu Zhuoyun, Professor Emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh, USA. Sun has carefully studied Chinese and Western literature and made in-depth analyses. He has original insights into several major issues in Sino-Western cultural exchanges in the early Qing Dynasty. This is indeed a work of high academic value.
— Xia Bojia, Professor of History at Pennsylvania State University. (This book) explores historical events, such as the Kangxi Emperor's use of the Imperial Household Department, a private institution, to receive several papal and Russian delegations, and his use of missionaries to negotiate the Russian border. These events provide valuable new insights and perspectives for understanding certain characteristics of the Qing emperor's exercise of imperial power and the relationship between the inner court and the outer court. Furthermore, the book's detailed historical narrative, nuanced and insightful analysis, and excellent writing make it an engaging read.
—Du Jiaji, Professor of History at Nankai University. The relationship between the Jesuits and China during the reigns of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Yongzheng is a crucial example in the history of Sino-foreign relations. Since the Ming Dynasty, the influx of Western missionaries, particularly Jesuits, has left behind a wealth of primary historical materials. Sun Litian fully utilizes these materials in his book, placing this period of Chinese history within a broad context of mutual relations for understanding and examination. This book seldom resorts to dry historical preaching, but instead uses events from historical texts to create vivid characters. The spirit of the Kangxi and Yongzheng eras is captured through this vivid narrative.
—Li Xuetao, Professor of the School of History at Beijing Foreign Studies University and Vice President of the Chinese Society for the History of Sino-Foreign Relations. Every sentence in the book, from the preface to the postscript, chapters, and annotations, is earnest and painstakingly crafted. It vividly captures historical scenes in minute detail, elucidating the inner worlds and the reasons behind the words and actions of historical figures. It unwittingly distances itself from previous research. The reader is undeniably convinced by both specific and overall conclusions, showcasing the author's advanced historical concepts, analytical methods, broad vision, and profound talent. I believe this is a landmark work in its field.
—Cai Lesu, Professor of Marxism at Tsinghua University and Reviewer of the National Qing History Compilation Project. This work transforms traditional historical narratives, reconstructing the logic of interaction between early Qing China and the world from a global historical perspective. This book helps readers reconsider the role of pre-modern China in globalization and provides historical insights into the participation of a major country with a rich tradition and history in globalization.
Ba Shusong, Professor of Practice of Finance at the School of Business and Economics, University of Hong Kong, and expert on the Chief Executive's Policy Unit of the Hong Kong SAR Government, wrote: "This book is a brilliantly analyzed and richly documented monograph, written with engaging, clear prose. It makes a substantial and targeted contribution to de-Eurocentrism in the history of Jesuit missions in China, while also liberating this history from the grandiose significance previously attributed to it."
—Markus Friedrich, Professor at the University of Hamburg, Germany, has initiated a paradigm shift in the history of the spread of Catholicism in China... The argument is thought-provoking, and Sun Litian's work is thought-provoking, with brilliant research and structure. This book is timely, and I recommend it to all scholars studying early Qing history and Jesuit missionary history.
—Lars Peter Laamann, Senior Lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London By removing the pre-modern cultural conflict paradigm from the traditional East-West dichotomy and situating it in the context of Manchu culture, the author brings a fresh perspective to the familiar field of historiography.
-- Ashleigh Ikemoto, Professor, Georgia State University
At the 2019 Beijing Spring Art Auction, a 1716 imperial edict from Emperor Kangxi, sent to Europe, appeared. The edict, seeking the foreign envoys he had sent to Rome and who had been missing for years, appeared. This edict, painted vermilion, was historically known as a "red note." Because it is not recorded in official history, the origin of the red note remains a mystery. Why did Emperor Kangxi send Western missionaries as imperial envoys? What was his purpose in sending them to Europe?
This book uses red bills as a narrative entry point, unraveling the interaction between the royal family of the early Qing Dynasty, especially Emperor Kangxi, and the Beijing missionary group represented by Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest, to uncover a period of deep contact between China and the West.
Western missionaries who came to China had extensive contacts with all walks of life in China, from the emperor and high-ranking officials to peddlers and hawkers. Their interactions were intertwined with cultural clashes and personal grudges, and entangled with international competition and internal palace fighting.
The author has carefully read Chinese and Western literature and made detailed arguments. He has original insights on hot issues such as the early Qing Dynasty court cases, the dispute between Chinese and Western rituals, and Emperor Yongzheng's ban on religion. He has also questioned long-standing historical arguments such as "closing the country to the outside world", "tributary system", and "clash of civilizations". This is an excellent work that is both academic and popular.

2024-03-01

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