INTRODUCTION
The Kangxi Emperor (Chinese: 康熙帝; pinyin: Kāngxīdì; Wade-Giles: K’ang-hsi-ti; Mongolian: Enkh Amgalan Khaan, May 4, 1654 – December 20, 1722) was the third Emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722. His reign of 61 years makes him the longest-reigning Chinese Emperor in history and one of the longest in the world.
Kangxi, considered one of China’s greatest Emperors, was a pivotal figure in Chinese history, having defeated the Three Feudatories, the Zheng Jing government on Taiwan who previously would not submit to Qing rule and the Tzarist Russia, expanded the Qing empire in the northwest, and achieved such literary feats as the Kangxi Dictionary. Kangxi’s reign brought about long-term stability and relative wealth after years of war and chaos.
THE EXHIBITION
The Kangxi Emperor
Treasures from the Forbidden City
13 March - 14 June 2009
Ancient Civilisations Museum, Singapore

^after 20 mins of queuing up…

^10 more minutes of queuing up… almost there..

^actual court dress worn by Kangxi.. formal wear for important ceremonies. Reflects his multi-ethnic background. the robe is in Manchu style while dragon motif is a Han Chinese symbol of imperial power.

^Kangxi’s hunting gear - bow and rifle. He was an excellent horse-riding archer, keeping the manchurian’s fighting morale high and also the han’s approval of his leadership.

^Kangxi’s ceremonial armour - individual segments are fastened together by a series of gold loops and toggles.

^3-stringed musical instrument

^”Crossing the frozen river” - one of thousands of poems written by Kangxi with energetic strokes. They have the english translation of this. it’s amazing..

^ink pads or something.. i forgot

^very rare and important tools used by Kangxi

^the Kangxi dictionary was compiled by 27 officials over six years, featuring 47,035 entries and recognised as the largest collection of Chinese characters in the history of imperial China!!!!!!!!

^the green block is the official Kangxi seal stamp.

^incense bowl with indianish motif

^snuff bottles containing fragrance to freshen the mind etc.. there’s something written under the second bottle.

^cups of the month. there are 12 cups to be used for each month -_-

^i think the plants featured on the cup represents what’s growing within that particular month of the year.

^these pots are actually gourds, shaped by growing them in molds. chinese ingenuity

^the chinese used to believe that earth was flat and the heavens are round, till a muslim astronomer Jamal al-DIn presented this globe to Kangxi, accurately depicting countries and cities and even the great wall of china. incredible.

^telescope presented to Kangxi by jesuit priest Ferdinand Verbiest, who became his tutor in astrology.

^features a compass in the middle

^Armillary sphere is a new instrument constructed under the supervision of Ferdinand Verbiest. it was used to illustrate the movement of celestial bodies esp the sun, moon and earth. it helped the Qing astronomers better predict the solar and lunar eclipses!

^this was used to calculate the angle of the sun against the horizon

^measuring instruments by Ferdinand Verbiest

^Kangxi, in his fifties

^Kangxi’s successor, his fourth son.

^just checking out the other south east asian exhibits

^permanent exhibits at the Ancient Civilisations Museum, Singapore - sculptures from north Vietnam

^chilling out at ben & jerry’s after a hot day