Essay on the emperor of china

This paper reports on the works of Jonathan Spence, a Yale scholar’s, the Emperor of China. This is an autobiographical article, a 256 page published on 22/10/1998 by the Vintage publishers. As already highlighted, it gives an insightful coverage on the biographical and leadership profiles of Kang Hsi. It gives an insightful coverage of this great king’s philosophy of leadership.
As a narrator, Hsi precisely tells us about the proper leadership skills and the kind of traits that should be possessed by a good leader.
His asserts that a good leader should be honest; wise; brilliant; diplomatic; pure and virtuous; hard working; and dynamic. He says that a good leader should be able to serve his people with a lot of sincerity. This, according to him, will make the subjects feel respected hence gain confidence in him.
At the same time, His says that being bright will make one to appoint wise officials .This will help in consolidating the government at all times. On the other hand, being diplomatic will make a leader to relate harmoniously with other people both within and out of the territory. If a cordial relationship is maintained, there will be tranquility eventually which is a prerequisite for socio-economic and political prosperity of any given society.
Consequently, His asserts that a good leader should be virtuous and pure. He should act as a role model to his subjects. This will make people have a lot of admirations for them. Therefore, it means that he should consider it his responsibility to nurture socially accepted good traits that can please both his friends and foes alike. Actually, it’s the leader’s conduct that builds the reputation of any territory.
Meanwhile, Hsi advocates for hard work. He says that one should be determined to do any given activity with the utmost strength. It is only perseverance that will lead to the achievement of the set goals in any society.
In deed, Hsi’s philosophy of leadership was well thought. He did not just say this, but he acted. He appeared as the best leader so far. He ruled wisely and promoted education. His love for learning prompted him to recruit the Jesuit Missionaries to teach his people Mathematics, Astronomy and other art related subjects.
He was also caring. Spence describes him as the most caring emperor in the history of China (page 174). He therefore, advocated for a virtuous life in his territory. He usually advised people to live in peace. Similarly, his love for peace made him to organize a lot of imperial tours to other parts of the world. This made him so popular worldwide.
In addition, Hsi appeared as a wise ruler. He constantly advised his people to be carefully dynamic and abandon outdated superstitious practices. His understanding of the plurality of the world made him tell his people, ‘not to lose their fundamental traditional practices like dress, utensils and food at the expense of what was perceived modern” (page 124).
Finally, he comes out as a strong believer. He advises people to have a very strong faith in themselves. In fact, this quote is directly pulled out from the Bible’s James 2: 17 that advocates for faith alongside action. Hence, it means that a good leader should at least have some belief in the super natural. This will provide him with metaphysical answers about life in totality besides giving hope of prosperity.
In conclusion, I would like to agree with the fact that Kang His was an ideal leader. His wisdom made him rule for 60 years- the longest time in the history of the people of China. I think he got his admirable leadership skills from the Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher.