The three most successful Manchu emperors were Kangxi (r. 1662-1722), Yongzheng (r.1722-1735), and Qianlong (r.1735-1796). Together, they expanded Chinese territories north, west, and south by one third. During Emperor Kangxi's reign, rebellions against the Manchus among Han Chinese continued. Kangxi succeeded in suppressing all these rebellions and rebellions by Mongols residing in China, as well as rebellions in the western and northern territories newly acquired by China. Emperor Yongzheng continued wars with the Mongols and maintained Chinese control of Tibet. Emperor Qianlong succeeded in stabilizing Chinese control of Tibet, and acquired much territory in what was later called Chinese Turkestan (or New Frontier, Xinjiang), the part of China that borders on central Asia.

The Manchu emperors, on the other hand, were distinguished also by their literary legacies. While Yongzheng's rule was too short to leave prominent literary accomplishments, both Kangxi and Qianlong left a tremendous impact on Chinese culture. Kangxi was responsible for organizing the compilation of the Kangxi Dictionary, a good dictionary even by today's standards, while Qianlong oversaw the compilation of the 36,000 volume Encyclopedia (siku quanshu). What made the Manchu dynasty's rule long lasting was the Manchu emperors' ability to assimilate into Chinese culture and recruit able Chinese into their government. In contrast, earlier, Mongol rule in China (1271-1368) lasted for only a little over a hundred years because of the Mongols' discrimination against the Chinese and lack of promoting the Han Chinese (majority of the Chinese population) in their administration. Qing Dynasty emperors promoted the social mobility of Han Chinese through the imperial examinations, a practice started as early as the 7th century to select government officials (from which our Civil Service Examinations were derived) through tests on Confucian classics.

• Explanation of Confucius and Confucian classics: Confucius (551-479 B.C.) was an educator during the Warring States Period in Chinese history, who wanted to help rulers restore more ancient rites and rituals and a unified state ruled by tradition. Confucius believed that education could help develop human potential and build ethical human beings, the basis of a unified and orderly state. Confucian classics refer to the collection of Confucian sayings The Analects, and histories and books that were said to have been edited by Confucius and that would have an edifying effect on the Chinese. Starting from around 100 B.C., Confucian learning was turned into the state ethic under emperor Han Wudi.
  • Some key Confucian concepts:
    • Filial piety: Because the ideal society for Confucius was a hierarchical society where the king enjoyed unquestioned authority over his subjects, Confucius encouraged the teaching of unconditional obedience of children to parents (filial piety), as a way to train these children's loyalty to authority. Filial piety implied not just not talking back, but also continuing the family line through producing sons.
    • "Three bonds:" similar to filial piety, Three Bonds (king being the ruler to his ministers, father being the ruler to his sons, and husband being the ruler of his wife) were part of the multiple sets of human relationships.

    • The rectification of names: Confucius believes that proper uses of titles for people from the king to those in various levels of society were important for enforcing proper behavior.  Many problems of his time came from irreverence to the king and improper ways to address him.

    • Ren (human-hearted, humaneness): this is the core to every human behavior: proper, loving, behavior to every one in society.

    • Yi (righteousness): the way to realize jen/ren: good behavior is not to please or receive awards, but to realize righteousness.

    • Importance of the family: for Confucius, the family was a social and political unit, where children were taught to obey their superiors, and harmony and stability were established, the basis of national stability and harmony. The Confucian belief in the pacification of the world started from individual self-cultivation, which would then lead to the cultivation of the whole family, then cultivation of the clan, and finally, the cultivation of the country and the universe.

• Explanation of the Imperial examination system: The examinations were started in the 7th century as a way to select government officials based on Confucian classics. It consisted of three levels: prefectural, provincial, and national. Candidates who succeeded in the previous level advanced to the next one. Examinations, initially also including some mathematics tests in the 8th and 9th centuries, more and more focused exclusively on Confucian texts as time went on. During the Yuan Dynasty founded by the Mongols, the imperial examinations were suspended. The Manchus, however, re-enforced the examinations as they realized the importance of employing Han scholars in their government.  The tests were primarily essay questions that required the correct annotation and elaboration of Confucian texts. It was an effective way for imperial governments to administer the vast territory of China through instituting moral orthodoxy, as historically Chinese governments were small and lacked a sufficient army or bureaucracy to govern China effectively. Because of the moral importance of the examinations, successive Chinese governments saw to it that successful candidates would come from all over China, thus quotas were given to each province for the number of candidates who could pass the provincial level of examinations. Success in the imperial examinations was a glorious thing, as it not only brought a job to the successful candidate, ranging from administrators at the prefectural/provincial level, to prime ministers/imperial tutors/imperial historians. Because of the Confucian emphasis of the family and clan, one man's success in the imperial examinations would also bring glory and good fortune to his family or even clan, because an individual was responsible to his family and his clan. Despite the social hierarchy in China based on Confucian teachings, successful candidates who passed the imperial examinations would form a society of equals, although they were all above the rest. In a way, the imperial examination system created a meritocracy that placed merit before birth, thus meritorious candidates, rather than aristocrats, were selected to serve in the government. On the other hand, the examination system also encouraged people to toil incessantly at the exams in the hope that they would pass them one day and bring glory to themselves and their families. The oldest successful candidate who passed the provincial examinations on record was in his 70s (presumably he spent his whole life taking these exams).
• Explanation of Chinese religion: because Confucian learning was the state ethic, and Confucius believed that ethical standards ultimately rested with the humans, Confucians were against beliefs that went beyond humans and this world. Therefore when Buddhism was introduced to China, its negation of this world clashed with Confucian beliefs and practices. For Chinese imperial dynasties, Buddhism often posed as a threat to their rule as it emphasized human inactivity, rather than activism, to deal with change and challenges in life.