K'ang-hsi

The third son of the Shun-chih emperor, Hsüan-yeh was born to Empress Hsiao-k'ang, daughter of Tulai, a famous Manchu general from the prestigious T'ung clan. (The Manchus were a people of Tungusic stock living in Manchuria who conquered China and established the Ch'ing dynasty in 1644.) Upon Shunchih's sudden death from smallpox at age 23, in February 1661, Hsüan-yeh was immediately raised