Just finished watching a Chinese series called 《康熙王朝》.
It's a historical show about a certain Emperor Kangxi.
Beats watching gossip girls or glee, which i just don't have the patience to complete.
Sorry if you're a fan of either of these shows, or other gossip-y/scandal-y/romantic etc etc shows.
I have a bigger passion for history. It's just me lor...

So yeah, back to Mr. Kangxi.
- He was a boy of 8 years when he was inaugurated.
- Took full control of 朝廷 matters when he was 14.
- Killed Ao Bai, the most powerful and evil of 4 "prime ministers" who were supposed to guide him as he was a child emperor.
- Defeated Wu Sangui, who, 1. betrayed Ming dynasty to let the Manchus rule China 2. was granted a title of "king" of Yunnan province by the Manchu Emperor, Kangxi's dad (in China back then, a "king" is lower in rank to the Emperor) 3. rebelled against Kangxi and for a moment controlled half of China
- Conquered Taiwan and made it a part of China (the politics of China and Taiwan back then very much reflects that of today)
- Conquered Mongolia
- Defeated Russia and signed a treaty in China's favour (it's sad that more than 100 years later China would begin to sign a series of unequal treaties which overturns this victorious treaty that Kangxi signed)
- Allowed Christian missionaries to be his trusted officials and scientists, and to preach openly in China (again, it is sad that decades later, the Pope forbids the missionaries to kowtow to the Emperor, so Kangxi expelled them from China and stopped all missionary activities)
- In all, he ruled for 61 years, the longest ruling Emperor in China's history.

As I watched, from the beginning of his reign as a child, I was amazed at how destiny could call someone at so young an age, for a purpose so grand as to rule the largest and most powerful empire at that time. And equally mind-boggling is the amount of personal sacrifices he had to make for his country to be peaceful and prosperous. The most painful part being, he married his favourite princess to the Mongol Khan under the Khan's request so as to stall for time as he spent his military resources on Taiwan. He could not afford to offend this Khan because it may threaten the peace in the country. He later kills this Khan when conquering Mongolia, leaving his precious daughter widowed. Between a father and an emperor, he had to choose the grander purpose over his fatherly one. The whole theme of the show is that to be a great emperor, you must suffer agony. Indeed, his daughter Lan Qi-er never forgave him. In the show, that is. She returned to the Mongolian fields and took care of her son, who was the new Khan since Kangxi killed his dad. So complicated right?

Sighhh it's a sad show if you're looking out for emotions. But I feel it illustrates calling and purpose rather well. In today's world, many would give up the larger purpose for "love" and romance, which are pretty much the values of the day. How often we hear things like "as long as we love one another" or "love (romance, that is) is the most important thing" etc. We don't really have an idea of sacrificing ourselves for the bigger picture and purpose, let alone our relationships, personal dreams, desires etc.

I know relationships are important. But Jesus said that we are to "hate" our mothers, brothers, sisters etc if we want to follow Him. "Hate" here means "to love less". So, that means, in our pursuit of Jesus and the calling He has for each of our lives, there will be times when we have to surrender or even abandon relationships that matter most to us. I myself don't really know if I'm up to it.

So yea, just a penny of thought. At the end of the day, God is not out to cut us or make us suffer. In all our deep sufferings, He is actually giving us something better. Not everything Kangxi did was right, of course. I cannot imagine giving my favourite daughter to my enemy, although the fact that it may bring world peace would seriously hammer hard on my integrity and force me to do so. After all, God gave His [favourite] Son in order to make peace with us. So, how much are we willing to give?