In 1661, the young Kangxi Emperor ascended the Qing throne. His long reign became one of the most important in Chinese imperial history. He consolidated Manchu rule, patronised scholarship and oversaw military, administrative and cultural projects.

Kangxi patronage supported dictionaries, anthologies and classical scholarship that shaped Chinese literary transmission. Qing poets wrote within a world balancing Manchu power, Han literati traditions and imperial cultural consolidation.