The academic research mostly focuses on the textual research on the text, style and compilation process of Kangxi Dictionary, and has achieved considerable results. The problem is that Kangxi Dictionary was compiled by the emperor himself, which is different from private writings. It is not a pure academic classic, and its academic background has its clear political intention.
On this point, there is a precedent in history. From Shu Tong Wen written by Qin Shihuang to Shuo Wen Jie Zi and Dialect written in Han Dynasty, they are all based on unity. For example, the writing of dialects originally belonged to a system of Zhou and Qin Dynasties. Obviously, this will help to educate the world and make folk customs belong to Wang Hua's elegance instead of making mistakes. From these remarks, it can be seen that Kangxi's policy on literary records has a clear political intention, rather than blindly pursuing pure academic "true knowledge" as we scholars treat Kangxi Dictionary now.
The political reality at that time was that after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, in order to strengthen the autocratic rule of cultural thought, the literary inquisition was implemented. In this case, there are many political cases around Kangxi Dictionary. This shows that Kangxi dictionary is not a purely academic issue, but a political issue.
1962, the late Professor Johnny Hua of Anhui Normal University published a paper of more than 30,000 words on Kangxi Dictionary, which made a comprehensive exposition of the book. 1983, Mr. Zhang Dihua edited and published his own collection of essays, Johnny Chinese Essays, and edited this essay in Kangxi Dictionary. The contribution of this paper is to analyze this book from a political perspective. There are three reasons or purposes for compiling this dictionary:
First, playing with the old trap of the feudal dynasty in the past, borrowing books to attract intellectuals as a means of appeasement;
Secondly, another deception of the feudal dynasty in the past was adopted. After the violent suppression, Taiping was decorated with a set of tricks to show off the civil affairs of the new dynasty.
Third, through the revision of books, all documents that were not conducive to the Qing Dynasty were destroyed to strengthen feudal rule.
Although Mr. Zhang's comments are a little more critical, they are enough to enlighten us that Kangxi Dictionary is a political and religious means. Only by "softening" can intellectuals submit to the real regime, which is beneficial to the country. The ancients said that riding a horse conquers the world and governing the world depends on Confucian scholars. "Reviewing the past and writing it on the right", beautifying one's life and destroying banned books is a brilliant political strategy, which is understandable. "Confucianism violates the law by writing, while chivalrous men violate the law by using force." Corrupt Confucianism should be investigated and punished for its ignorance of the past. But the rulers should take more generous measures, and the feudal practice of chopping down by every household can only attract more resistance.