How book about Emperor Yongzheng changed Hong Kong antiques dealer Andy Hei’s life

Eryue He’s Emperor Yongzheng (serialised between 1990-92) is a fictionalised life story of the early Qing emperor. The second part of a trilogy that also covers his father and son, it was adapted into a landmark television series. Andy Hei, an antiques dealer and founder of the Fine Art Asia and Ink Asia art fairs, who followed his father into the business, explains how the book changed his life.

I read Emperor Yongzheng after the first traditional Chinese version was published in Taiwan [in 2000]. I was travelling a lot between Hong Kong, New York and London, and I always carried the book with me.

I hadn’t read any of Eryue He’s books but when I picked up this one, it was so good that I couldn’t put it down. I read it two or three times, then I read the first one in the series [Kangxi Emperor, 1984-88] and then the third [Qianlong Emperor, 1994-96]. They’re about the three generations of the early Qing dynasty, when China was very strong.

I’m a big fan of historical fiction. My background is in Chinese antiques dealing, but this has been a personal interest of mine since I was in high school. The book really flipped my understanding of this emperor and society versus what I’d read in textbooks. My impression of this emperor changed from a bad one to a very good one.

Many themes of the book can also be seen in modern Chinese history. For example, China was at its peak, then it hit rock bottom. How? China still faces some of the same problems, such as corruption and the buying of offices.