Kangxi and Louis XIV (2024)

Director: Bao Yonghong / Gilles Thomson

Starring: Tristan Robin / Zhao Ziluo

Genre: Documentary / Historical Production

Country/Region: Chinese mainland / France

Language: Mandarin

Release Date: 2024-05-23 (Chinese mainland)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Also known as: Kangxi and Louis XIV

IMDb: tt34320061

Plot Summary: "Kangxi and Louis XIV" is a Sino-French co-produced documentary film that tells the story of how, over three centuries ago, King Louis XIV of France sent six "royal mathematicians" to China. Emperor Kangxi interacted positively with the French king with an open-minded and highly confident attitude, initiating profound Sino-French exchanges in technology, trade, and cultural thought. Through the film's meticulous reenactment of historical threads and details—such as how technological cooperation between the two countries led to the creation of China's first scientifically significant "Complete Map of the Imperial Territory," how commercial exchanges sparked a "China craze" in France, and the two-way interactions of "Western learning spreading to the East" and "Eastern learning spreading to the West" —the film profoundly reflects President Xi Jinping's important concept that "civilizations become colorful through exchanges and rich through mutual learning."