Qianlong's Letter to George

King George III (AP/Wide World Photos) 824 Milestone Documents in World History Qianlong’s Letter to George III 1793 “My capital is the hub and centre about which all quarters of the globe revolve.” Overview sioning the letter exchange between George III and Emper- or Qianlong. First, during the second half of the eighteenth Arguably the earliest communication century the Industrial Revolution was well under way and between a monarch of China and the ruler was playing an increasingly important role in shaping of a European country, Qianlong’s letter to British foreign policy. Propelled by the British desire for George III was the official response to Lord raw materials and new markets, British foreign policy George Macartney’s mission, sponsored by became more and more colonialist and expansionist. Hav- the British East India Company in cooper- ing won the Seven Years’ War (1756 1763), the British ation with the British government, to began to establish their colonial empire around the secure diplomatic relations and improved trade conditions world a drive that continued despite the later loss of the with the Qing Dynasty. From its establishment in 1600, the North American colonies in the American Revolution. British East India Company was a major exporter of silk, Indeed, to some extent, this loss may have served to deep- tea, porcelain, and lacquerware from China to England and en the English craving to seek compensations elsewhere. the rest of Europe. Beginning in the mid-eighteenth centu- Second, the eighteenth century was an era of exploration ry, the East India Company also attempted to sell English and discovery. Even as Britain was dispatching the Macart- and European goods, most of them manufactured prod- ney mission to China, it was beginning to expand its hold- ucts, to China in order to offset a mounting trade deficit. ings in Canada, India, and Australia. Little wonder, then, Before the Macartney embassy, the company had sent that among Macartney’s retinue were botanists, artists, and emissaries to China, hoping to broaden trade relations and cartographers. The embassy thus was both a diplomatic gain better access to the Chinese market. None of them mission and a voyage of discovery; as the former realized an was successful. economic interest, the latter showed a curiosity for first- It was in this context that Lord Macartney undertook hand knowledge of the mysterious Far East. Born and his mission. Unlike his predecessors, he was permitted to raised in Northern Ireland, George Macartney, who was enter the Qing palaces in Beijing and elsewhere, have an created Viscount Macartney of Dervock right before his audience with the Qing emperor Qianlong and his confi- departure, was regarded as the best available diplomat and dent Heshen, and present George III’s letter to the emper- administrator to fill the post, because he had had experi- or. None of this had been achieved before. But in the end ence dealing with Catherine the Great of Russia, another Macartney failed to realize the goals set by the government despotic ruler. and the East India Company for his embassy. Considering The third and perhaps most immediate reason for himself to be the ruler of the “central country,” at the time Britain’s desire to secure diplomatic relations with China the richest and most powerful in the world, Emperor Qian- was that though the English trade with China would not be long rejected all of Macartney’s requests. Nor did the formally established until the early eighteenth century, that emperor think that a small maritime kingdom located sev- trade was nevertheless quickly increasing in importance. eral thousand miles away was a force deserving his atten- Throughout the seventeenth century, for example, tea tion and concern. Little did he know that all this was to drinking had gradually become a national habit in England, change in about a half century. generating a strong demand for expanded trade with China. Indeed, according to Jonathan Spence, “by 1800, the East India Company was buying over 23 million pounds of Context China tea at a cost of £3.6 million” (p. 122). Between 1660 and 1700 the East India Company had made attempts to Several factors prompted the British East India Compa- establish a factory in the provincial capital of Guangzhou ny and the British government to launch the Macartney (known in English as Canton) and elsewhere, but to no embassy to seek diplomatic contact with Qing China, occa- avail. By 1710 English merchants were trading regularly in Qianlong’s Letter to George III 825 Guangzhou, but their activities were straitjacketed by the Time Line Canton System imposed by the Qing Dynasty in 1760. By sponsoring the Macartney embassy, the company hoped, 1600 ■ December 31 through diplomacy, to circumvent the Canton System and The East India other Qing governmental regulations and gain direct access Company is established by to Chinese goods. charter and The Qing Dynasty was not completely disinterested in soon becomes a foreign trade and the profit it generated. Although Emper- major trader with the Indian or Qianlong forcefully rejected Macartney’s requests for Subcontinent expanded trade, the Qing court reaped handsome customs and the Orient. revenue from seaborne foreign commerce in certain ports along the coast. This stood in stark contrast to the policy of its predecessor, the Ming Dynasty (1368 1644), which during the early fifteenth century was known for launching ■ 1644 The Manchus stupendous maritime expeditions that reached the eastern found the Qing Dynasty, or and southeastern coasts of Africa. But from the time of the Empire of the mid-Ming, troubled by piracy, the dynasty resumed its pol- Great Qing. icy of haijin, or “coastal clearance,” forbidding the Chinese to sail into the sea and foreign merchants to come ashore. The Qing rulers continued this “sea ban” policy, though for a different reason to prevent the recuperation of the 1683 ■ The Qing, under Emperor Kangxi, remaining Ming forces that had been active along the coast unify the whole and in Taiwan. After Emperor Kang Xi, the dynasty’s sec- country by ond and perhaps most able ruler, had pacified the coastal defeating regions in 1683, he lifted the ban on overseas trade. Ironi- various forces in South China, cally, it was during Emperor Qianlong’s reign that the sea Tibet, and ban was greatly relaxed, giving rise to the Cohong, a mer- Taiwan. chant guild that gradually gained a monopoly, authorized by the Qing government, on trading with Western merchants. The Cohong thus became a core agency in the Canton System, which helped put overseas trade under the 1736 ■ Emperor Qianlong direct control of both the provincial government and the ascends the central government’s Ministry of Revenue. The Canton throne. System was aimed at delimiting foreign trade and exploit- ing its income for the Qing court. While Emperor Qianlong showed interest in foreign trade, he was clearly not ready to expand it to the extent 1760 ■ The Qing Dynasty desired by the British. The Qing was founded by the imposes the Manchus, a nomadic group and an ethnic minority that Canton System had arisen originally in Manchuria, today’s Northeast to control trade China. After replacing the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu in China. rulers quickly adopted a policy of presenting themselves as ■ October 25 the legitimate successors of the Ming imperial realm. In King George III economic terms, this meant that the Qing continued the ascends the throne traditional emphasis on agricultural development, one that of England. had been in place for two millennia. Like the Ming and most of its predecessors, the Qing considered itself politi- cally and ideologically the owner of the Central Country 1763 ■ February 10 (Zhongguo, or “Middle Kingdom”), an undisputed center of The Treaty of civilization in the world and one that radiated its cultural Paris is signed, influence to the surrounding regions. All this was reflected ending the Seven Years’ in the practice of the entrenched “tributary system” that War and the Qing had inherited from its predecessors in managing establishing relations with its neighbors. Under this system, it was Britain’s assumed that uncultured neighboring barbarians would be dominance of most colonies attracted to China and would be transformed by Chinese outside Europe. culture. The Chinese ruler would show compassion for foreign emissaries. In Emperor Qianlong’s era, these “tribu- 826 Milestone Documents in World History tary states” could be found not only in today’s Korea, Viet- Time Line nam, Burma, and Thailand but also in parts of Russia, the Netherlands, and Portugal. Compared with the Russians, who had established an 1760s ■ A series of ecclesiastical mission in Beijing, and the Portuguese, who inventions in cotton Milestone Documents spinning are had held Macao as their enclave, the British were latecom- patented in Britain, ers in seeking a relationship with Qing China. However, propelling the powered by the raging Industrial Revolution, this nation of expansion of its textile industry and just eight million compared with 330 million in Qing sparking interest in China began to sense that they represented the burgeon- acquiring silk and ing great power in the world. This sentiment was evident in other fabrics from the instructions given by Henry Dundas, the home secre- China. tary of the British Government, to Lord Macartney: 1. to negotiate a treaty of commerce and friendship and to establish a resident minister at the court of Qianlong; 1780s ■ James Watts 2. to extend British trade in China by opening new ports improves the where British woolens might be sold; design of the 3. to obtain from China the cession of a piece of land or steam engine, a landmark event an island nearer to the tea- and silk-producing area than in the Industrial Guangzhou, where British merchants might reside the whole Revolution and year and where British jurisdiction could be exercised; one that led to 4.

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