Reading & Question Answer

1 2 THE PR'OBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

In Ssu-yu Teng and John K. Fairbank, China's Response to the West (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1979), 12-18.

b. The Early Jesuit Influence in China

The first extensive cultural contact between China and Europe began near the end of the sixteenth century, when the Jesuit missionaries, in the wake of the Portuguese, reached China by sea. Their dual function is well known: they not only diffused W estem ideas in China, including elements of mathematics, astron- omy, geography, hydraulics, the calendar, and the manufacture of cannon, but they also introduced Chinese (particularly Confucian) ideas into Europe.14 The Jesuits found it easier to influence China's science than her religion. Perceiving this, they used their scientific knowledge as a means of approach to Chinese scholars. Although a small number of their Chinese converts took part in the translation and compilation of religious and scientific books, the majority of the native scholars, entrenched in their ethnocentric cultural tradition, were not seriously affected by the new elements of W estem thought.

The great Jesuit pioneer, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), tried to fit Catholicism into Chinese thought. In general he accepted Confucianism in its most ancient phase but rejected the Confucian development after Han and T'ang, especially the Neo-Confucianism of the Sung. He accepted the term Shang-ti, the highest deity in the Confucian classics, but not the T' ai-chi or "Supreme Ultimate" of the Neo-Confucians. Ricci and his followers likewise accepted the hsien-ju, the early Confucianists, but not the hou-fu, the Confucianists of later ages.15

The cosmological ideas of the Roman Catholic Church and of Neo-Confucian- ism differed in several important respects: a) the Neo-Confucians did not recog- nize a creator or almighty God in the universe; instead, they believed that the growth of creatures is by li or "natural law"; b) they recognized the existence of hsin (mind or conscience), which is somewhat comparable to the soul of Christian- ity, but they did not believe that this mind or conscience is bestowed by God; c) they acknowledged that every human being has the power and free will to reach his best state of development, to be free from sin or crime, and without God's help to go to Heaven. While both the Catholics and the Neo-Confucianists sought to understand the universe, to distinguish truth, to cultivate virtue and to teach people how to be good, their purposes appear to have been just sufficiently similar to bring them into rivalry and confilct.16

The Various Forms of Chinese Interest

Those Chinese scholars who accepted both Christianity and Western science, like Hsii Kuang-ch'i (1562-1633) pelieved that Western learning overcame the shortcomings of Confucianism and replaced Buddhism; and that Confucianism and Christianity could be developed in China in parallel fashion. Their acceptance of what Ricci had to offer was based first of all on a rational appreciation of the Jesu1ts as philosopher-gentlemen. One late Ming writer says: 17

The T'ien-chu kuo [the Lord-of-Heaven country, i.e., the Catholic state, presumably Italy], lies further to. the west from the Buddhist state [India]. Their people understand literature and are as scholarly and elegant as the Chinese. There is a certain Li-ma-tou [Matteo Ricci] who came from the

THE CHINESE INTELLECTUAL TRADITION 1 3

said state, and after four years reached the boundary of Kwangtung by way of India. Their religion worships Tien-chu ["the Lord of Heaven," the Catholic term for God J, just as the Confucianists worship Confucius and the Buddhists, Buddha. Among his books there is one entitled T'ien-chu shih-i ( The true meaning of Christianity) which frequently explains the truth by comparison with Confucianism but sharply criticizes the theories of nothingness ( hsu-wu) and emptiness of Buddhism and Taoism. . . I am very much delighted with his ideas, which are close to Confucianism but more earnest in exhorting society not to resemble the Buddhists, who always like to use obscure, incoherent words to fool and frighten the populace. . • He is very polite when he talks to people and his arguments, if challenged, can be inexhaustible. Thus in foreign countries there are also real gentlemen.

Firearms and applied science further commended the Jesuits to the court of Peking, as they already had to the daimyo of Japan. Long before Ricci finally received a court stipend in Peking in 1601, European weapons had been intro- duced into South China. But apparently they were not widely welcomed until Japan invaded Korea in 1592. The Japanese, benenting by the early Portuguese importation of firearms after 1542, won victories in Korea, and the Chinese recognized the necessity of improving their weapons. In 1622 the Ming emperor, already threatened by the new Manchu power beyond the Wall, sent an envoy to Macao seeking Jesuit help in casting cannon. In the following year Westerners were summoned to the capital for this purpose. Ch'ii Shih-ssu (Thomas Ch'ii, 1590-1651) memorialized the throne in 1628 requesting the study of Western cannon and other weapons; he declared that in 1619 an imperial decree had ordered Hsii Kuang-ch'i to search for Western weapons and that he had obtained four cannon. Li Chih-tsao (d. 1630) had secured twenty-three more from Canton in 1621. Thus the Ming sought Western cannon for defense against the Manchus much as the Manchu government two centuries later was to seek Western cannon and the help of the "Ever Victorious Army" at Shanghai to suppress the Taiping Rebellion. The Ming dynasty attempted to acquire Portuguese artillery and three or four hundred men from Macao to repel a Manchu invasion; but apprehension over having Western soldiers in China led to the cancellation of the mission at Nanchang. Only the commander, Gonzales Tedeira, and a few others continued to Peking.18 .

Thereafter in the waning years of the Ming not only Jesuits but also other foreigners from Macao went to Peking, both to make weapons and to serve in the Chinese forces. In 1639 Franciscus Sambiaso presented to the emperor many gifts, including a clock, binoculars, maps, an organ, a mirror, and a parrot. He submitted a memorial to the throne calling attention to the need for a good calendar, the selection of ores, the promotion of international trade and the pur• chase of Western guns. This actually constituted a modernization program for China; but the Ming dynasty was busily engaged in warfare against the Manchus and among these recommendations the Chinese emperor took an interest only in the calendar and the guns.19

While the conversion to the Roman Catholic faith of such Chinese scholar- officials as Hsu Kuang-ch'i and Li Chih-tsao is well kno.vn, it nevertheless poses several questions. First, what element in Christianity was responsible for its friendly reception by certain scholars and members of the imperial family, several score of · whom are said to have been converted by 1640? 20 Did their baptism mean accept- ance of basic Christian tenets, or were these converts won overby rationalism (as opposed to faith), because they believed Christianity to be less unworldly than

14 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Buddhism and Taoism? Both Hsu and Li were also interested in Western guns and cannon, and on his part Matteo Ricci accepted some Chinese phraseology (e.g., Shang-ti), and admitted the validity of ancient Confucian teachings. Do these signs indicate that, rather than a fundamental conversion to a new faith, the Chinese acceptance of the Christian religion was only a manifestation of tolerance?

Secondly, it is noteworthy that the immediate Jesuit influence in China was through items of practical significance, such as cannon, the calendar, or Ricci's map of the world. Why is so little trace of Christian doctrine to be found in the writings of Chinese scholars in the subsequent century? If this is to be explained by the fact that government suppression cut off contact and the relatively few professed converts had few successors, we still face the question why the minds of the non-Christian scholars were not more permanently influenced by Western knowledge or ideas.

Such questions raise the knotty problem of the Chinese religious conscious• ness. The long and complex religious experience of the Chinese people had in­ chided, among many other faiths; the great flowering of Buddhism in the seventh and eighth centuries, a religion characterized by belief in an incarnate yet divine savior. We know that Chinese Buddhism had a profound influence upon the subsequent Neo-Confucian philosophy, although the extent of this influence is still being appraised. It is plain that China's early experience of Buddhism lay behind her later reaction to Christianity, in ways that remain to be studied.21

If we tum the other way and look at the centuries after the Jesuit contact, we may assume that the use of Western cannon in the seventeenth century served as a useful precedent in the minds. of officials in the nineteenth century. The authentic record of the use of Western cannon two-centuries before must also have helped the nineteenth-century officials to admit the superiority of Western arms.

' '

The Conservative Antagonists of Western Christianity and Science

Opposition to the Jesuits and other Western missionaries was motivated partly by the xenophobic suspicion that foreigners were spies; partly by ethical scruples against Christian religious ceremonies which seemed contrary to. Chinese customs such as the veneration of Heaven, ancestors and Confucius; and partly by profes­ sional jealousy, on the assumption that if Catholicism were to become prevalent in China, the decline of the doctrines of Confucius, Buddha, and Lao-tzu would damage the position of their protagonists. Soon after Riccfs death in 1610, troubles had begun.

The Chinese Buddhist leadership appears to have been vehemently anti­ Catholic. Meanwhile most Chinese scholars remained dogmatically opposed to the Westerners' religion. Lacking enthusiasm for their religion, they also disliked their science. From 1659 on, the scholar Yang Kuang-hsien (1597-1669) wrote a number of treatises denouncing the Christian religion and criticizing the calendar made by Adam Schall von Bell. In 1664 he charged Schall with errors in astro­ nomical calculation, and accused the missionaries, with their "million followers" scattered throughout the land, of plotting against the state and indoctrinating the people with false ideas.22 .

· The calendar controversy in particnlar was caused by the opposition of tradi­

tionalists. In a sense, it represented a first symptom of unrest in the Chinese aca• demic world caused by Westerners, just as the Op_iwn War of 1840-1842 was to be the first such disturbance in China's modem political history. The conserva• tives objected to Western scientific instruments, arguing that clocks were expen­ sive but useless, that cannon could not annihilate enemies but usually burned tbe

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THE CHINESE INTELLECTUAL TRADITION 1 5

gunners first, and that on Ricci's map of the globe China was not in the very center and was not large enough. They also objected to Western painting because it lacked forceful strokes. 23

Since such objections were not conclusive, the conservative scholars adopted . another tactic, quoting irrelevant Confucian classics to refute the newly introduced Western koowledge. Yang Kuang-hsien says that the calendar of the legendary Emperors Yao and Shun should be used, even though its predictions may be in- accurate. Juan Yuan (1764-1849), a nineteenth-century representative of the anti-W esternsscience school, says that it is unbelievable that the earth is rotating and he who believes it rebels against the Confucian classics.24 A more powerful line of attack was to make a forced interpretation of vVestern discoveries, cite some vague references from the Chinese classics, and claim a Chinese origin of Western science. In this way it was claimed that the vVestern calendars were derived from the chapter "Yao-tien" in the Book <Yf History; the essential ideas of Western discussions of the earth were derived from the commentary on the tenth chapter of Tseng-tzu; 25 and the formula for computing the circumference of a circle had been figured out and handed down by Tzu Ch'ung-chih (429-500). 26 As for algebra, it was said to have been the method of Li Yeh of the Yuan dynasty, while other elements of Western mathematics were derived from the ancient mathematical classic, Chou-pi suan-ohing.21

Behind all this condemnation of Western learning lay the basic political fact that the Manchu rulers of China could not tolerate the propagation of a foreign religion which asserted the spiritual supremacy of Rome over Peking. By 1640 Japan, under the Tokogawa, had proscribed Christianity and foreign contact (except for the Dutch in Nagasaki) as politically dangerous. In China by the end of the seventeenth century there were Catholic congregations in all but two of the provinces; the Roman Catholic faith was banned in the Yung-cheng period (1723--1735), though less drastically than in Japan (Chinese Christians were compelled to follow the example of those in Japan and trample on the cross) .28 Even before 1773, when the Jesuit order was dissolved by the Pope, the mission- aries at the Chinese court had been limited to serving as technical personnel - painters, musicians and architects - rather than as persons of intellectual impor- tance. They had lost influence as a link between Western and Chinese culture.

The Jesuits and Chinese Science and Technology It remains an interesting question what influence the Catholic missionaries

had on the native Chinese tradition in mathematics, medicine, and similar fields. We know that Western military superiority, which forced China into closer contact with Europe and America, was a product of technology. Like the tank-and-airplane team today, British gunboats in the 1840's proved decisive in battle. The inade- quacy of China's military techniques - her musketeers, movnted archers, and banner-decked war junks -was a symptom of scientific backwardness. Yet it would be quite wrong to conclude that Chinese society had always lagged behind the West in her material culture. On the contrary, .medieval China'.s earlier use of printing, the compass, and gunpowder haa indicated her comparative advance- ment over .medieval Europe. The native roots of science and technology in China haye not yet been thoroughly examined, although the modern world has already gamed useful drugs (like ephedrine) from the old Chinese pharmacopoeia, and the products of many Chinese craftsmen and artists have long been recognized as without peer abroad. How far Chinese technology was influenced by the West before the nineteenth century is still uncertain. ··

The superiority of the Jesuit knowledge of mathematics was soon recognized

THE CHINESE INTELLECTUAL TRADITION 17

was lost among the Chinese. It had to be learned as a new subject more than one hundred years later. 86

All in all, the residual influence of the Western technology made available to China. through the early missionaries seems to have been rather slight. Even when present, it was seldom acknowledged. Meanwhile an anti-Western political tradi- tion had become well established.

c. The Attitude crf the Ch'ing Court toward the Westerners

The Chinese monarchy under the Manchus continued to be a powerful and centralized institution. The emperor was expected to carry a heavy administrative burden day by day, to rule as well as reign. All official business of any importance was supposed to pass before him. The Son of Heaven at the t.op of the Chinese social pyramid was indeed expected to perform a superhuman function, supervis- ing the major personnel, the use of funds and military forces, public works and ceremonies, on a vast and intricate scale.

Two results flowed from this emphasis on the monarchy: one was that a ramified and conservative administrative mechanism had to be maintained at Peking to carry on the various imperial functions under the emperor's aegis. The other was that the emperor himself, as a single man, had all he could do to keep up with his daily duties and meet the dynasty's problems, without seeking further fields of activity outside the court. He was not easily susceptible to new influences coming from abroad, yet his response to them was an essential act of leadership if the Chinese state was to make any response at all. The attitude of the emperor, or the court which surrounded and assisted him, was therefore of prime importance in China's relations with the West- a circumstance which the Jesuits had clearly perceived. , . ,

Since the court's attitude was to play a great part in the nineteenth-century acceptance of the West, let us note briefly the precedents which the early Ch'ing emperors bequeathed to their less fortunate successors of a later day.

When the Manchu conquerors first came to Peking in 1644, they found the Jesuit Adam Schall there, in charge of a bureau compiling a set of monographs on Western methods of calculation for making the calendar. Schall was permitted to continue his work, and when he had the new calendar for 1645 prepared in time for publication, his position as head of the Imperial Bureau of Astronomy was confirmed. During the following two hundred years, except for a short inter- ruption, some Catholic missionary was always in charge of that Bureau. The first Manchu emperor in China, Shun-chili (1644-1661), was very friendly towards Schall and sometimes sought the aged missionary's advice. His successor, K'ang-hsi (reigned 1661-1722) was even more conciliatory towards the Jesuits and made use of their services to a considerable extent. During a controversy in 1669, when their predictions concerning astronomical phenomena were proved correct, he became interested in Western mathematics. Thereafter, the emperor studied Western mathematics and scientific subjects and kept several of the Jesuits near at hand to provide information or translations. In 1689 he sent two of. them with the en:_i.bassy from Chica which went to negotiate a treaty with the Russians at Ne1;chinsk - a treaty demarcating the Sino-Russian boundary in the northeast which remained in force down to the 1840's. For more than a century after 1689, Western missionaries at Peking served as interpreters whenever Russian or other European diplomatic missions came there. K'ang-hsi also employed them ~o teach selected young students mathematics and art, and to supervise the repair-hg of clocks and ;nusic boxes. In the last decade of his reign, as we have noted,

.e sent them out m teams to conduct a cartographic survey of the whole empire.

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18 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

He also tried his best to arbitrate rationally in the so-called rites controversy between the Jesuit and other Catholic orders. The tolerance of this illustrious ruler, however, did not always stretah to the point of permitting missionary work in the entire empire. Evidently fearing that political repercussions would follow provincial proselytizing, K'ang-hsi introduced a system of passports in order to allow only certain missionaries in Peking and Macao. This policy was followed by his successors. 87

Yung-cheng (1723-1735) developed a dislike for Western missionaries be- cause some of them had taken the side of his opponents on the issue of his suc- cession to the throne. Those who had official posts in Peking he tolerated, but he deported many others who were working in the provinces.•• Under Ch'ien-lung ( 1736--1795), European mechanics were still employed to assemble and repair the clockworks and other devices brought from Europe, and several Jesuit mission- aries served as architects of the buildings and landscape garden in Italian style which formed a part of the Old Summer Palace. About 1747 a fountain in the Western style was constructed by Michet Benoist, and this became the nucleus of a group of buildings in the Italian style designed by Castiglione. 39 By the last years of Ch'ien-lung, however, when the Macartney embassy of 1793 visited Peking from England, the Europeans had ceased to play much part at the Ch'ing court. Their long-continued activities there, perhaps because more technical than ideological, had evidently not given the Manchu rulers any real understanding of the West. The center of contact shifted to Canton.

Until this time, the missionaries at Peking had usually been referred to as "men of the Western Ocean" (Hsi-yang /en), meaning Europeans. But as Sino- Western contact and conBict increased in the early nineteenth century, the generic term "barbarians" ( i), long ~pplied to the Europeans at Canton, came into more general use. In the traditional Chinese society, every person had his place and designation; and since the early Portuguese adventurers who reached China by sea after 1514 were non-Chinese in culture, and also inclined to piracy and rapine, this appellation had been fitting both in the old Greek sense of "barbarian" as "outlandish'' and in the later sense of the term as "barbarous." The non-Chinese of Inner Asia had provided an inexhaustible reservoir of "barbarians" since the beginning of Chinese history. There was nothing novel in the idea of bellicose foreigners turning up on the Chinese frontier. The Portuguese and their successors had been assimilated into the Confucian scheme of things by being allowed to dwell on the southeast coast at Macao or Canton under· a careful, if polite, quaran- tine. The success of the Jesuits at Peking had been an inside job, quite distinct from the trade of Western merchants on the South China coast. By tlie end of the eighteenth century, the. Western world was represented there chiefly by the British East India Company trading at Canton, where a complex of Sino-Western problems was gradually accumulating over such questions as diplomatic equality, taxation of trade, and legal procedures. It was most unfortunate for the Manchu dynasty at Peking and the Chinese and Manchu officials who represented it at Canton that the Chinese concept of the West had been so little developed.

Knowing little of the West in fact;China's ruling class applied to it the ancient theory of tributary relations - the grand and ancient concept that the Middle Kingdom was indeed the center of civilization, that the Son of Heaven actually represented all mankind in his functions as a moral and ceremonial intermediary between human society and the unseen forces of Nature, and that all ,the surround- ing tribes and peoples should naturally recognize this central fact. The Chinese theory of state, in short, was that of a universal empire. Foreign rulers who wished contact or trade with the empire should flrst enroll as tributaries, accept investi- ture, send envoys to perform the kotow ( three kneelings and nine prostrations)

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150 THE MATURATION OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION

YANG GUANGXIAN'S CRITIQUE OF CHRISTIANITY

Literati opposition to Christianity increased in the late seventeenth century. The growing opposition was only partly a reaction to the initial success of Christianity in attracting disciples. The collapse of the native Ming dynasty and the conquest of China by the Manchus in 1644 caused a slight shift in the direction of Chinese culture. The rulers of the new Qing dynasty embraced a conservative form of Confucian philosophy, while the Chinese literati recoiled from the experimental syncretism of the late Ming in a defensive return to Confucian tradition. Con~equently, a foreign teaching, such as Christianity,

faced greater obstacles than previously. The growing obstacles were epitomized in writings by Yang Guangxian

(1597-1669), whose intensity of feeling against Christianity stemmed as much from the sincerity and devotion of his Neo-Confucian beliefs as from xenopho- bic prejudice against a foreign teaching. Yang was particularly harsh in his criticism of one of the most prominent Jesuit missionaries in seventeenth-cen- tury China, Johann Adam Schall von Bell (1592-1666). Father Schall had not only been very successful in supervising calendrical work in the Chinese Bureau of Astronomy in Beijing but also had been unusually close to the youthful first Manchu ruler, the Shunzhi emperor (r. 1644-166!). Xu Guangqi was as devout a Confucian as Yang Guangxian, but while Xu believed that Confucianism and Christianity were in harmony, Yang believed that they were in irreconcilable conflict and that the adoption of Christianity by Chinese would necessarily \ \

diminish the way of the ancients (i.e., Confucianism). Yang succeeded in having Schall and the other Jesuits dismissed from the

Bureau of Astronomy and he was appointed in their place to oversee the astro- nomical work. He lacked the mathematical skill to lead this effort, however, and in spite of the assistance of Muslim astronomers, he could not respond effectively when the Jesuits challenged the validity of his calendar. When the Kangxi emperor disbanded the regency and assumed personal control of the government in 1668, Yang was removed form the Bureau of Astronomy and the Jesuits were reappointed in his place. Yang died in disgrace soon afterward, but the intensity of his_ anti-Christian views persisted among the literati.

YANG GUANGXIAN: I CANNOT DO OTHERWISE (BUDEYI)

Beginning in 1659, Yang Guangxian wrote a series of attacks on Christianity that were collected and published in 1665 under the title Budeyi (I Cannot Do Otherwise). One of the most effective charges that he made was to cast Jesus as a rebellious figure. By doing so, Yang was attempting to damage the Christians in the eyes of the throne and Chinese scholar-officials by showing them to be a subversive sect akin to other noto-

rious and outlawed quasi-religious sects, such as the White Lotus Society. In this same

In de Bary and Lufrano, Sources of Chinese Tradition, vol. 2, 150-152.

Chinese Responses to Early Christian Contacts 151

light, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was critidzed by Yang for being an immoral woman who conceived Jesus by having sexual relations with a man other than her husband,

Joseph.

In [the Jesuit Father] Adam Schall's own preface orte can read that [the Chris- tian scholars] Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao both understood that they could not dare publicly to give offense to Confucian norms. Adam Schall' s work says that one man and one woman were created as the first ancestors of all humankind. He was not actually so bold as to make the contemptuous assertion that all the peoples in the world are offshoots of his teaching, but according to a book by [the Christian scholar] Li Zubo, 8 the Qing dynasty is nothing but an offshoot of Judea; our ancient Chinese rulers, sages, and teachers were but the offshoots of a heterodox sect; and our classics and the teachings of the sages propounded generation after generation are no more than the remnants of a heterodox teaching. How can we abide these calumnies! They really aim to inveigle the people of the Qing into rebelling against the Qing and following this heterodox sect, which would lead all-under-Heaven to abandon respect for rulers and fathers ....

Our Confucian teaching is based on the Five Relationships (between parent and child, ruler and minister, husband and wife, older and younger brothers, and friends), whilst the Lord of Heaven Jesus was crucified because he plotted

· against his own country, showing that he did not recognize the relationship between ruler and subject. Mary, the mother of Jesus, had a husband named Joseph, but she said Jesus was not conceived by him.

Those who follow this teaching [Christianity] are not allowed to worship their ancestors and ancestral tablets. They do not recognize the relationship of parent and child. Their teachers oppose the Buddhists and Daoists, who do recognize the relationship between ruler and subject and father and son. Jesus did not recognize the relationship between ruler and subject and parent and child, and yet the Christians speak of him as recognizing these relationships. What arrant nonsense! ...

[The Jesuit Father] M. Ricci wished to honor Jesus as the Lord of Heaven. (Tianzhu) who leads the multitude of nations and sages from above, and he particularly honored him by citing references to the Lord-on-High (Shangdi) in the Six Classics of China, quoting passages out of context to prove that Jesus was the Lord of Heaven. He said that the Lord of Heaven was referred to in the ancient classical works as the Lord-on-High, and what we in the west call "the Lord of Heaven" is what the Chinese have spoken of as "the Lord-on- High. » [According to Ricci] the Heaven (Tian) of the blue sky functions as a servant of the Lord-oncHigh, which is located neither in the east nor in the

8, Li Zubo, Tianxue quankai (A Summary of the Propagation. of Christianity, 1665).

152 THE MATURATION OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION

west, lacks a head or stomach, has no hands or feet, and is unable to be honored. How much less would earthbound land, which a multitude of feet trample and defile, be considered something to be revered? Thus Heaven and Earth are not at all to be revered. Those who argue like this are no more than beasts able to speak a human language.

Heaven is the great origin of all events, things, and principles. When prin- ciples (Ii) are established, material-force (qi) comes into existence. Then, in turn, numbers are created and from these numbers, images begin to take form. Heaven is Principle within form, and Principle is Heaven without form. When shape comes in to its utmost form, then Principle appears therein; this is why Heaven is Principle. Heaven contains all events and things, while Principle also contains all events and things and, as a result, when one seeks the origin of things in the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji) it is only what we call Principle. Beyond principle there is no other principle, and beyond Heaven there is no other Heaven [i.e., Lord of Heaven]. ·

[Budeyi, in Wu Xiangxiang, Tianzhujiao tongiuan wenxian xubian, pp. 1090-1122 - DM, JDY]

__ _.J

CHAPTER 6

In Cheng and Lestz with Jonathan, The Search for Modern China, A Documentary Collection, 92-l 09.

China and the Eighteenth-Century World

6.1 LORD MACARTNEY's COMMISSION

FROM HENRY DUNDAS, 1792

By the end of the eighteenth century, the expansion of foreign trade, and especially trade in Asia, was a central preoccupation of the Crown govern­ ment. The foundations for British rule of India had been laid down by the time of the passage of the India Bill of 1784 and at the end of the eigh­ teenth century thousands of English merchants, soldiers, and missionaries were already living on the Indian sub-continent. At the same time British East India Company had discovered that India was an ideal trading base in Asia and was regularly organizing far-flung expeditions designed to extend the radius of English trading activities.

The British East India Company (BEIC), organized in 1600 to compete with the Dutch in Asia, was a trading monopoly that completely domi­ nated English trade with China until the dissolution of its monopoly rights in 1834. In India, the Company was both a mercantile combine and was evolving into the agency of British rule in colonial Asia. By the time of the Macartney mission, the BEIC was amassing huge profits from its traffic in Indian and Chinese tea and had already begun, albeit on a small scale, to smuggle contraband opium from Bengal to Canton where it was exchanged for silver.

From the British perspective, the framework for Indian-Chinese trading activities was far from satisfactory. The Canton system limited British ships to a single port and imposed numerous vexing conditions on trading activities. To seek remedies for these problems, Sir Henry Dundas (1742- 1811), a member of William Pitt's inner circle, president of the board of the BEIC, and, in 1792, Great Britain's home minister, urged the dispatch

MACARTNEY's CnM:.1fSSION j 93

of a mission to Peking. Subsequently, Lord Macartney, who was a personal friend of Dundas, was appointed "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipo­ tentiary from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China" and in September 1792 set out with an eighty-four-man mission from London to make contact with the Chinese.

The document that follows was the official charge of the Home Minis­ try to Macartney. While it sharply outlines the Crown's hopes for the mis­ sion, it also shows a certain befuddlement about the nature of the Chinese government. It is important to note that Dundas' charge shows that Great Britain was willing to negotiate a reduction in opium imports if more important conditions were met by tbe throne. In the time of Qianlong (1736-1795), China was able to resist British pleas for wider relations but they were to be reasserted in an increasingly forceful way until, by rhe time of the Opium War, such pleas became demands backed with military might.

Whitehall 8th September 1792 My Lord.

Having to signify to your Excellency His Majesty's Commands and Instruc, tions on the subject of the Embassy to which he has been pleased to appoint you, I shall introduce them by recalling to your attention the occasion and object of this measure.

A greater number of His Majesty's subjects than of any other Europeans, have been trading for a considerable time past in China. The commercial inter, course between several nations and that great empire, has been preceded, accom, panied or followed, by special communications with its Sovereign. Others had the support of Missionaries, who from their eminence in Science or ingenuity in the arts, were frequently admitted to the familiarity of a curious and polished Court, and which Missionaries in the midst of their care for the propagation of their faith are not supposed to have been unmindful of the view and interests of their Country; while the English traders remained w1aided, and as it were, unavowed, at a distance so remote, as to admit of a misrepresentation of the national character and importance, and where too, their occupation was not held in that esteem which ought to procure their safety and respect.

Under the circumstances it would become the dignity and character of his Majesty, to extend his paternal regard to these his distant subjects, even if the commerce and prosperity of the Nation were not concerned in their success; and to claim the Emperor of China's particular protection for them, with the weight which is due to the requisition of one great Sovereign from another.

A free communication with a people, perhaps the most singular on the Globe, among whom civilization has existed, and the arts have been cultivated thro' a long series of ages, with fewer interruptions than elsewhere, is well worthy, also, of this Nation, which saw with pleasure, and applauded with gratitude,

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9 4 I C H l N A A N D T H E I 8 T H C E N 1' U R Y \\! o R r., D

the several voyages undertaken already by his Majesty's command, and at the public expense, in the pursuit of knowledge, and for the discovery and obser­ vation of distant Countries and manners.

The extent and value of the British dominions in India, which connect us in some degree with every part of that Country, point out also the propriety of establishing sufficient means of representation and transaction of business with our principal Neighbours there.

The measures lately taken by Government respecting the Tea trade, having more than trebled the former legal importation of this article into Great Britain, it is become particularly desirable to cultivate a friendship, and increase the communication with China, which may lead to such a vent throughout that extensive Empire, of the manufactures of the mother Country, and of our Indian Territories, as beside contributing to their prosperity will out of the sales of such produce, furnish resources for the investment to Europe, now requiring no less an annual sum than one million, four hundred thousand pounds.

Hitherto, however, Great Britain has been obliged to pursue the Trade with that Country under circumstances the most discouraging, hazardous to its agents employed in conducting it, and precarious to the various interests involved in it. The only place where His Majesty's subjects have the privilege of a factory is Canton. The fair competition of the Market is there destroyed by association,; of the Chinese; our Supercargoes are denied open access to the tribunals of the-Country, and to the equal execution of its laws, and are kept altogether in a most arbitrary state of depression, ill suited to the importance of the concerns which are entrusted to their care, and scarcely compatible with the regulations of civilized society.,.,

His Majesty from his earnest desire to promote the present undertaking and in order to give the greater dignity to the Embassy, has been graciously pleased to order one of His Ships of War to convey you and your Suite to the Coast of China. With the same view he has ordered a Military Guard to attend your Person, to be composed of chosen Men from the light Dragoons, Infantry and Artillery, with proper Officers, under the command of Major Benson, whom he has determined to raise to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel upon this occasion. This guard will add splendour and procure respect to the Embassy; the order, appearance and evolutions of the Men may convey no useless idea of our military Character and discipline, and if it should excite in the Emperor a desire of adopting any of the exercise or maneuvers, among the Troops, an opportunity thus offers to him, for which a return of good offices on his part is natural to be expected. It will be at your option to detach one of the Lieutenants of the Ship, or of your Guard, in His Majesty's uniform to accompany the Messenger whom you will send to announce at Pekin [Peking] your arrival on the coast, if you should approach that Capital by Sea.

Besides the Chinese Interpreters whom you have already procured you will

MACARTNEY'S COMMISSION 195

perhaps meet in your progress some Portuguese, Spanish, or Italian Missionary, or other intelligent Person free from national attachments or prejudices, who may be useful to be employed in your Service.

Should your answer be satisfactory, and I will not suppose the contrary, you wHI then assume the Character and public appearance of His Majesty's Ambas, sador Extraordinary, and proceed with as much ceremony as can be admitted without causing a material delay, or incurring an unreasonable expense. You will procure an audience as early as possible after your arrival, conforming to all ceremonials of that Court, which may not commit the honour of your Sov• ereign, or lessen your own dignity, so as to endanger the success of your nego- tiation.

Whilst I make this reserve, I am satisfied you will be too prudent and con- siderate, to let any trifling punctilio stand in the way of the important benefits which may be obtained by engaging the favourable disposition of the Emperor and his Ministers. You will take the earliest opportunity of representing to His Imperial Majesty, that your Royal Master, already so justly celebrated in Foreign Countries on account of the voyages projected under his immediate auspices, for the acquisition and diffusion of knowledge, was from the same disposition desirous of sending an embassy to the most civilized as well as most ancient and populous Nation in the World in order to observe its celebrated institutions, and to communicate and receive the benefits which must result from an unre- served and friendly intercourse between that Country and his own. You will take care to express the high esteem which His Majesty has conceived for the Emperor, from the wisdom and virtue with which his character has been dis, tinguished. A like compliment may be made in the event of the death of Hien, long [Qianlong], to the Prince who will be his Successor, as he has been in the management of the Public affairs for some time.

It is not unlikely that the Emperor's curiosity may lead to a degree of famil- iarity with you, in conversing upon the manners or circumstances of Europe and other Countries; and as despotic Princes are frequently more easy of access than their Ministers and dependents, you will not fail to turn such contingency to proper advantage. I do not mean to prescribe to you the particular mode of your negotiation; much must be left to your circumspection, and the judgement to be formed upon occurrences as they arise; but upon the present view of the matter, I am inclined to believe that instead of attempting to gain upon the Chinese Administration by representations founded upon the intricacies of either European or Indian Politicks, you should fairly state, after repeating the general assurances of His Majesty's friendly and pacific inclinations towards the Emperor, and his respect for the reputed mildness of his Administration, first the mutual benefit to be derived from a trade between the two Nations, in the course of which we receive beside other articles to the amount of twenty millions of Pounds weight of a Chinese herb, which would find very little vent, as not

961CHINA AND THE 18TH CENTURY WORLD

being in general use in other Countries, European or Asiatic, and for which we return woolens, cottons, and other articles useful to the Chinese, but a consid­ erable part is actually paid to China in bullion.

Secondly, that the great extent of our commercial concerns in China, requires a place of security as a depot for such of our Goods as cannot be sold off or shipped during the short season that is allowed for our shipping to arrive and depart, and that for this purpose we wish to obtain a grant of a small tract of ground or detached Island, but in a more convenient situation than Canton, where our present warehouses are at a great distance from our Ships, and where we are not able to restrain the irregularities which are occasionally committed by the seamen of the Company's Ships, and those of private traders.

Thirdly, that our views are purely commercial, having not even a wish for territory; that we desire neither fortification nor defense but only the protection of the Chinese Government for our Merchants or their agents in trading or travelling thro the Country and a security to us against the encroachments of other powers, who might ever aim to disturb our trade; and you must here be prepared to obviate any prejudice which may arise from the argument of our present dominions in India by stating our situation in this respect to have arisen without our intending it, from the necessity of our defending ourselves against the oppressions of the revolted Nabobs, who entered into Cabals to our prejudice with other Nations of Europe, and disregarded rhe privileges granted to us by different Emperors, or by such other arguments as your own reflections upon the subject will suggest.

This topic I have reason to believe will be very necessary to enforce by every means in your power, as it is the great object of other European Nations to injure not only the Indian powers, but likewise the Emperor and Ministers of China with an idea of danger in countenancing the Subjects of Great Britain, as if it were the intention of this Country to aim at extending its territory in every quarter. As nothing can be more untrue than these representations it will not be difficult for you to find arguments which may counteract the effect of them.

If any favorable opportunity should be afforded to your Excellency it will be advisable that the difficulties with which our trade has long laboured at Canton should be. represented; but in making such a representation you will endeavour to convince the Emperor that it is from His Majesty's design to attribute any act of misconduct to persons employed under the Chinese Government but with a view only to appease his Imperial Majesty that such difficulties do exist, in full confidence that from his wisdom and justice they will not hereafter be experienced.

Should a new establishment be conceded you will take it in the name of the King of Great Britain. You will endeavour to obtain it on the most beneficial terms� with a power of regulating the police, and exercising jurisdiction over

Mt\CARTNEY'S COMMISSION 197

our own dependents, for which competent powers would be given so as effec- tually to prevent or punish the disorders of our people, which the Company's Supercargos in their limited sphere of action must see committed with impunity. Should it be required rhat no native Chinese be subject to be punished by our jurisdiction, or should any particular modification of this power be exacted it is not material ultimately to reject either of these propositions provided British subjects can be exempted from the Chinese jurisdiction for crimes, and that the British Chief or those under him he not held responsible if any Culprit should escape the pursuit ofJustice, after search has been made by British and Chinese Officers acting in conjunction ....

It is necessary you should be on your Guard against one stipulation which, perhaps, will be demanded from you: which is that of the exclusion of the trade of opium from the Chinese dominions as being prohibited by the Laws of the Empire; if this subject should come into discussion, it must be handled with the greatest circumspection. It is beyond a doubt that no inconsiderable portion of the opium raised within our Indian territories actually finds its way to China: but if it should be made a positive requisition or any article of any proposed commercial treaty, that none of that drug should be sent by us to China, you must accede to it, rather than risk any essential benefit by contending for a liberty in this respect in which case the sale of our opium in Bengal must be left to take its chance in an open market, or to find a consumption in the dispersed and circuitous traffic of the eastern Seas,

A due sense of wisdom and justice of the King of Great Britain, which it will be your business to impress, as well as of the wealth and power of this Country, and of the genius and knowledge of its Pe0ple, may naturally lead to a preferable acceptance of a treaty of friendship and alliance with us, as most worthy of themselves; and in a political light, as most likely to be useful to them, from our naval force, being the only assistance of which they may foresee the occasional importance to them.

In case the embassy should have an amicable and prosperous termination, it may be proposed to his Imperial Majesty to receive an occasional or perpetual Minister from the King of Great Britain, and to send one on his own part to the Court of London, in the assurance that all proper honours will be paid to any person who may be deputed in that sacred character ....

During the continuance of the Embassy you will take every possible oppor- tunity that may arise, of transmitting to me for His Majesty's information, an account of your proceedings, and also of communicating with Earl Cornwallis, or the Governor General of Bengal for the time being, w,th wbose views and efforts for promoting the trade of India ro the East, it is particularly desirable you should co-operate, as far as tbey may be consistent with the present instruc- tions,

Sincerely wishing your Excellency a prosperous voyage and complete success

981 CHINA AND THE 18TH CENTURY WORLD

in the very important objects of it, l have the honour to be with great regard, My Lord,

Your Excellency's most obedient and most humble Servant Henry Dundas.

6.2 MACARTNEY's AUDIENCE WITH

QIANLONG

After his arrival in China in June 1793, Lord Macartney met twice with the Qianlong emperor at the Rehe summer palace. Although Macartney was treated with great courtesy by Qianlong, he was ultimately frustrated in achieving any of the concrete objects of his mission.

Despite failures in negotiating trade or diplomatic accords, Macartney was remarkably successful in piercing the veils of mystery and misconcep­ tion that had hitherto prevented Europeans from grasping the nature of Qing China. The following document represents Macartney's assessment of the Qing state and is notable for its acute portrayal of many of the prob­ lems that would frustrate Manchu rulers until the abdication of Puyi in 191 l. Especially prescient, in this regard, are Macartney's remarks on the frictions inherent in the system of Manchu/Han dyarchy' and his accurate comprehension of the dangers of peasant revolt.

Saturday, September 14. This morning at four o'clock a.m. we set out for the Court under the convoy of Wang and Chou, and reached it in little more than an hour, the distance being about three miles from our hotel. I proceeded in great state with all my train music, guards, etc. Sir George Staunton and I went in palanquins and the officers and gentlemen of the Embassy on horseback. Over a rich embroidered velvet I wore the mantle of the Order of the Bath, with the collar, a diamond badge and a diamond star.

Sir George Staunton was dressed in a rich embroidered velvet also, and, being a Doctor of Laws in the University of Oxford, wore the habit of his degree, which is of scarlet silk, full and flowing. I mention these little particulars to show the attention I always paid, where a proper opportunity offered, to oriental customs and ideas. We alighted at the park gate, from whence we walked to the Imperial encampment, and were conducted to a large, handsome tent pre­ pared for us on one side of the Emperor's. After waiting there about an hour his approach was announced by drums and music, on which we quitted our tent and came forward upon the green carpet.

L The system of double-rule practices throughout the Qing a.s Han Chinese and Manchu officials served together within many organs of the state bureaucracy.

MACARTNF.Y'S AUDIENCE WITH QIANLONG 99

He was seated in an open palanquin, carried by sixteen bearers, attended by numbers of officers bearing flags, srnndards, and umbrellas, and as he passed we paid him our compliments by kneeling on one knee, whilst all the Chinese made their usual prostrations, As soon as he had ascended his throne I came to the entrance of the tent, and, holding in both my hands a large gold box enriched with diamonds in which was enclosed the King's letter, I walked deliberately up, and ascendiitg the side-steps of the throne, delivered it into the Emperor's own hands, who, having received it, passed it to the Minister, by whom it was placed on the cushion. He then gave me as the first present from him to His Majesty the ju-eu-jou or giou-giou, as rbe symbol of peace and prosperity, and expressed his hopes that my Sovereign and he should always live in good cor• respondence and amity. It is a whitish, agate-looking stone about a foot and a half long, curiously carved, and highly prized by the Chinese, but to me it does not appear in itself to be of any great value.

The Emperor then presented me with aju-eu-jou of a greenish-coloured stone of the same emblematic character; at the same time he very graciously received from me a pair of beautiful enamelled watches set with diamonds, which I had prepared in consequence of the information given me, an<l which, having looked at, he passed to the Minister. Sir George Staunton, whom, as he had been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to act in case of my death or departure, l introduced to him as such, now came forward, and after kneeling upon one knee in the same manner which I had done, presented to him two elegant air- guns, and received from him a ju•eu-jou of greenish stone nearly similar to mine. Other presents were sent at the same time to all the gentlemen of my train. We then descended from the steps of the throne, and sat down upon cushions at one of the tables on the Emperor's left hand; and at other rabies, according to their different ranks, the chief Tartar Princes and the Mandarins of the Court at the same time took their places, all dressed in the proper robes of their respective ranks. These tables were then uncovered and exhibited a sumptuous banquet. The Emperor sent us several dishes from bis own table, together with some liquors, which the Chinese call wine, not, however, expressed from the grape, but distilled or extrncted from rice, herbs, and honey, In about half an hour he sent for Sir George Staunton and me to come to him, and gave to each of us, with his own hands, a cup of warm wine, which we immediately drank in his presence, and found it very pleasant and comfortable, the morning being cold and raw,

Amongst other things, he asked me the age of my King, and being informed of it, said he hoped be might live as many years as himself, which are eighty- three. His manner is dignified, but affable, and condescending, and his reception of us has been very gracious and satisfactory, He is a very fine old genrlema.n, still healthy and vigorous, not having the appearance of a man of more than sixty,

The order and regularity in serving and removing the dinner was wonder-

1ooic1-11NA AND THE l8TH CENTURY WORLD

fully exact, and every function of the ceremony performed with such silence and solemnity as in some measure to resemble rhe celebration of a religious mystery. The Emperor's tent or pavilion, which is circular, I should calculate to be about twenty-four or twenty-five yards in diameter, and is supported by a number of pillars, either gilded, painted, or varnished, according to their distance and position. In the front was an opening of six yards, and from this opening a yellow fly-tent projected so as to lengthen considerably the space between the entrance and the throne.

The materials and distribution of the furniture within at once displayed grandeur and elegance. The tapestry, the curtains, the carpets, the lanterns, the fringes, the tassels were disposed with such harmony, the colours so artfully varied, and the light and shades so judiciously managed, th<lt the whole assem- blage filled the eye with delight, and diffused over the mind a pleasing serenity and repose undisturbed by glitter or affected embellishments. The commanding feature of the ceremony was that calm dignity, that sober pomp of Asiatic greatness, which European refinements have not yet attained.

I forgot to mention that there were present on this occasion three ambassadors from Tatze or Pegu and six Mohammedan ambassadors from the Kai mucks of the south-west, but their appearance was not very splendid. Neither must I omit that, during the ceremony, which lasted five hours, various entertainments of wrestling, tumbling, wire-dancing, together with dramatic representations, were exhibited opposite rn the tent, but at a considerable distance from it.

Thus, then, have I seen 'King Solomon in all his glory'. I use this expression, as the scene recalled perfectly to my memory a puppet show of that name which I recollect to have seen in my childhood, and which made so strong an impres- sion on my mind that l then thought it a true representation of the highest pitch of human greatness and felicity.

6.3 MACARTNEY'S DESCRIPTION OF CHINA'S GOVERNMENT

The ancient constitution of China differed essentially from the present. Although the Emperor was styled despotic, and decorated with all the titles and epithets of oriental hyperbole, the power and administration of the state resided in the great councils or tribunals, whose functions were not to be violated or disturbed by couJ't intrigue or ministerial caprice. It was government by law, and when attempts were made by their princes to render it otherwise, as often happened, rebellion was the consequence and expulsion the penalty. Hence according to history the regular succession of the crown was broken through, new sovereigns elected, and the former constitution restored. The present family on the throne is the twenty-second distinct dynasty whose hands have swayed

UESCRIPTION UF CHINA'S GOVERNMENT [ tOt

the sceptre of China. The government as it now stands is properly the tyranny of a handful of Tartars over more than three hundred millions of Chinese.

An uninterrupted succession of four Emperors, all endowed with excellent understandings, uncommon vigor of mind and decision of character, has hith­ erto obviated the danger of such an enormous disproportion, and not only maintained itself on the throne, but enlarged its dominions to a prodigious extent.

Various causes have contributed to this wonderful phenomenon in the politi­ cal world. When the Tartars entered China a century and a half ago, the country had long languished under a weak administration, had been desolated by civil wars and rebellions, and was then dispnted by several unworthy competitors. The Tartars availing themselves of these circumstances, at first took part as auxiliaries in favour of one of the candidates but they soon became principals, and at last by valour and perseverance surmounted every obstacle to their own establishment. The spirit of the Chinese was now effectually subdued by the weight of calamity; they were wearied with contending for the mere choice of tyrants among themselves, and they less reluctantly submitted to a foreign usur­ pation. The conquerors, however terrible in arms and ferocious in their man­ ners, were conducted by a leader of a calm judgement as well as of a resolute mind, who tempered the despotism he introduced with so much prudence and policy that it seemed preferable to the other evils which they had so recently groaned under. A state of tranquil subjection succeeded for some time to the turbulence and horrors of a doubtful hostility; the government, though absolute, was at least methodical and regular. It menaced but did not injure; the blow might be dreaded, but it seldom was felt. ...

The government of China, as now instituted, may not ineptly be compared to Astley's amphitheatre, where a single jockey rides a number of horses at once, who are so nicely bitted and dressed that he can impel them with a whisper, or stop them with a hair. But at the same time he knows the conse­ quence of mismanagement or neglect, and that if they are not properly matched, curried and fed, patted and stoked, some of them will be liable to run out of the circle, to kick at their keepers and refuse to be mounted any longer. Con­ sidering then all circumstances, the original defect of title to the inheritance, the incessant anxiety of forcible possession, the odium of a foreign yoke, the inevitable combats of passion in a sovereign's breast, when deceived by artifice, betrayed by perfidy, or provoked by rebellion, the doubtful and intricate bound­ aries of reward and punishment, where vigor and indulgence may be equally misapplied, the almost incalculable population, the immense extent of domin­ ion, the personal exertions requisite in war, and the no less difficult talents of ad1ninistration in peace-considering, I say, all these circumstances, the gov­ ernment of such an empire must be a task that has hitherto been performed with wonderful ability and unparalleled success. That such singular skill in the

l021CHINA AND THE, 18TB CENTURY WORLD

art of reigning should have been uninterruptedly transmitted through a suc- cession of four princes for upwards of a century and a half would be very difficult to account for, if we did not constantly bear in mind a fundamental principle of the state, All power and authority in China derive solely from the sovereign, and they are not only distributed by him in his life time, but attest their origin after his decease. The appointment of his successor is exclusively vested in him. Without regard to primogeniture, without the fondness of a parent, without the partiality of a friend, he acts on this occasion as the father of the state, and selects the person of his family, whom he judges the most worthy to replace him. Every choice of this kind as yet made has been unex- ceptionably fortunate. K'ang-hsi proved as great a prince as his father; Yung- cheng was inferior to neither, and Ch'ien-lung surpasses the glory of all his predecessors, Who is the Atlas destined by him to bear this load of empire when he dies is yet unknown, but on whatever shoulders it may fall, another trans- migration of Fo-hi into the next emperor will be necessary to enable him to sustain it on its present balance; for though within the serene atmosphere of the Court everything wears the face of happiness and applause, yet. it cannot be concealed that the nation in general is far from being easy or contented, The frequent insurrections in the distant provinces are unambiguous oracles of the real sentiments and temper of the people. The predominance of the Tartars and the Emperor's partiality to them are the common subject of conversation among the Chinese whenever they meet together in private, and the constant theme of their discourse. There are cerrnin mysterious societies in every province who are known to be dis-affected, and although narrowly watched by the govern- ment, they find means to elude its vigilance and often to hold secret assemblies, where they revive the memory of ancient glory and independence, brood over recent injuries, and mediate revenge.

Though much circumscribed in the course of our travels we had opportu" nities of observarion seldom afforded to others, and not neglected by us, The genuine character of the inhabitants, and the effects resulting from the refined polity and principles of the government, which are meant to restrain and direct them, naturally claimed my particular attention and inquiry. In my researches I often perceived the ground to be hollow under a vast superstrucrnre, and in trees of the most stately and flourishing appearance I discovered symptoms of speedy decay, whilst humbler plants were held by vigorous roots, and mean edifices rested on steady foundations. The Chinese are now recovering from the blows that had stunned them; they are awaking from the political stupor they had been thrown into by the Tartar impression, and begin to feel their native energies revive. A slight collision might elicit fire from the flint, and spread flames of revolt from one extremity of China to the other. In fact the volume of the empire is now grown too ponderous and disproportionate to be easily grasped by a single hand, be it ever so capacious and strong. It is possible, notwithstanding, that the momentum impressed on the machine by the vigor

QIAN LONG'S REJECTION [ 103

and wisdom of the present Emperor may keep it steady and entire in its orbit for a considerable time longer; but I should not be surprised if its dislocation or dismemberment were to take place before my own dissolution. Whenever such an event happens, it will probably be attended with all the horrors and atrocities from which they were delivered by the Tartar domination; but men are apt to lose the memory of former evils under the pressure of immediate suffering; and what can be expected from those who are corrupted by servitude, exasperated by despotism and maddened by despair? Their condition, however, might then become still worse than it can be at present. Like the slave who fled into the desert from his chains and was devoured by the lion, they may draw down upon themselves oppression and destruction by their very effort to avoid them, may be poisoned by their own remedies and be buried themselves in the graves which they dug for others. A sudden transition from slavery to freedom, from dependence to authority, can seldom be borne with moderation or discre- tion. Every change in the stare of man ought to be gentle and gradual, otherwise it is commonly dangerous to himself and intolerable to others. A due prepa- ration may be as necessary for liberty as for inoculation of the smallpox which, like liberty, is future health but without due preparation is almost certain destruction. Thus then the Chinese, if not led to emancipation by degrees, but let loose on a burst of enthusiasm would probably fall into all the excesses of folly, suffer all the paroxysms of madness, and be found as unfit for the enjoy- ment of freedom as the French and the negrnes.

6.4 AND 6.5 QIANLONG'S REJECTION OF MACARTNEY'$

DEMANDS: Two EDICTS

Qianlong's famous edicts to George Ill were the Qing government's response to the proposals carried to Peking by Lord George Macartney. In 1793, Qianlong ruled territories many times the size of Great Britain; indeed, China with its dependencies was the largest unified empire in the world and had been undefeated in all of the wars it had fought with its neighbors since the seventeenth century. Each year, in adherence to a schedule established by the Board of Rites, tribute emissaries from Burma, Korea, Vietnam, fapan, and other territories trekked to Peking to pay their respects to the Chinese throne. In return for obeisance and tribute, the Qing government condescended to allow these far-flung "vassal states" !fanguo) to enjoy trade with China and extended protection to their mon- archies. Scholars in these countries learned Chinese and memorized the Chinese classics, and in Korea, Vietnam, and Japan, the lessons of Chinese political and institutional history were assiduously studied and imitated.

104,CHINA AND THE 18TH CrtNTl!RY WORLD

The Forbidden City was the center of a political world in which loyalties had been beaten into place the by hankiding Manchu generals of the sev- enteenth century. But the historical roots of this polity stretched back some two millennia.

It is, thus, little wonder that the Qianlong emperor regarded Lord Mac- cartney as little more than a self~important tributary emissary and rejected all of his requests without discussion or debate. In. the edicts that follow, Macartney' s charge from Henry Dundas was refused practically article by article. On his own turf, the Chinese emperor was used to defining things in a peremptory way but also with regard to the precedents built into the Qing scheme of foreign affairs. Qianlong's logic in these edicts was solidly founded on history, power, and a belief that a tiny maritime state thousands of Ii from China was not a force to be reckoned with.

6.4 The First Edict, September 1793

You, 0 King, live beyond the confines of many seas, nevertheless, impelled by your humble desire to partake of the benefits of our civilization, you have dispatched a mission respectfully bearing your memorial. Your Envoy has crossed the seas and paid his respects at my Court on tbe anniversary of my birthday. To show your devotion, you have also sent offerings of your country's produce.

I have perused your memorial: the earnest terms in which it is couched reveal a respectful humility on your part, which is highly praiseworthy. In consider- ation of the fact that your Ambassador and his deputy have come a long way with your memorial and tribute, I have shown them high favour and have allowed them to be introduced into my presence. To manifest my indulgence, I have entertained them at a banquet and made them numerous gifts. I have also caused presents to be forwarded to the Naval Commander and six hundred of his officers and men, although they did not come to Peking, so that they too may share in my all-embracing kindness.

As to your entreaty to send one of your nationals to be accredited to my Celestial Court and co be in control of your country's trade with China, this request is contrary to all usage of my dynasty and cannot possibly be entertained. It is true that Europeans, in the service of the dynasty, have been permitted to live at Peking, but they are compelled to adopt Chinese dress, they are strictly confined to their own precincts and are never permitted to return home. You are presumably familiar with our dynastic regulations. Your proposed Envoy to my Court could not be placed in a position similar to that of European officials in Peking who are forbidden to leave China, nor could he, on the other hand, be allowed liberty of movement and the privilege of corresponding with his own country; so rhar you would gain nothing by his residence in our midst.

THE FIRST Eu1cTll1J5

Moreover, Our Celestial dynasty possesses vast territories, and tribute mis- sions from the dependencies are provided for by the Department for Tributary States, which ministers to their wants and exercises strict control over their movements. It would be quite impossible to leave them to their own devices. Supposing that your Envoy should come to our Court, his language and national dress differ from that of our people, and there would be no place in which he might reside. It may be suggested chat he might imitate the Europeans per- manently resident in Peking and adopt the dress and customs of China, bur, it has never been our dynasty's wish to force people 10 do things unseemly and inconvenient. Besides, supposing I sent an Ambassador to reside in your country, how could you possibly make for him the requisite arrangements? Europe consists of many other nations besides your own: if each and all demanded to be represented at our Court, how could we possibly consent? The thing is utterly impracticable. How can our dynasty alter its whole procedure and regulations, established for more than a century, in order to meet your individual views/ If it he said that your object is to exercise control over your country's trade, your nationals have had full liberty to trade at Canton for many a year, and have received the greatest consideration at our hands. Missions have been sent by Portugal and Italy, preferring similar requests. The Throne appreciated their sincerity and loaded them with favours, besides authorizing measures to facil- itate their trade with China. You are no doubt aware that, when my Canton merchant, Wu Chao-p'ing, was in debt to the foreign ships, I made the Viceroy advance the monies due, out of the provincial treasury, and ordered him to punish the culprit severely. Why then should foreign nations advance this utterly unreasonable request to be represented at my Court? Peking is nearly 10,000 Ii from Canton, and at such a distance what possible control could any British representative exercise?

If you assert that your reverence for Our Celestial dynasty fills you with a desire to acquire our civilization, our ceremonies and code laws differ so com- pletely from your own that, even if your Envoy were able to acquire the rudi- ments of our civilization, you could not possibly transplant our manners and customs to your alien soil. Therefore, however adept the Envoy might become, nothing would be gained thereby.

Swaying the wide world, I have but one aim in view, namely, to maintain a perfect governance and to fulfil the duties of the State; strange and costly objects do not interest me. If I have commanded that the tribute offerings sent by you, 0 King, are to be accepted, this was solely in consideration for the spirit which prompted you to dispatch them from afar. Our dynasty's majestic virtue has penetrated unto every country under Heaven, and Kings of nations have offered their costly tribute by land and sea. As your Ambassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country's manufacturers. This then is n1y ans .. ver to your request to appoint a representative at my Court, a request contrary to our dynastic usage,

I O 6 I C II IN A AND THE I 8 TH CENT u Ry w OR L [)

which would only result in inconvenience to yourself. I have expounded my wishes in detail and have commanded your tribute Envoys to leave in peace on their homeward journey. It behooves you, 0 King, to respect my sentiments and to display even greater devotion an secure peace and prosperity for your country hereafter. Besides making gifts (of which I enclose a list) to each mem- ber of your Mission, I confer upon you, 0 King, valuable presents in excess of the number usually bestowed on such occasions, including silks and curios--a list of which is likewise enclosed. Do you reverently receive them and take note of my tender goodwill towards you! A special mandate.

6.5 The Second Edict, September 1793

Yau, 0 King from afar, have yearned after the blessings of our civilization, and in your eagerness to come into touch with our converting influence have sent an Embassy across the sea bearing a memorial. I have already taken not of your respectful spirit of submission, have treated your mission with extreme favour and loaded it with gifts, besides issuing a mandate to you, 0 King, and hon- ouring you with the bestowal of valuable presents. Thus has my indulgence been manifested.

Yesterday your Ambassador petitioned my Ministers to memorialize me regarding your trade with China, but his proposal is not consistent with our dynastic usage and cannot be entertained. Hitherto, all European nations, including your own country's barbarian merchants, have carried on their trade with Our Celestial Empire at Canton. Such has been the procedure for many years, although Our Celestial Empire possesses all things in prolific abundance and lacks no product within its own borders. There was therefore no need to import the manufactures of outside barbarians in exchange for our own pro- duce. But as the tea, silk, and porcelain which the Celestial Empire produces are absolute necessities to European nations and to yourselves, we have per- mitted, as a signal mark of favour, that foreign hangs [merchant guilds] should be established at Canton, so that your wants might be supplied and your country thus participate in our beneficence. But your Ambassador has now put forward new requests which completely fail to recognize the Throne's principle to "treat strangers from afar with indulgence," and to exercise a pacifying control over barbarian tribes, the world over. Moreover, our dynasty, swaying the myriad races of the globe, extends the same benevolence towards all. Your England is not the only nation trading at Canton. If other nations, following your bad example, wrongfully importune my ear with further impossible requests, how will it be possible for me to treat them with easy indulgence? Nevertheless, I do not forget the lonely remoteness of your island, cut off from the world by intervening wastes of sea, nor do I overlook your excusable ignorance of the usages of Our Celestial Empire. I have consequently commanded my Ministers

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of tbe mission. But I have doubts that, after your Envoy's return he may fail to acquaint you with my view in detail or that he may be lacking in lucidity, so that I shall now proceed to take your requests seriatim and to issue my mandate on each question separately. In this way you will, I trust, comprehend my meamng.

1. Your Ambassador requests facilities for ships of your nation to call at Ningpo, Chusan, Tientsin and other places for purposes of trade. Until now. trade with European nations bas always been conducted at Macao, where tbe foreign hongs are established to store and sell foreign merchan- dise. Your nation bas obediently complied with this regulation for years past without raising any objection. In none of the other ports named have hongs been established, so that even if your vessels were to proceed thither, they would have no means of disposing of their cargoes. Furthermore, no interpreters are available, so you would have no means of explaining your wants, and nothing but general inconvenience would result. For the future, as in the past, I decree that your request is refused and that the trade shall be limited to Macao.

2. The request that your merchants may establish a repository in the capital of my Empire for the storing and sale of your produce, in accordance with the precedent granted to Russia, is even more impracticable than the last. My capital is the hub and centre about which all quarters of the globe revolve. Its ordinances are most august and its laws are strict in the extreme. The subjects of our dependencies have never been allowed to open places of business in Peking. Foreign trade has hitherto been con" ducted at Macao, because it is conveniently near to the sea, and therefore an important gathering place for the ships of all nations sailing to and fro. If warehouses were established in Peking, tbe remoteness of your country lying far to the northwest of any capital, would render transport extremely difficult. Before Kiakhta was opened, the Russians were permitted to trade at Peking, but the accommodation furnished them was only temporary. As soon as Kiakhta was available, they were compelled to withdraw from Peking, which has been dosed to their trade these many years. Their frontier trade at Kiakhta is equivalent to your trade at Macao. Possessing facilities at the latter place, you now ask for further privileges at Peking, although our dynasty observes the severest restrictions respecting the admission of foreigners within its boundaries, and has never permitted the subjects of dependencies to cross the Empire's barriers and settle at will amongst the Chinese people. This request is also refused.

3. Your request for a small island near Chusan, where your merchants may reside and goods be warehoused, arises from your desire to develop trade. As there are neither foreign hongs nor interpreters in or near Chusan, where none of your ships have ever called, such an island would be utterly

1081 CHINA AND THE 18TH CENTURY WORLD

useless for your purposes. Every inch of the territory of our Empire is marked on the map and the strictest vigilance is exercised over it all: even tiny islets and far-lying sandbanks are clearly defined as part of the prov- inces to which they belong. Consider, moreover, that England is not the only barbarian land which wishes to establish relations with our civiliza- tion and trade with our Empire: supposing that other nations were all to imitate your evil example and beseech me to present them each and all with a site for trading purposes, how could I possibly comply. This also is a flagrant infringement of the usage of my Empire and cannot possibly be entertained.

4. The next request, for a small site in the vicinity of Canton city, where your barbarian merchants may lodge or, alternatively, that there be no longer any restrictions over their movements at Macao, has arisen from the following causes. Hitherto, the barbarian merchants of Europe have had a definite locality assigned to them at Macao for residence and trade, and have been forbidden to encroach an inch beyond the limits assigned to that locality. Barbarian merchants having business with the hongs have never been allowed to enter the city of Canton; by these measures, disputes between Chinese and barbarians are prevented, and a firm barrier is raised between my subjects and those of other nations. The present request is quite contrary to precedent; furthermore, European nations have been trading with Canton for a number of years and, as they make large profits, the number of traders is constantly increasing. How could it be possible to grant such a site to each country? The merchants of the foreign hongs are responsible to the local officials for the proceedings of barbarian mer- chants and they carry out periodical inspections. If these restrictions were withdrawn, friction would inevitably occur between the Chinese and your barbarian subjects, and the results would militate against the benevolent regard that I feel towards you. From every point of view, therefore, it is best that the regulations now in force should continue unchanged.

5. Regarding your request for remission or reduction of duties on merchan- dise discharged by your British barbarian merchants at Macao and dis- tributed throughout the interior, there is a regular tariff in force for barbarian merchants' goods, which applies equally to all European nations. It would be as wrong to increase the duty imposed on your nation's mer- chandise on the ground that the bulk of foreign trade is in your hands, as to make an exception in your case in the shape of specially reduced duties. In the future, duties shall be levied equitably without discrimination between your nation and any other, and, in order to manifest my regard, your barbarian merchants shall continue to be shown every consideration at Macao.

6. As to your request that your ships shall pay the duties leviable by tariff, there are regular rules in force at the Canton Custom house respecting the

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amounts payable, and since I have refused your request to be allowed to trade at other ports, this duty will naturally continue to be paid at Canton as heretofore,

7. Regarding your nation's worship of the Lord of Heaven, it is the same religion as that of other European nations. Ever since the beginning of history, sage Emperors and wise rulers have bestowed on China a moral system and inculcated a code, which from time immemorial has been religiously observed by the myriads of my subjects. There has been no hankering after heterodox doctrines. Even the European [missionary] offi- cials in my capital are forbidden to hold intercourse with Chinese subjects; they are restricted within the limits of their appointed residences, and may not go about propagating their religion. The distinction between Chinese and barbarian is most strict, and your Ambassador's request that barbar- ians shall be given full liberty to disseminate their religion is utterly unrea- sonable.

It may be, 0 King, that the above proposals have been wantonly made by your Ambassador on his own responsibility or peradventure you yourself are ignorant of our dynastic regulations and had no intention of transgressing them when you expressed these wild ideas and hopes. I have ever shown the greatest condescension to the tribute missions of all States which sincerely yearn after the blessings of civilization, so as to manifest my kindly indulgence. I have even gone out of my way to grant any requests which were in any way consistent with Chinese usage. Above all, upon you, who live in a remote and inaccessible region, far across the spaces of ocean, but who have shown your submissive loyalty by sending this tribute mission, I have heaped benefits far in excess of those accorded to other nations. But the demands presented by your Embassy are not only a contravention of dynastic tradition, but would be utterly unpro- ductive of good result to yourself, besides being quite impracticable. I have accordingly stated the facts to you in detail, and it is your bounden duty rev- erently to appreciate my feelings and to obey these instructions henceforward for all time, so that you may enjoy the blessings of perpetual peace. If, after the receipt of this explicit decree, you lightly give ear to the representation of your subordinates and allow your barbarian merchants to proceed to Chekiang and Tientsin, with the object of landing and trading there, the ordinances of my Celestial Empire are strict in the extreme, and the local officials, both civil and military, are bound reverently to obey the law of the land. Should your vessels touch shore, your merchants will assuredly never be permitted to land or to reside there, but will be subject to instant expulsion. In that event your barbarian merchants will have had a long journey for nothing. Do not say that you were not warned in due time! Tremblingly obey and show no negligence! A special mandate!