Wed.+March+7

The Qing Dynasty, the last Chinese dynasty, created another golden age of Chinese civilization in the 18th century. With its correct policies, the Manchu conquered China, successfully integrating into the Han culture, winning support from the Han people. Its GDP was a little more than one third of the world GDP. The population tripled from 143 million in 1741 to 430 million in 1850. Its territory reached 14,700,000 square kilometers or 5,675,702 square miles. //Kangxi Dictionary// and //The Complete Library of the Four Treasures// – the Classics, history, philosophy and belles letters - displayed cultural accomplishments. Political stability, economic prosperity, territorial expansion and cultural richness gave the rulers and their subjects a sense of superiority over all outsiders. Because of this, they resisted anything new from the West. In the 18th century, the occasion of Macartney's meeting Emperor Qianlong was the commencement of a clash between Western and Chinese civilizations. It was this kind of China-centric mentality that led to Chinese’s ignorance of the rise and challenge from Great Britain in the 18th and early 19th century. The Macartney Embassy is historically significant because it marked a missed opportunity by the Chinese to move toward some kind of accommodation with the West. Actually, how could one expect Chinese rulers to accept Macartney’s proposal to have free trade as an equal trading country when China regarded all the other nations as tributary states or barbarians?
 * __Wed. March 7: China before the Opium War (1840)__**


 * Questions:**
 * How did the Manchus manage to integrate into Chinese culture and win the support of the Chinese people?
 * What was the mentality of the Chinese rulers before the early 19th century and why?
 * How did China and Great Britain compare economically, politically and culturally?
 * Why did Great Britain want free trade with China and why did China decline this request?
 * What was Macartney’s perception of China as observed during his China trip?
 * What would happen if Emperor Qianlong accepted Lord Macartney's proposal and have open trade with Great Britain?


 * Recommended Reading**: Chapter 2-6, Immanuel C.Y. Hsu, The Rise of Modern China, 6th edition, Oxford, 2000