If Emperor Qianlong had accepted the request of the British "Macartney Mission" at that time, had normal exchanges and trade with Britain, and was in line with the civilized world at that time, would China have had its own industrial revolution?
Macartney Mission and Emperor Qianlong
What did the Macartney mission do in China?
In 1793 (the 58th year of Qianlong), the British government wanted to negotiate with the highest authorities of the Qing Dynasty and collect intelligence while opening up the Chinese market, so the then British King George III sent George Macartney and others to visit China.
Qianlong on the left and George III on the right
Let's take a look at the requirements put forward by the British at that time:
1. Allow British merchants to trade in Ningbo, Zhoushan and Tianjin;
2. Allow British businessmen to set up a trade hall in Beijing, as they did in the past;
3. Giving up an island near Zhoushan to British merchants to live in and store goods;
4. Set aside a place near Canton and let the British come and go freely, without prohibition;
5. British commercial goods shipped from Macao to Guangzhou can enjoy tax exemption or tax reduction;
6. Determine the customs regulations for ships, and apply taxes as usual, without additional levy.
From the perspective of the present, most of the UK's demands are aimed at improving the normalcy of trade relations between the two sides. Some of them were colonialist and aggressive, such as the cession of islands, which the Qing government absolutely could not accept.
There is no doubt that these conditions were rejected by the Qing Dynasty as the "superior state of the Celestial Empire", and the Qianlong Emperor dismissed all six British demands as "non-intermediary" and categorically closed the door to negotiations.
Subsequently, Emperor Qianlong signaled that the Macartney mission should leave Beijing and return to China on October 7. The British envoy's request for negotiations to postpone his return to China was refused. So, without holding negotiations and without completing its mission, the British mission embarked on its return journey.
Macartney and his entourage set out from Beijing, accompanied by Song Yun, the Minister of Military Aircraft, and traveled south along the canal, almost across the hinterland of China, to Guangzhou, from which they returned to China in January 1794.
Macartney mission at the port of Tianjin
Aftermath of the defeat of the Macartney Mission
Although the visit to China failed, the visit of the Magalny mission to China had a different impact on China, Britain and even Europe.
For China, China has lost a good opportunity to get in touch with modern industrial civilization, understand the world, and change its closed state.
In this regard, Mr. Perrefet once said:
"If these two countries can increase their contacts and learn from each other's most successful experiences; if the country that invented printing and papermaking, the compass and rudder, gunpowder and firearms centuries before the rest of the world, and the country that tamed steam and was about to harness electricity, combine their discoveries, then the cultural exchange between the Chinese and the Europeans will surely lead to rapid progress on both sides, what kind of cultural revolution will it be!"
Although the British did not get what they wanted, it was not for nothing. During their stay in China, they carefully observed the Qing troops stationed in various places and their weapons and equipment, and they were very contemptuous, secretly mocking that "this generation of soldiers with wide clothes and big sleeves has no military education, and the weapons they use are no more than knives, guns, bows, and arrows.
For Britain and Europe, the main thing is that it has changed its attitude towards China.
Through the memories and accounts of the Magalny mission after returning to England, they showed a different China to the British and even Europeans.
Prior to Magalny's visit to China, there was a "China fever" in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Many of the great thinkers praised China's Confucian culture and political experience. However, after the visit of the Magalny mission to China, the record of the mission was different from that of traditional China, which completely subverted the image of China.
Anderson's description of Magalny's voyage to China evoked great repercussions:
"We entered Beijing like we were begging for food, we were imprisoned there like prisoners, and we left like thieves. ”
After visiting China in 1793, Magalny said:
"The Qing government is like a tattered first-class warship, and the reason why it has not sunk in the last hundred and fifty years is only because of the support of a group of lucky, capable and alert officers, and where she outshines her neighbors is only in her size and appearance. But once a man without talent commands on deck, there will be no more discipline and safety."
Macartney believed that the Qing Dynasty was essentially extremely weak, "like a tattered first-class battleship" and that it would not be difficult to defeat it. From then on, the perception of China's power and wealth, which prevailed in Europe in the 18th century, began to change.
The visit of the Magalny mission to China was a fundamental turning point in the European view of China, for example, Hegel formed a concise view of China after reading Staunton's "Records of the British Envoy's Meeting with Qianlong":
"The Chinese Empire was an empire of theocratic autocracy...... Individuals are morally devoid of their own individuality. China's history remains inherently ahistorical: it turns over and over again as a majestic ruin...... No progress can be made there. ”
The "Gift" of the Macartney Mission
Before the British mission, they racked their brains to prepare all kinds of gifts, asking them to not only vote for the favor of the Chinese emperor, but also show British science and technology. The members of the mission are also the best of the best, including more than 80 astronomical mathematicians, artists, doctors, etc.
The Macartney Mission was particularly large, carrying numerous gifts, a total of 600 boxes, all of which were British masterpieces of the time, and almost all the scientific and technological essence of British and European industry at that time.
In order to prepare a gift for Emperor Qianlong, the mission specially listened to Chinese believers who had studied at the Sagrada Familia in Naples, Italy, and asked them to recommend gifts.
He also learned from the Jesuit missionaries that China attached great importance to the calendar, so he prepared some advanced astronomical instruments invented in Europe, such as the latest improved model of the movement of the solar system, which can represent the most perfect motion of the solar system, which can indicate the exact time of celestial eclipse, conjunction, opposition, and other phenomena.
In addition, it also includes a large solar system, a celestial globe, a globe, a moon phase demonstrator, a weather barometer, an air vacuum pump, a mechanical skill frame, a concentrating fire mirror, etc., in an attempt to attract the attention of the Qing court.
There are also many gifts, such as some large combination glass lighting fixtures, carriages, saddles, running muskets, two-section air guns (air guns), blue jade intarsia leather sheath waist knives, copper engravings, iron-inlaid porcelain soft belts, Herschel reflecting telescopes, etc., as well as several copper "watermelon cannons", Mauser guns, bead guns, steel knives, howitzers, carbines, rifles, repeating pistols, astronomy, geography, meteorology, surveying, mileage calculation, demonstrators.
Herschel reflecting telescope
Large globes, chiming bells, telescopes, two yellow cars, a full set of gold harnesses, various silk fabrics, wool fabrics, cotton fabrics, large carpets (gold tapestry, wool felt), steel products, tapestries, wall hangings, vases made of various materials for interior furnishings and decoration, etc., to show the level of British craftsmanship.
There are also paintings and prints that express the achievements and social conditions in the field of British culture and art, including portraits of the British king and members of the royal family, portraits of famous British figures, famous cities, churches, parks, castles, bridges, lakes, volcanoes, docks, monuments, and images of land battles, naval battles, horse races, bullfighting scenes, and so on.
These various gifts are enough to show the importance that the British government attaches to this mission, as well as their determination to show their advanced scientific and technological strength and civilization.
According to the literature, the British also wanted to use advanced industrial machines such as steam engines, spinning machines, carding machines, and looms as gifts to meet Qianlong, trying to achieve the goal of shocking the Qianlong Emperor and Qing court officials through these creations.
In order to attract the attention of the Chinese generals, the British also specially prepared many advanced weapons, namely howitzers, mortars, carbines, rifles, repeating pistols, etc., mentioned above.
At that time, Fukangan had a prominent position in the Qing court, and in order to gain his favor, Macartney specially invited Fukangan to watch the long-prepared drills of the British mission guards, but Fukangan refused, so angry that Macartney wrote in his notes that day:
"What a stupid! He had never seen a repeating gun in his life, and the Chinese army was still detonating a gun with an arquebus. ”
In order to show the powerful force of the British Empire, the British king also specially presented Qianlong with the most powerful British battleship model at that time - "Sovereign", which was a first-class battleship, with 110 guns, strong firepower, representing the supreme maritime hegemony of the United Kingdom, but unfortunately Qianlong and the Qing court high-level did not see what the way.
Monarch
In the face of the gifts presented by the Macartney mission, the Qianlong Emperor and his ministers were mostly very arrogant, putting on a picture of the dignity of the Celestial Empire, and showing great disdain in the face of the British machinery and guns, only feeling fresh, but not seeing any way, nor did they feel that these things had any potential for development, so that the efforts of the British were in vain.
Among the gifts carried by the Macartney mission was the best combination of astronomy and mechanics at the time, the Celestial Orbiter, which represented the entire universe and could accurately imitate the movements of the celestial bodies of the solar system, such as the orbit of the Moon around the Earth, the orbit of the Sun, Jupiter with four moons, and Saturn with aperture and moons.
Celestial Orbiter
In addition, there is a globe with continents, seas, and islands on it, which can see the land, capital, and large mountains of each country, and draw the nautical routes, which is a very valuable creation in the Age of Discovery.
The British directly showed the results of hundreds of years of maritime exploration in the Western world to the Qing Dynasty, allowing them to see the face of the whole world.
globe
The British mission arrived with advanced nautical charts and sophisticated celestial motionators, hoping to shock and please Qing officials. However, these Western scientific and technological achievements did not receive the expected praise from Qing officials, but were unanimously scorned and ridiculed.
Unable to grasp the profound significance and potential of these devices, these officials missed a valuable opportunity to gain exposure to modern industrial civilization, expand their knowledge of the world, catch up with European technology, and break out of their own isolation.
Rehe Palace received the British mission
It wasn't until 1860 that the British and French troops broke into the Old Summer Palace, where "marauding soldiers stumbled upon two 12-pounder British howitzers" and boxes of ammunition in a carriage house, "all of which were gifts from King George III of Macartney to Emperor Xianfeng's great-grandfather Qianlong, and these gifts were intact."
Eyewitnesses lamented: "It is strange to say that they had these cannons, but never made any effort to improve their own field artillery vehicles." ”
British and French forces burned the Old Summer Palace
Did Emperor Qianlong really reject Western technology?
"If the carriage is equipped with a steam engine, won't it save effort, and if the horses are labor-saving, won't manpower be even more saved? "The master is far-sighted, and the master is sage. ”
These are the words spoken by Emperor Qianlong when he saw the Western steam engine in "The Salt Merchant of the Great Qing Dynasty". This shows Qianlong's attitude towards these industrial products in the West, and it can also be seen Qianlong's attitude towards the Western Industrial Revolution.
As the supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty at that time, Qianlong should also be aware of some major events that occurred in the West, but at this time, Qianlong still felt that the Celestial Empire was rich in products and did not need the West at all;
More importantly, for the sake of the stability of his rule, Qianlong would never allow the Qing Dynasty to collapse like the Bourbon dynasty in France, and King Louis XVI was guillotined.
Louis XVI on the guillotine
First, the Qing Dynasty during the Qianlong period was still the most powerful country in the world, with a population of 300 million, a GDP accounting for one-third of the world, and a territory of 13.8 million square kilometers.
Emperor Qianlong
Second, even if Qianlong did know about the industrial revolution that was going on in the West, his attitude was based on whether it would affect the rule rather than whether it would bring progress to the country. If Western industrial civilization is allowed to spread on the land of the Qing Dynasty, it is likely to lead to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, like the Bourbon dynasty in France. This is something that Qianlong will never allow.
The Macartney Mission's deputy, Stanton, left a record of the Qing Dynasty at the time, which also confirms this statement.
In the past two or three years, many people have known about the civil unrest in France, and the various ideas advocated there to disrupt the order and subvert the government have forced the Qing government to take precautions.
It can be seen from this that the Qing government was guarding against the instability of rule brought about by the wave of the Western Industrial Revolution, and for the Qing ruling class, the stability of its own country was obviously the most important.