One Billion Customers - James McGregor [16]
But Macartney failed to grasp China’s profound indifference to the rest of the world. China was the world’s most prosperous and populous nation. Although he was old and his reign was nearing its end, Emperor Qianlong had during his years on the Dragon Throne effectively doubled China’s landmass. Chinese maps of the day covered five scrolls hung side-by-side displaying a huge landmass labeled the “Middle Kingdom,” surrounded by tiny islands labeled “England,” “Germany,” “France,” “America,” “Russia,” and “Africa.” China was the center of the world and everyone else was a barbarian, the degree of barbarity determined by the distance from China.
The negotiations between Macartney and the mandarins representing the emperor became a prolonged dance. At one banquet after another Macartney demanded to see the emperor to present his gifts and to request greater access to China’s markets. The mandarins praised the gifts and explained that it would take time to set up a meeting with the emperor. Diaries and letters from both sides reveal startlingly different perceptions of what happened at these banquets. Macartney and his subordinates would congratulate themselves on having won the mandarins’ confidence and prepare to depart for Beijing. The mandarins would send reports to the emperor explaining how they had massaged the barbarians’ egos while placing more barriers in their way. They predicted the foreigners would soon tire and sail away.
Macartney persisted and finally won an informal courtesy call with the emperor, but only after an intense struggle over protocol. Anyone meeting the emperor was required to kowtow by dropping to their knees and touching their forehead to the ground three times, a gesture that was to be repeated eight more times. But a proper Englishman kowtowed to no one, and only went down on both knees for God. The Chinese suggested a face-saving solution. When Macartney entered the emperor’s presence, there would be a curtain hanging behind the emperor, and behind that curtain would be a portrait of King George III. Macartney could make his kowtow to the king’s unseen portrait. Macartney refused, and he was finally granted an informal courtesy call with the emperor just so they could finally be rid of him and his vexing entourage.
The meeting was amicable and Macartney headed home confident that Qianlong would satisfy some of Britain’s modest requests. The Chinese once again saw things differently. Macartney was sent on his way with a letter to King George that said China had no need for British goods. The letter cautioned: “You, O King, should simply act in conformity with our wishes by strengthening your loyalty and swearing perpetual obedience so as to ensure that your country may share the blessings of peace.” That was the beginning. The end—China’s full-fledged admission to the global trading community—would come 206 years later.
Overview
I suspect that most Westerners doubt that the two hundred years between Lord Macartney’s trip to China and China’s eventual admission into the world trading community have much bearing on how you do business in China. Ancient history, you might call it. But foreigners doing business in China must understand that there’s nothing ancient about the last two hundred years and the humiliations they have held for the Chinese. The belief that foreigners strong-armed their way into China in the past two hundred years in order to plunder the country’s wealth is deeply ingrained in the Chinese psyche. They are taught from childhood that China was the world’s mightiest empire, the best at everything, until the foreigners came knocking at the end of the eighteenth century to ruthlessly exploit a people who had done them no harm. So even today many Chinese are quick to anger when discussing the role of foreign powers in China. Indeed, it is impossible for anyone to put a positive spin on the opium trade and