You, O 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. [. . .] As to your entreaty to send one of your nationals to be accredited to my Celestial Court and to 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 my 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 they are never permitted to return home. [. . .] 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 that you would gain nothing by his residence in our midst.
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 that he might adopt the dress and customs of China, but, it has never been our dynasty’s wish to force people to 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? [. . .]
If you assert that your reverence for our Celestial dynasty fills you with a desire to acquire our civilization, our ceremonies and code of laws differ so completely from your own that, even if your Envoy were able to acquire the rudiments 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.
Surveying the wide world, I have but one aim in view, namely, to maintain a perfect governance and to fulfill the duties of the State; strange and costly objects do not interest me. [. . .] Our dynasty’s majestic virtue has penetrated unto every country under Heaven, and Kings of all nations have offered their costly tribute by land and sea.

Edict II
[. . .] 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 officials 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 barbarians shall be given full liberty to disseminate their religion is utterly unreasonable.

Source: Asia for Educators. (n. d.). Two edicts from the Qianlong Emperor . . . Retrieved from http://afe. easia. columbia. edu/ps/china/qianlong_edicts. pdf

Additional Resources (links):
Blakemore, E. (2019). How the East Company became the world’s most powerful business. https://www. nationalgeographic. com/culture/topics/reference/britis h-east-india-trading-company-most-p owerful-business/

Encyclopedia. com. (2019). English East India Company, in China. https://www. encyclopedia. com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs- transcripts-and-maps/english-east-i ndia-company-china

Freer Gallery of Art. (n. d.). The Kangxi and Qianlong emperors. http://projects. mcah. columbia. edu/nanxuntu/html/emperors/

DOCUMENT ANALYSIS
Write your answers in BLUE text.
Introduction:
Could a “barbarian” ever learn to be “civilized”? Why or Why not? Well, a barbarian might learn to be civilized and everyone can learn everything they set their minds to.
Comprehension Questions:
List at least 3 reasons why the Qianlong emperor does not think that it makes sense to have ba British ambassador in Peking.

In your own words, how does the Qianlong emperor see his relationship to King George III and the British people?

Activities: (Pick 1)
Create a comic strip of the Qianlong emperor and King Fernando arguing about who is more civilized. What would they say to one another?

Rewrite this letter from the Qianlong emperor to King George III in modern language and be a bit more blunt. What do you think the emperor really wanted to say?

Reflection:
Has your experience with other cultures given you any evidence to argue against the Qianlong emperor's view that people from different cultures can learn much from each other or shouldn’t share ideas?