Ideological Clashes

The 1793 Macartney Embassy to China signified the first official contact between China and Britain. However, the Embassy's diplomatic negotiation with China was eventually collapsed due to the British ambassador's refusal to conform with the ritual practice of Qing Court, which involved the act of"bowing the head three times and kneeling nine times to the ground"in his audience with Emperor Qianlong. The results of the Embassy have generally been interpreted as a failure by scholars both from domestic and abroad; while China's backwardness, its ignorance of recognizing itself as a Celestial Empire, as well as its rigid diplomatic practice centering on the principle of"tributary system"have been considered as fundamental factors contributing to the failure of the Embassy. Yet such an interpretative model under the theoretical framework of"Western-centrism"has obviously neglected the crucial functions of the ideological clashes between China and Britain in determining the results of the Embassy. Therefore, based on a close reading of the relevant first-hand archival sources, both in English and in Chinese, and the monographs of previous scholars, this thesis takes the perspectives of imagology, translation, and national interests, and tries to re-evaluate the factors contributing to the Embassy's failure in light of the theoretical guidance of the Marxist theories on ideology.This thesis will include three chapters. Chapter one is to discuss the image of China. In Macartney's day, negative images of China had been prevalent in the West due to ideological concerns, which would definitely exert an influence on Macartney's view of China; and thus, foreshadow the failure of the Embassy. Chapter two will analyze"the Credentials from Great Britain"(King George III's Letter to Emperor Qianlong). This key text had been"rewritten"during the translation process due to the ideological manipulation, which led Emperor Qianlong mistakenly recognize Macartney as a"tribute bearer", and inevitably misread the original intention of the Embassy. Chapter three will probe into the clashes of national interests between China and Britain. In the"controversies over guest rituals", which was, in its essence, the disputes over how to construct the relations between China and Britain, the two sides respectively adhering to principles of"tributary system", and"the sovereign equality"sharply disaccorded with each other, which finally led to the unavoidable ideological clashes between two empires.Through the writing of this thesis, the present author concludes as follows: it is the"clashes of ideologies"between China and Britain, rather than the"clashes of civilizations"that resulted in the failure of the Embassy. Finally, it is hoped that the writing of this thesis would provide a sample of case study, and arouse more scholars'interests'in rethinking and re-evaluating the 1793 Macarney Embassy to China from different perspectives with an interdisciplinary approach.