Library Tour: First British Embassy to China

A Narrative of the British Embassy to China, in the Years 1792, 1793 mid 1794; containing the Various Circumstances of the Embassy, with accounts of Customs and Manners of the Chinese; and a description of the Country, towns, Cities, Hc. Hc.  

Anderson, Aeneas.  A Narrative of the British Embassy to China, in the Years 1 Z92, 1793 mid 17S4; containing the Various Circumstances of the Embassy, with accounts of Customs and Manners of the Chinese; and a description of the Country, towns, Cities, Hc. Hc. New-York: Rogers and Berry, 1795.  

This is the first American edition of Anderson’s fascinating account of Britain’s first diplomatic mission to China in 1792. By the end of the eighteenth century the East India Company had been trading with Chinese merchants for two hundred years, but in a strictly limited way. They were only allowed into Canton for five months in a year, and all trade had to be carried on through Chinese officials. The British Embassy of 1792-4, led by Earl Macartney, was charged with negotiating a treaty of friendship between George III and the Emperor Qianlong, establishing a permanent diplomatic post in Peking, and improving trading conditions in Canton. In these objectives the Embassy failed completely. In the eyes of the octogenarian Emperor, the British were coming to pay tribute to him rather than to establish diplomatic relations as understood in the West. In a lengthy edict addressed to the King, he refused to allow a permanent British mission to Peking, which was ‘a request contrary to our dynastic usage’. When presented with the King’s gifts, which included a Herschel telescope, a planetarium, artillery pieces, air pumps and carriages, as well as Wedgwood pottery, chandeliers, clocks and watches, he declared: ‘I set no value on objects strange or ingenious and have no use for your country’s manufactures’. Macartney’s mission did not return empty handed. The King was sent an agate ruyi scepter and large quantities of porcelain, jade, carved lacquer, silk and numerous other gifts.