“A Style of Chinese Respect”: Lord Macartney’s Reply to the Imperial Edicts of Emperor Qianlong in 1793

Abstract

Abstract In 1793, King George III of Great Britain sent an official embassy led by Lord George Macartney to China in the hope of getting more favourable trading terms. However, all the requests made by Lord Macartney were rejected flatly in two imperial edicts issued by the Chinese Emperor Qianlong when the embassy was about to leave China. The present paper focuses on Lord Macartney’s response to the two imperial edicts, in particular the official reply Macartney made to the Qing court in the form of a “note” to Heshen before the embassy left China. In the note, Macartney touched upon several important issues, including the sensitive one about the relative status of the two countries. To Macartney, these issues were so crucial that he felt obliged to make a response promptly. The tactful way adopted by Macartney to handle them deserves our special attention.