Was Macartney A Success Or A Failure

In his mission, Macartney was brought the finest product of the British industry, hoping that the Chinese will recognize, that the industry is inferior to the British, and realize the benefits of trading with them (firearms, cart, hot air balloon, and clocks). Unfortunately, none of the goals was achieved by Macartney, the Chinese viewed of these as gifts for their emperor, and the Confucian bureaucracy didn’t realize the value of the steam power, the public schools or the capital assets. The Chinese officials ignored all the inventions and dismissed it as primitive things. As Macartney had to leave in the coming winter, the Qianlong left a letter to King George dismissing the claims of the diplomatic mission. As China’s GDP at the time was seven times higher than the British, we can look at it as a reasonable act. With this failure in his mind , Macartney noticed, that a few number
Lord Amherst went to China trying to get a trade agreement, but he never allowed to enter Beijing, because he refused to perform the kowtow, which was performed by Russia and the Netherlands who also traded with China. On the way home his shipwrecked, and it took a year for him to travel back to England. He wrote a book about his experience and had a chance to make an interview with Emperor Napoleon, who said the following words: "China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep. For when she wakes, she will shake the world." In 1833 Lord Napier was appointed by Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston to extend the British trade to inner China, but he lacked the necessary commercial and diplomatic skills to achieve anything. After having a total communication breakdown and stubbornness from both sides, Napier favored the military action. Before his death in typhus, he observed a suitable location near the Chinese border to establish a foothold, the tiny island of Hong Kong. Napier was the first to suggest