"Why don't you kneel when you meet the emperor!"
Faced with repeated urging from officials of the Ministry of Rites of the Qing government, Magorny's delegation stood in place, motionless like a sculpture, and their hearts were extremely irritable. , The surface can only maintain a basic calm.
In 1792, diplomatic relations between China and Britain officially began. The King of England George III appointed Magorny as the ambassador to visit the Central Plains on the grounds of congratulating Emperor Qianlong on his birthday. He hoped that the Qing government would open the port and allow British businessmen to come to China for free trade.
The tribute brought by the ambassador contained countless rifles, shells, and warship models. Emperor Qianlong only glanced at it lightly, and believed in his heart that the things brought by Westerners were nothing more than vultures.
Magorney is not only a British royal noble, but also a minister of affairs. He has visited many countries before and has rich diplomatic experience. At this moment, he frowned and said nothing.
This visit to China not only left Magorny's lifelong shadow of failure, but also severely hit the British's idea of establishing friendly trade relations with the Qing government.
a
The twelve-year-old Stangdong is a member of the mission, and his father Sir Old Stonedon is the deputy envoy of the mission. Old Stonen wanted to broaden his son's horizons and get in touch with the culture of other countries. At that time, the land of the Central Plains was yearned by countless Europeans. During his visit to China, he deliberately brought Xiaosi Dangdong with him.
At that time, although Xiao Sangdong was only twelve years old, he already mastered five languages including Latin, , Greek, and French. During the days when he was drifting at sea, he and the one on board could speak Chinese. Of teachers learn Chinese and quickly master basic conversations.
After the British envoys arrived in Beijing, they thought that welcoming them would be a friendly courtesy from the emperor. Unexpectedly, on the first day, they would argue with Qing officials over saluting.
This is closely related to the self-recognition of the two countries at that time,No matter which party, they think they are the center of the world, and push the other party to the edge of barbarism, especially the Qing court.
The two sides were arguing. In order to take into account the overall situation, Magorny and Qing government officials decided to kneel on one knee when the Emperor Qianlong set off on the way to Mountain Resort. salute.
The day came soon. Qianlong had known that the envoy had come to China, but the arrogant attitude of the other party's reluctance to kneel and bow his head made him very upset.
After seeing the delegation, Emperor Qianlong looked gloomy and the scene was very embarrassing.
In the stalemate, the Emperor Qianlong suddenly asked, "Anyone among you speak Chinese?"
Magorny was taken aback, and when he stepped forward and was about to bow his hands to apologize, the twelve-year-old Sidangdong was in his father's trust. Came out under his eyes.
Seeing this child, Qianlong was also taken aback, beckoning him to come over.
After a few exchanges, Emperor Qianlong Longxin rejoiced, his complexion improved a lot, and he even took off his wallet from his waist and handed it over, waving his big hand to say to move on.
Seeing Xiao Si Dangdong taking the purse handed out by Emperor Qianlong himself, the Qing government officials standing next to him opened their eyes wide, everyone's eyes were unbelievable.
In the heart of every Chinese, the emperor is the ninth-five-speaking and supreme. What is precious is not only the purse, but the move of Emperor Qianlong to pass the purse. The purse was worn by the emperor. Qianlong gave the purse to Xiao Si Dangdong. It is an imperial gift. If it is placed in ordinary people's homes, it is A family heirloom that can be passed on from generation to generation is a great honor!
I discovered that this 12-year-old British child could speak Chinese. Emperor Qianlong swept away his previous displeasure, thinking that the British were not willing to kneel and salute just to save face. A British child learned the Chinese language. This Isn’t it a manifestation of Britain’s worship of the Qing Dynasty?
But for the twelve-year-old Stangdong at the time, the purse given by Emperor Qianlong himself was not a rare thing. In the eyes of an English child, it was just a gesture made by the other party to express their pleasant conversation. That's it.
Picture | Xiao Stang Dong
Seven years later, Xiao Stang Dong came to China again with the support of his father and worked in a British business hall in Guangzhou. This time, Stoudemire went to a foreign country alone without anyone familiar with him. He said in his memoirs in his later years: "The first two years in China were the darkest days in my life."
Leaving his parents who loved him to such a remote place, he still has to integrate into a brand new society, undoubtedly It is not a simple matter.
Fortunately, such days did not last long. As a Chinese-speaking Englishman, Stonedon was often called to help with the translation and interpreting work for the company’s talks with the Chinese government. A few years later, he served as the secretary of the Select Committee. Although the position is not high, he has the opportunity to get familiar with the company's most important and core business.
But after he got acquainted with life in China, boredom followed. In 1805, Stonedon translated the booklet of surgeon Pearson about vaccinia vaccination into Chinese and published it publicly, introducing the method of vaccinia vaccination to China.
In the summer of 1810, on the voyage back to England, Stonedon completed the translation of the entire book " Daqing Statutes". This achievement looks very remarkable today, but at the time, Stonedon did not Taking this seriously, just idle and bored, he translated the book and sold it for five hundred pounds.
The above behaviors all show that Stoneton lives very well in China, and he has become a veritable "China Master" in the eyes of the British. Therefore, when Britain expressed its intention to send another mission to negotiate with the Qing government, Stonen became the best choice to accompany it.
Magorny's visit to China in 1792 is known because it was the first exchange between China and Britain. In 1816, Amish's visit to China caused a great uproar between China and Britain.
Like Magorny, Amherst also encountered the problem of kneeling when he visited China.
The tense atmosphere is surprisingly similar to the scene 20 years ago.Even the Qing government officials asked them in the same tone as they did in the past: "Why don't you kneel when you meet the emperor?" Without exception, the officials of the People's Republic of China think that it is right to bow their heads.
But this time, Xiao Si Dangdong refused to kneel and kowtow to the emperor from beginning to end.
Figure | Amest
two
At that time, not all the members of the mission had the same idea as Xiao Steangdong, and even most people didn’t think three knees and nine knocks It is detrimental to the image of the country. Because in the UK there is no saying that kneeling represents respect, let alone that they lose their own dignity, so they feel that kneeling to the emperor of the Qing Dynasty is not a big deal, but more like a kind of etiquette to follow the customs. . Whether Magorny or Ameste , they came to the Central Plains with a friendly attitude. At first they didn’t care about this issue. They believed that the most important thing was whether they could get the results they wanted. unimportant.
Another principal of the mission, Elis, believes that the precedents of the Magorny mission and the damage to personal dignity and national dignity that may be caused by the Magorny mission are judged, and the salute is completely acceptable. The only people who need to ask for opinions are the managers of the East India Company at that time, because three kneeling and nine kneeling is the highest etiquette in Chinese society, especially in the Qing Dynasty. This move may weaken the influence of the East India Company in China.
Hearing that, in order to support his proposition, Stanton immediately summoned the staff of the East India Company. The result of the vote showed that most of the staff opposed the mission to salute. As far as the mission is concerned, the East India Company is not just a company, because it is the source of the mission’s sponsorship, so it is impossible for Elis to ignore their opinions. Stoudemire is both the chairman of commercial management and a member of the chief of the mission. This incident seems to have seen results from the very beginning.
The news of the failure of Amherst's visit to China was passed back to the United Kingdom. The parliamentarians were filled with indignation and attributed their failure to trade on an equal footing with China to Xiao Stangdong's insistence on being impolite.
From the memoirs of his later years, it can be seen that there is no regret for this incident. He said that it was a "wonderful failure" and quoted the words of trust in the letters sent to him by various parties in the society.
His early experience in China made Stoudemire understand the Chinese or the attributes of the Qing government better than the British people in the House. Because he knew very well that the most serious consequence was the same as Magorny who came to China in 1792. The Qing government did not agree to the conditions and they returned to China empty-handed. Ten thousand steps back, even if the emperor is angry, it will not cause great losses to the mission. But at the same time, even if they salute, the Qing government will not agree to open trade ports.
Because, in the final analysis, the Qing court did not have the idea of opening ports from beginning to end. This is the emperor's extreme confidence in "the heavenly dynasty is rich in resources". Even the meeting between China and Britain was a civilized and barbaric meeting in their eyes. Regardless of whether the meeting atmosphere is harmonious or not, the results can be seen at a glance.
Sure enough, everything is exactly as Stanton expected. After the furious Emperor Jiaqing calmed down, he still accepted some gifts from the mission and carried out a lot of gifts in order to show his tolerance as a great country. In return.
The generous gift in rebate proves that they have indeed received preferential treatment from the Qing government. Regarding whether to kneel down and worship, Xiao Si Dangdong pointed out that national honor can never be missing.
Britain in 1816 was different from Britain in 1792. The twelve-year-old kid who was happy because Emperor Qianlong gave him a purse 20 years ago has also become a British official with his own independent thinking.
At the time of Amish's visit to China, the Qing government was already at risk internally and externally, with and white lotus in turmoil, and British warships invading it. The difference was that Britain had just defeated France and became Europe. Overlord, Amherst himself was still a meritorious general who defeated Napoleon. The mission to China was on board the Alcester confiscated from France.
The British government has been consciously or unconsciously displaying its military strength, and Stoudemire is even more proud.
three
The failure of the second visit to China left the British parliamentarians and ministers in silence for a while. It was not until 1838 that Lord Palmerston proposed a motion to "establish a court in China."
Equal trade has not been realized. The British can only suffer losses when dealing with Chinese. This makes them realize that only clear laws can prevent this phenomenon.
What everyone can't think of is that Stoudemire clearly opposes this bill.
He found Lord Palmerston , analyzed the situation and Sino-British relations at the time, and eloquently advised that this proposal was not feasible, but Palmerzun had no idea.
When the motion began to debate, Stonen was not in London. Even so, he managed to get the support of another MP and let him oppose the motion on his behalf. The final result made him very satisfied-Palmerston's motion was withdrawn.
From a national and political standpoint, Stonedon is really a very contradictory person. Various deeds show that he does not purely support the Qing government or the British Parliament. He brought the technology of vaccinia to China and opposed to At the same time, he refused to kneel down to the Qing emperor, declaring that the dignity of the British Empire should not be violated.
In 1840, the British House launched a debate on the war against China. This year, Stonedon's thoughts and behaviors have undergone tremendous changes.
As early as October 1839, the cabinet meeting of the British government had decided to launch a war against China. After the Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston submitted a document to Parliament, he was condemned by the Conservative Party Graham, saying that they had “lack of foresight” in handling China’s issues. "And vigilance", this is the beginning of "an unnecessary and unjust war" in Britain, which triggered a three-day debate in the House of Commons.
A few years ago, the Conservative Party quoted everything that Stanton had submitted to the House of Commons. As the earliest China Communicator in the UK, his views were quite popular with people. However, his previous ideas, except for the refusal of the Emperor Jiaqing III Kneeling and knocking, everything else is very similar to conservatives.
Stonedon participated in this debate under the strong recommendation of Graham.But he said something that shocked everyone's eyes: "After the most complete consideration, I still adhere to the views expressed before. However, the actual breakdown of our relationship with China cannot be entirely attributed to the lack of vigilance or foresight of Her Majesty and the current minister... "Finally, he said: "I'm very in favor of expedition to China."
The change in Steangdong's attitude seems to be inexplicable, but it is related to another thing that happened at the time- Lin Zexu 's It is obvious that Humen sells cigarettes .
As an Englishman who has lived in China and received a good education, Stonedon has the idea of treating both sides fairly. Therefore, under various circumstances in the past, he can reasonably analyze Sino-British relations and the current situation. He judges whether he is partial to any side, but once the matter involves the fundamentals, for example, in his opinion, three kneelings and nine knocks are detrimental to the British national honor, such as the sale of cigarettes in Humen undermining the British influence abroad, he will not hesitate to insist The proposition of being an Englishman.
Regarding whether or not to expedition to China, Stonedon strongly claimed that this was to maintain the honor of the British Empire.
Stangdong admitted one second that the Chinese really have the right to prohibit opium smuggling, but the next second he said that Lin Zexu’s anti-smoking activities greatly exceeded the norm: " If we succumb to such atrocities and the degradation of business in China, we will not make any attempts. To defend, the consequences will be transferred to our huge empire in India, where our political dominance will be severely damaged, and this day will not be too far away. ”
Prior to this, Little Stone has been firm. A pacifist, but when the relationship between the two countries was on the verge of rupture, he did not hesitate to abandon his personal position and chose to safeguard the country's honor and interests.
In 1792, the twelve-year-old Stangdong witnessed the liturgical dispute between Magorny and Emperor Qianlong; in 1816, the thirty-six-year-old Stangdong insisted on his opinion and refused the Amish mission to the Emperor Jiaqing. Kneel down to worship.
seems to start when Xiao Si Dangdong received the purse handed over by Emperor Qianlong,His destiny has already been destined in the dark. This Britain's earliest "China Master" has repeatedly expressed his unique insights in Sino-British relations. After the wheels of history ran over, they left their own gray marks.
text | cinnabar
.-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-