Before Macartney's mission arrived in China, China had no diplomatic relations with the West. The west has no envoys in China, and China has no envoys in the west. Geographical isolation has formed a completely different worldview between China and the West. In the eyes of traditional China people, China is a "celestial" empire, dominating the world; The "barbarian" small countries around the mainland are all vassals of China; Just like animals, they only know profit, don't understand etiquette and human feelings, and are only bound by China; As long as they respect China, China can give them some advantages and let them die. If they dare to despise China, they must be eliminated. For a long time, suppressing and appeasing barbarians has been a national policy of China. The Manchu rulers were barbarians, but after contact with westerners, they claimed to be orthodox in China. In the view of the Manchu court, although the British ambassador came to China to pay tribute to China; However, the special envoy can't do the ceremony of three kneeling and nine knocking, which means arrogance; It is kindness outside the law not to deal with his crimes; Is it wishful thinking if the British ambassador wants to make other demands? As for machinery and trade, the Qing dynasty did not need it. "China is rich in natural products and has everything, far from borrowing foreign goods for what it needs" (Ganlong language).
However, if the Qing emperor is purely arrogant, it is completely untrue. In fact, until 1820, China's gross national product still ranked first in the world. At this time, Britain was not as good as the Qing Dynasty, although Britain was already the strongest country in the West. But Britain at that time had a glorious revolution a century ago, thus becoming a modern constitutional country. The expansion of individual freedom has released people's creativity, and the scientific revolution and industrial revolution have occurred one after another, and the social economy has flourished. At that time, it had become the world's number one industrial power. At this time, the Qing Dynasty was still a completely agricultural country. Although the economic aggregate is large, it is undoubtedly declining compared with the new industrial civilization. Similar to the Manchu court, the British also considered themselves the most powerful country in the world; However, in the trade with the Qing Dynasty, Britain was always in a deficit state, which made the British people very distressed. Britain imports a lot of tea and silk from China, but its exports to China are negligible. British businessmen, in particular, went to the Qing Dynasty as if they were in prison: foreigners could only do business in Guangzhou and only associate with thirteen businessmen designated by the Qing Dynasty. Foreigners are not allowed to go out, get in touch with China people outside the 13th line, sit in sedan chairs, learn Chinese, bring their wives to Guangzhou, and spend summer and winter in Guangzhou. They can only transfer their responsibilities through thirteen lines. The evil officials of thirteen banks extorted money from businessmen at will to enrich themselves; How much duty should be paid for each batch of goods is also freely decided by officials. The British side believes that the poor Sino-British trade is caused by China officials (especially customs officials) taking bribes and bending the law. Therefore, the British government must communicate directly with the China government and urge the China government to reform the bureaucracy. In addition, the British government also believes that China is, after all, a backward empire, and the advanced scientific instruments, weapons and industrial machines carried by the mission will certainly meet the urgent needs of China, thus contributing to the completion of the mission. However, Macartney didn't want to crawl at the foot of the Manchu emperor like a slave. No one in the Qing Dynasty realized the value of these "strong ships and guns" of the British. Of course, the task is futile.