The Imperialist Background

Abstract

During the 18th century, the ancient Chinese civilisation was held in high esteem by educated Britons.¹ Its porcelain, furniture and other artefacts were the source of admiration and widespread imitation. The interior of the Brighton Pavilion, an extravagant essay in chinoiserie built by John Nash for the Prince Regent, represents perhaps the most extreme example of such imitation. By the mid-19th century, however, views had changed and China came to be seen as an obstinate nation, refusing to open its doors to trade. By this time, the British Empire was reaching its apogee, its wealth built upon a powerful navy and unrestricted trade with both its official and unofficial empires. Only China, where trade was more or less restricted to the southern port of Guangzhou (Canton), refused to open its ports to British ships. For China, the Middle Kingdom, a country which considered itself superior to any other and self-sufficient, permission to trade was a special privilege bestowed on other countries by the Emperor. Within China, according to the Confucian social hierarchy, merchants were accorded a very low status, the lowest of four categories, beneath the warrior-administrators at the top, the peasants, or primary producers, next, and the artisans, or secondary producers, third. For the aristocrats who created this order, the economic value of merchants was dubious.²