Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/218

Manchu rulers of China. In this particular case it is easy to detect a reason for the Peking Government's opposition. The English figured at Amoy as the commercial allies of a pirate who defied Chinese authority and had forcibly possessed himself of a portion of Chinese territory. No Western Power would have regarded the English with benevolent eyes under such circumstances.

But, speaking generally, a difference is observable between the attitude of these Manchurian Tartars and the attitude of the Ming Chinese towards foreign trade. Not only did the Tartars look upon trade itself with comparative indifference if not with absolute disfavour, but they were also influenced by political considerations. Ruling a nation of over three hundred millions in a territory nearly as large as Europe, the Manchus regarded with natural apprehension the contingency of combinations between their Chinese subjects and foreign nations. That danger led them to discountenance foreign trade and intercourse. It produced another effect also. It betrayed them into extravagant assumptions of superiority to all outside peoples. They appear to have thought that to make a striking show of overlordship in their dealings with every foreign nation would produce a wholesome impression on the minds of their Chinese subjects, and in obedience to that conception of statecraft they endeavoured to enforce compliance with humiliating forms of