China West Influence

with empathy towards the West, China’s leaderships or rulers were sending a strong message that China was on a higher pedestal on matters of development and the capacity to meet the needs of their subjects. Chinese believed that the West was less powerful and had to submit to them. In light of that, they had to preserve their power, which was manifest in their goods. They had had a lot of power evident in the abundance of goods and resources. Allowing trade with the West would erode the influence that emanated from their goods and resources. Notably, this was a heavy indication of their negative discourse towards the West. According to Emperor Qianlong, the Celestial China had all things they needed. They were available in prolific abundance, and empire did not lack any product within its borders. Accordingly, this showed an element of independence that accentuated their power. Because of this, there was no need to trade their goods with those manufactured from the West. In line with this, they viewed the West to be lacking power because of their dependence, which had brought about their desire to trade …show more content…
Unlike what they had perceived in the earlier years of the centuries, they concluded that China was unable and unwilling to improve on their earlier inventions like the compass and the gunpowder. The West noted the outright aloofness of the Chinese to the possibilities of the Western knowledge, which could open new realms of development. These claims led to strained relationships between China and the West. Across the Europe, the ideas of rationalism had given way to the enlightened thought of modern life with the Western faith in progress. As such, ideas crystallized, and the need to promote expansion was critical. China provided a supportive theater for that. However, the Western nations, to their dismay, realized that China was not ready to play