seeking truth and action. But China felt they already knew the truth and failed to progress. (Imperial China, pp. 4-8.)
             The Chinese considered foreigners to be illiterate barbarians and forbade anyone doing business with them. Although they had been expelled from Chinese mainland ports, the Portuguese eventually became the first to trade with China, from a base on the off-shore island of Macao. The English tried to establish negotiations to remove trade restrictions and to install an ambassador in Peking. The English representative refused to kowtow to the traditional manner of appearing before the emperor. The Manchus did allow the repr
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