Macartney Mission (2 results)
A sketch of a journey from Zhe-Hol in Tartary by land to Pekin and from thence by water to Hang-Tchoo-Foo in China.
1796 Barrow Map of the Grand Canal, China, during the Macartney Mission
- Map
Seller: Geographicus Rare Antique Maps, Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A.Geographicus Rare Antique Maps
Contact seller4-star sellerGood. Creased near original centerfold. Original platemark visible. Size 25.5 x 18 Inches. This important 1796 John Barrow map of China traces the course of the British Macartney Mission after its unsuccessful meeting with the Qing Emperor Qianlong. As a diplomatic effort, the embassy failed completely, the result of mutual misu…nderstanding and mistrust between the Qing Court and the British. But, as this map demonstrates, the mission did allow the British to gain a much better direct understanding China's geography A Closer Look The map traces the route taken by Macartney following his embassy's meetings with the Qianlong Emperor at the Qing Summer Palace at Chengde. The location of the meeting - at the Summer Palace instead of Beijing - was one of the early warning signs that the embassy was off to a bad start. After leaving Chengde, the British mission traveled southwest through the Great Wall to Beijing, and then down the Hai River (also known as White River or Baihe, transliterated here as 'Pei Ho') to Tianjin. From there, the mission traversed the Grand Canal through Shandong Province to Jinan (Tsin-jin-tchoo) and on to the great trading cities of Jiangnan: Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, and eventually Hangzhou, where the Grand Canal ends. Along the way, Barrow notes the dates and notes on the terrain and economy. A small legend at left indicates symbols for cities of different sizes with transliterations of their Chinese terms (foo ?, tchoo ?, shien ?) as well as features along the canal. Mountains, rivers, lakes, and other features are noted throughout, including the Great Wall and the course of the embassy's ships (the Lion and Hindostan ), which were too large to travel along the canal. The Macartney Mission The Macartney Mission, or the Macartney Embassy, was a diplomatic mission by Great Britain to the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty meant to expand British trading rights in China and establish a permanent embassy in Beijing. Thirty-five years earlier, British traders of the East India Company (EIC) were confined to trading with an officially sanctioned set of Chinese traders in Guangzhou (Canton). Although the Canton System was profitable, the EIC found it too cumbersome and restrictive while also feeling that a direct line to Beijing was necessary to resolve disputes (rather than working through several layers of intermediaries and bureaucrats). A mission led by Charles Cathcart had been sent to Beijing in 1787, but Cathcart died before reaching China and the embassy was abandoned. George Macartney's mission left Britain in September 1792 with a retinue of translators (including Chinese Catholic priests trained in Italy), painters, secretaries, scholars, and scientists. The well-equipped and impressive embassy traveled via Madeira, Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro, the Cape of Good Hope, Indonesia, and Macau, before moving up the Chinese coast and reaching Beijing on August 21, 1793. Macartney's second in command was George Leonard Staunton who served as the expedition's secretary and chronicler. Staunton's 11-year-old son, George Thomas Staunton, nominally the ambassador's page, learned Chinese during the voyage and served as a translator for the mission alongside the Catholic priests Paolo Zhou (???) and Jacobus Li Zibiao (???). The younger Staunton later became chief of the East India Company's factory at Guangzhou, translated works between Chinese and English, and helped found the Royal Asiatic Society (Barrow, who had been the younger Staunton's mathematics teacher, also picked up enough Chinese to help translate and became something of a Sinologist in the years after the embassy's return). The embassy was poorly managed from the beginning and, despite considerable pomp from the English perspective, appeared poor and rag-tag to the Qianlong Emperor. Partly through lack of preparation, partly through arrogance, and partly due to the Emperor's distaste for the British, the embassy failed in all its prima.
A chart of the islands to the southward of Tchu-san on the eastern coast of China.
1796 Dalrymple / Barrow Map of Tchu-san (Zhoushan), China; Macartney Mission
- Map
Seller: Geographicus Rare Antique Maps, Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A.Geographicus Rare Antique Maps
Contact seller4-star sellerVery good. Some foxing and discoloration around margins. Size 23.25 x 16.5 Inches. This is a rare 1796 John Barrow map of modern day Zhoushan (???; Tchu-San), China, prepared to illustrate the official report of the 1793 Macartney Embassy to China. The Embassy has been seen as a deeply consequential historical interaction betwee…n China and the British Empire which heralded the systematic crises China would face in the 19th century. A Closer Look The map covers the area roughly composing the southern part of Hangzhou Bay to the south of Shanghai. It includes detailed navigational information for charting the many islets, rocks, and shoals of the Zhejiang coast leading to Zhoushan and the walled city of Dinghai (here as Ting-hai). In addition to transliterations of Chinese names (such as Quee-san, Tygo-san, etc.), some of the English names are translations from Chinese, such as 'Buffalo's Nose,' known in Chinese as Niubishan (??? Buffalo Nose Mountain). The curious sketch at bottom-left was drawn by John Barrow from the Clarence , one of the ships of the Macartney Mission. Originally a French boat, the Clarence was purchased by the mission in Batavia after one of their original ships had problems. Tracks follow the Clarence as it entered and left the Bay on its way to Dinghai. Zhoushan China's Door to the Maritime World The archipelago that today forms Zhoushan Municipality has a recorded history stretching well into Antiquity, and the proximity of the islands to the mainland, and particularly to the city of Ningbo (just to the west of the area shown here), made them an ideal location for fisherfolk, traders, rebels, and pirates. Its location, jutting out into the East China Sea, has historically made it a destination for foreign travelers of many stripes, including the 9th century Japanese Buddhist monk Egaku (??), who founded a now-famous Buddhist pilgrimage site at Putuoshan (???, here as Poo-to, at top-right). In the Ming Dynasty, when a maritime ban was in place to dissuade widespread piracy and coastal raiding, Zhoushan was an important entrepot for trade between Chinese, Japanese, Southeast Asian, and Portuguese traders, the latter ensconced at the fortress of Shuangyu (on Liuheng Island ???, here as Low-Ang, near center) until being chased off by a Ming naval expedition in 1548. At the end of the 17th century, the newly triumphant Qing Dynasty ended the maritime bans and trade was encouraged at certain ports, including Zhoushan (Dinghai). English traders, among others, stopped at Zhoushan and gained some familiarity with the local geography, producing the earliest European charts of the area. But the establishment of the Canton System of Trade in the mid-18th century confined Western traders to Canton (Guangzhou). European traders had not forgotten Zhoushan, though, and it was a request of the failed British Macartney Mission of 1793 (discussed below) to have an island there reserved for British traders. When the First Opium War (1839 1842) broke out, the British moved to capture Zhoushan, which was then returned to China in exchange for Hong Kong, before being recaptured by the British later in the war (the Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston considered Hong Kong to be of much lesser value than Zhoushan). With the rise of the treaty ports (including nearby Ningbo) and Hong Kong, Zhoushan's significance as a door to the outside world diminished. Within China, Zhoushan is practically synonymous with fishing; historically and today, fishing is the basis of the economy and culture of the islands. Appropriately, Zhoushan is home to the largest fishery in China. In recent years, the municipality has tried to develop other industries, such as shipbuilding, as well as tourism; traditional fishing villages are particularly popular. The Macartney Mission The Macartney Mission, or the Macartney Embassy, was a diplomatic mission by Great Britain to the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty meant to expand British trading rights.
