Western opinion on China during the eighteenth century

underwent radical change. Whereas earlier Europeans regarded China in highly idealized terms, late eighteenth century Europeans saw in China a hidebound and closed society, uninterested in new knowledge, science and innovation. Based on your readings of Emperor Kangxi’s “Self-Portrait,” Emperor Qianlong’s “Edict on Trade with Great Britain,” and Joanna Waley-Cohen’s “China and Western Technology in the Eighteenth Century,”* discuss China’s attitudes towards the West and the general validity of late eighteenth century European claims.rn*Joanna Waley-Cohen, “China and Western Technology in the Late Eighteenth Century,” American Historical Review, 98 (Dec., 1993): 1525-1544. [You can access this article via the library website: One Stop Search, then Get It UML]