Page 225 - The colours of each piece: production and consumption of Chinese enamelled porcelain, c.1728-c.1780

CHAPTER 6 A New Context of Porcelain Trade 1760-1770

isolationist policies. The most influential argument was from Karl Marx, who

31
affirmed that the early Qing dynasty’s policy of trade was closed and isolated. His

point of view has been widely spread and taught in the academic community and

became the mainstream view of the Qing Dynasty, namely that the closed-door policy

resulted in a decline. Karl Marx was to contribute to the flow of literature that

informed political thought throughout the period. Owing to the fact that the Emperor

Qianlong had turned down the proposal from the first British diplomatic mission and

the failure of Canton System as well as the Opium War, this theory has been

32
rationalised by several generations of scholars.
There is another group of studies that believes that the confinement of Canton

actually brought positive impact to the trade. Among those who attempted to

understand the development of the economy, there were those who focused their

attention on the increasing general populations, the high profits derive from

technological innovation, the increasing demand from domestic market and the

31 Karl Marx, ‘The Chinese Revolution and the European Revolution’ in Selected Works of Marx
and Engels, (People’s Publishing House, 1972), Vol.II, pp.6-7.
32 Dai Yi, Qianlong di jiqi shidai [Emperor Qianlong and his period] (Beijing: Zhongguo remin
daxue chubanshe, 2008); Gao Wangling, Shiba shiji zhongguo de jingji fazhan he zhengfu
zhengce[The political and economic developments of the eighteenth century China] (Beijing:
Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1995); Wu Jianyong, Shibashiji de zhongguo yu shijie: duiwai
th
guangxi juan [A study on realtions between China and foreign countries during the 18 century]
(Shenyang: Liaohai chubanshe, 1999). Western scholars’ work, see, John K. Fairbank, (ed.), The
Cambridge History of China. Vol. 10, Late Ch’ing, 1800–1911, Part 1. (Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press, 1978). John K. Fairbank and Liu Kwang-ching, (eds.), The
Cambridge History of China. Vol. 11, Late Ch’ing, 1800–1911, Part 2. (Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press, 1980).
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