The stories of early interpreters
Dr Robert Morrison, Sir George Thomas Staunton and the Amherst Embassy of 1816 The failure of the 1816 Amherst embassy to the Chinese court can be seen as a step toward worsening relations between the United Kingdom and China. The tensions between the two nations were clear in the embassy’s dealings with the officials who accompanied them to the emperor’s …
Li Zibiao, George Thomas Staunton and the Macartney Embassy In 1787, The British government decided to send an embassy to the Chinese imperial court to negotiate more favourable trading conditions than those afforded by the Canton system. Their goals included access to ports other than Canton (Guangzhou), an embassy in Beijing, and an island reserved for British traders’ use. While …
A number of diplomats travelled in embassies between Siam and France from 1680 to 1688. Six different groups of envoys attempted to bring about a rapprochement between the kingdoms of Phra Narai and Louis XIV. These negotiations varied in success and proved inconclusive but the stories of two of the most significant middlemen involved – the missionary Artus de Lionne …