The policy of "closing the country to the outside world" during the Qianlong Emperor was a controversial political decision in Chinese history. Behind this decision is not the ignorance of the rulers, but the comprehensive weighing, the influence of historical and historical backgrounds, and the maintenance and stability of feudal ruling power. Although this decision ultimately led to the closure and lag of Chinese society, there are also specific historical reasons and objective circumstances that need to be analyzed at a more in-depth level.
The Qianlong period, as one of the important turning points in Chinese history, represented great changes in Chinese society in political, cultural, economic and other aspects. The feudal dynasty began to break during this period, but has since revived.
Although the ruling class during the Qianlong period was often criticized as greedy, arrogant, cowardly, and short-sighted, its policy of "closing the country to the outside world", signing unequal treaties, being invaded by foreign powers, and eventually fleeing the emperor became the object of criticism by later generations.
However, before identifying the ruling class as incompetent, corrupt, and stupid, we should look at this period from a broader perspective. How could a country that had immediately conquered the world, expanded its territory, and reached the peak of population size come to such a mediocre situation?
In the Qianlong period, the policy of "closing the country to the outside world" certainly had the responsibility of the rulers, but at the same time, there were also historical shortcomings and the influence of the objective environment. This decision is not a fool's errand, but an inevitable choice after the ruler weighs the pros and cons.
The origin of "closing the country and closing the country" can be traced back to the Zhu Di period of the Ming Dynasty, when the southeast coast began to implement the retreat policy due to the invasion of the Japanese invaders. The Qing dynasty inherited and strengthened this policy, especially with regard to maritime bans.
The trade-off of the pros and cons of this decision involves a balance of internal and external interests. The Qing Dynasty was worried that exchanges between China and foreign countries would give anti-Qing people an opportunity to take advantage of it, so they strengthened the maritime ban policy in order to maintain their feudal rule. In addition, I am also worried that the influence of foreign culture will intensify the domestic resistance to the centralization of the Qing Dynasty, and I am also worried about the criticism of feudalism brought by foreign culture.
On the other hand, the political, economic, and cultural aspects of the Qianlong period generally showed a certain positive development trend. The feudal rulers may have thought that the maintenance of the Qing Dynasty's feudal rule was in line with the needs of national development.
However, the implementation of the policy of "closing the country to the outside world" also reveals the arrogance of the rulers. They do not take into account the broader perspective of whether such an approach is truly beneficial to the long-term development of the country. At the same time, it also ignores the transformation and development of the international community, leading to the gradual decline of the country.
In general, the policy of "closing the country to the outside world" was not a symbol of the ignorance of the Qing rulers, but a historical lesson as a ruler who did not think of change and danger. This policy made the feudal society closed to the outside world for a long time, failed to adapt to the needs of the changes of the times, and also made the society poor and weak, which eventually led to the decline and collapse of the Qing Dynasty.
History tells us that if a country or society only considers the concentration of its own power, and does not take into account the pluralistic development of society and the exchange and interaction of the international community, it will eventually decline and perish.