An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China

Lore & Background

The final audience with the Qianlong Emperor and the dispute over the kowtow are detailed in Chapter Four of the second volume. Staunton presents the embassy's experiences as positive throughout, concluding with an appreciative note about the mission's novelty and delicacy. The account was commercially successful, leading to translations into German, Dutch, and French, and subsequent publications on Chinese customs by illustrator William Alexander.

Reader's Guide

The significance of An Authentic Account lies in its role as a foundational primary source for understanding early Sino-British relations. The work is central to an academic dispute: some historians, such as Alain Peyrefitte and J.L. Cranmer-Byng, view the kowtow refusal as a turning point that symbolized a clash of civilizations and led to later conflict. Others, including Joanna Waley-Cohen and Benjamin A. Elman, argue for a more complex, gradual divergence. Kenneth Pomeranz uses the account to highlight economic similarities between China and the West, attributing later divergence to resource access rather than cultural misunderstanding. The account's detailed descriptions of Chinese culture, received with curiosity in the West, contributed to its commercial success and lasting historiographical importance.

Did You Know?

• The title page presents King George III's name in a dominating spaced type, implying superiority over the Emperor of China.
• The atlas volume, printed in 1796 but not issued until 1798, contains 28 engravings by William Alexander based on his own observations and sketches by Lieutenant Henry William Parish.
• The German translation is the only version that admits being freely translated and holds no illustrations due to its small size.
• Fellow crewmember Sir John Barrow later published a negative account of the same embassy, reflecting growing British frustrations over trade.