The governments of early modern India and China traditionally focused their attention on the enormous wealth gained from their inland agricultural empires rather than the emerging trade taking place on their shorelines. They depended on peasants and the expansion of territory inland. And they had lots of both. Both empires relied heavily, for their wealth and stability, on taxes derived from agriculture. They both benefited from thriving manufacturing sectors—Indian cotton and indigo, and Chinese silk and porcelain. But rulers paid little attention to and had minimal control over the new and rising merchant classes as the global economy brought more trade and wealth from the oceans. And for both, their lack of imperial sea power contributed eventually to their downfall. When European ships armed with the latest cannons sailed into the Indian Ocean in the 16th century they found it unguarded.
These Asian empires failed to attend to the rising sea trade because they already enjoyed great economic and political success. Things were going quite well for them. So, Chinese and Indian empires paid little attention to the annoying European ships that began showing up at their shores in small numbers in the 16th century. China was the dominant economic power and commanded a trade surplus with the rest of the world. Chinese agriculture was more efficient than European methods because the Chinese excelled in irrigation technology. China had superior transportation projects; they made excellent use of canals on a scale much larger than in Europe. For example, China’s Grand Canal connected cities along a 1000-mile north-to-south route, facilitating domestic trade and travel. Despite many requests from European sovereigns over the years, emperors saw little need to alter their successful economic system or engage in trade with the Europeans. As late as 1793, after repeated inquiries, the Chinese emperor Ch’ien-lung (Qianlong) famously rejected King George of England’s request for trade: “As your ambassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and we have no use for your country’s manufactures . . . There [is] therefore no need to import the manufactures of outside barbarians in exchange for our own produce” (Frank 273). But, China’s lack of interest in sea trade in particular allowed Europeans to take advantage of an easy source of wealth. It’s how Europeans put their foot in the door.
