Page "Tianxia" Paragraph 11

The idea of the absolute authority of the Chinese Emperor and the extension of tianxia by the assimilation of vassal states began to fade for good with Earl Macartney's embassy to China in 1793.

Earl Macartney hoped to deal with China as equal sovereign nations, as Great Britain would with other European nations of the time, and to persuade the Emperor to sign a trade agreement.

Emperor Qianlong rejected his request, and stated that China was the foremost and most divine nation on Earth and had no interest in foreign goods, and rejected the idea that Great Britain could negotiate with China as an equal nation.

In the early 19th century, Britain's victory over Qing China in the First Opium War forced China to sign an unequal treaty, though the Qing court described this to the Chinese people as a simple act of generosity toward the Europeans, and maintained the concept of supreme tianxia.