20

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

with  China.  One  came  overland  from  Russia  by  way  of
Siberia,  and  the  other  by  sea  from  Holland.  Neither  was
successful  in  obtaining  the  privileges  sought,  for  the  Chinese,
largely  on  account  of  their  long  isolation  from  the  rest
of  the  world,  considered  themselves  superior  to  all  other
nations,  and  would  not  consent  to  treat  on  terms  of  equality
with  their  representatives.  This  for  a  long  time  was  the
source  of  many  misunderstandings.  For  instance,  when
the  Chinese  demanded  from  foreign  envoys,  who  one  after
another  made  their  appearance  at  Peking,  the  performance
of  the  ceremony  of  the  Kotow,  all,  with  the  exception  of  the
Dutch,  resolutely  refused  to  comply  with  the  request,  on
the  ground  that  it  would  imply  that  the  countries  from
which  they  came  stood  to  China  in  the  relation  of  tributary
or  vassal  nations.  Although  the  Dutch  yielded  the  point
and  performed  the  ceremony,  they  derived  but  little  benefit
from  their  obsequiousness.
In  1689  the  Chinese  came  into  collision  with  the  Russians.
The  latter  had  built  a  fort  at  Albazin,  on  the  upper  course
of  the  Amur  River,  and  the  Chinese  regarded  this  as  an
encroachment  upon  their  territory.  The  fort  was  destroyed,
and  some  of  the  Russian  garrison  were  carried  off  as  prisoners
to  Peking.
By  the  treaty  of  Nerchinsk,  made  in  1689  (the  first  treaty
entered  into  between  China  and  a  European  nation),  it  was
agreed  that  the  Amur  River  should  be  regarded  as  the
boundary  line  between  the  two  adjacent  Empires,  and  that
the  Russians  should  have  the  right  of  erecting  a  fort  at
Nerchinsk.
In  1719  Peter  the  Great  of  Russia  sent  a  second  embassy
to  China.  This  was  received  more  favorably  than  the  first,
the  ceremony  of  the  kotow  not  being  insisted  upon.  When,
however,  a  few  years  later,  a  caravan  arrived  for  the  purpose
of  opening  up  trade  between  the  two  nations,  a  change  had
taken  place  in  the  temper  of  the  court,  and  it  was  declared
that  all  trade  relations  between  the  two  countries  must  be
confined  to  the  frontiers.
In  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  Kanghi  had  treated  the