The main carrier of China's ancient civilization is the Chinese nation, which is characterized by agricultural civilization. Attaching importance to agriculture as the source and "industry" of social wealth, ignoring commerce as the "last industry" and advocating "emphasizing the foundation and restraining the end" and "emphasizing agriculture and restraining the business" are China's traditional economic thoughts, which were put forward and formed in the pre-Qin and Warring States periods. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, this thought was believed and implemented by the rulers of past dynasties, and became a basic national policy in the feudal historical era of China. In the late feudal period, although industry and commerce played an increasingly important role in social and economic life, the traditional thought of despising commerce was challenged. For example, Ye Shi, a Song Dynasty man, thought that "the four people should use it, but treat it, restrain the end and emphasize it, and talk about it incorrectly" (Note: Ye Shi: Preface to Learning 19. ), in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Huang Zongxi more clearly put forward that "industry and commerce are the foundation" (Note: See the Third Financial Plan waiting for an interview in Ming Yi. The original text is: "those who work hard to protect the wishes of the holy king and make them come from the commercial road will be covered." ), but the dominant position of the idea of building the country by agriculture and emphasizing agriculture over commerce has not changed. Under the traditional thought of despising business, business is regarded as a supplement to "money and wealth" in social and economic life at most. Although indispensable, it is not worth promoting vigorously, and it should not be over-developed so as to impact the industry. China's traditional mercantilist thought linked businessmen and commerce with "seeking profit", "seeking novelty" and "extravagance", and thought that excessive commercial development would worsen customs and lead to the crisis of agriculture as the foundation of the country. The so-called "prosperity of industry and commerce leads to the lack of this industry" and "prosperity and decline lead to loss" (note: salt and iron theory. ), "Merchants are bound to be suppressed by kings" (Noe: Wang Fuzhi: On Reading as a Mirror 14. ) was deeply rooted in the feudal era of China. Yong Zhengdi in the Qing Dynasty once made it clear: "The only way to raise the people is to persuade them to be meritorious. If they all give up the basics and strive for the present interests, they will not try their best to delimit acres. This is an unusual way. " (Note: Yongzheng: Zhu Pi Yu Yu Yu, on the eighth day of September in Yongzheng, Kong Yuxi plays Zhu Pi. )。 China's traditional thought and policy proposition of valuing agriculture over commerce undoubtedly runs counter to Haitong's trend of attaching importance to commerce and pursuing overseas trade. Mercantilism is the mainstream economic thought that has been popular in western Europe since the great geographical discovery. All major maritime countries emphasize the importance of commodity circulation and precious metal import to their own prosperity, and all use the power of state power to actively support the development of overseas business. The colonial trade between Portugal and Spain, the era of "sea coachman" in the Netherlands, and the establishment of "no empire" in Britain were all driven by mercantilism and national policies. In such an era, the feudal dynasties of China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties are still singing the old tune of "strengthening the foundation and restraining the end". Of course, it is impossible to expect them to implement the overseas policy of encouraging businessmen to go abroad and explore the world in the vast ocean. Neither the opening of the maritime ban in the late Ming Dynasty nor the reopening of the maritime ban in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty encouraged and actively promoted overseas trade. In the late Ming Dynasty, opening the sea was still a method of "applying for prohibition in the process of communication (business)" (Note: Xu Fuyuan: Shujin Sea, published in Ming Jing Shi Wen, volume 400. )。 The reopening of the maritime ban during the reign of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty only opened up a way for "people living in the waters near Fujian and Guangdong" to make a living, hoping to benefit "the soldiers' salaries in Fujian and Guangdong" and did not expect to make the country rich and strong through overseas trade.
The traditional concept of "Hua Yi" is also an important reason for the conservative overseas policy in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The concept of "Hua Yi" is a political and cultural mentality that regards China as the center to look at the surrounding world and other ethnic groups and thinks that Chinese civilization is superior to other ethnic groups. The self-centered consciousness of taking oneself as the center of the world and thinking that local civilization is superior to other civilizations in the world is the common feature of all the more developed civilizations in ancient times, including ancient Greek, Roman, medieval Arab civilization and European civilization, and China is not the only one. The fundamental reason is that the civilization in ancient areas developed in a decentralized way, and people's understanding of the "world" can only be limited to what they know. However, due to China's unique geographical location and China's politics, economy and culture, it has long been the most advanced country and nation in East Asia, and the degree of civilization development is unmatched by the known world. Therefore, ancient China people have a particularly strong sense of self-centeredness, forming a complete and systematic concept of "Hua Yi" and a set of related ways and norms to deal with the relationship with the outside world. China is located in Northeast Asia, with the vast Pacific Ocean in the east and southeast, grasslands and deserts in vast expanse in the north, and snowy plateaus or tropical areas in the jungle with the highest altitude in the world in the west and southwest. Being in such a geographical environment surrounded by natural barriers, the mutual understanding and communication between ancient civilizations in China and those in other parts of the world will naturally be greatly restricted. It can be said that the older China people's understanding of the "world" is limited to the above geographical boundaries; Although we have gradually learned something about other fields, most of them are indirect, so they are vague and unclear. However, in China, the Huaxia/Han civilization, which developed from the farming areas in the Central Plains south of Qin Changcheng, has been brilliant for a long time and has established its superior position relative to the surrounding ethnic groups. In this case, the concept of "Hua Yi", which is revered by China, distinguishes China from other ethnic groups around it, and naturally comes into being. The concept of "Hua Yi" was formed as early as the Zhou Dynasty. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, with the establishment of the feudal unified empire and the establishment of the dominant position of Confucian orthodoxy, it became more stereotyped and became the guiding principle for China to deal with its neighboring countries and ethnic groups. In the traditional concept of "Hua Yi", China, a country with ethical codes, is the center of the world, and Emperor China, as the "son of heaven", obeys the destiny to rule the world. On the bank of the earth, is it not a king? "Outside the area directly ruled by Emperor China, it is a land of barbarians, and the degree of civilization cannot be compared with that of China. However, Emperor China's "virtue is universal", Man Zi, who yearns for enlightenment, is willing to associate with China, and China has always been willing to accept and establish a vassal relationship with him. Emperor China conferred titles on them to gain legal sovereignty over their land, and they paid tribute to Emperor China to show their obedience. The highest ideal of China, the ancient emperor, for the world political order was to establish a unified world situation in which he was the master of his own affairs, served foreigners from all countries and "ten thousand people came to Korea".
In the concept of "Hua Yi", the idea of respecting and unifying the whole world by Huawei strongly promoted the opening up of China in the early feudal period such as Han and Tang Dynasties. Under the historical conditions at that time, the expansion of foreign exchanges could fully satisfy the rulers' sense of psychological superiority, which led to the opening period of Zhang Qian's exchanges with the western regions and the welcoming of land and sea visitors from all over the world with an open mind in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Yongle and Xuande sent Zheng He's large-scale ocean-going fleet to the West for seven times, mainly to declare the prestige of a great country and show the prosperous picture of China's son of heaven's "ruling the world" and "being one in the four seas".
However, the concept of "Hua Yi" is not extroverted and enterprising in nature. Although the concept of "Hua Yi" emphasizes the supremacy of China and the unification of the world, it does not advocate external expansion, but advocates "courtesy serves the country" and "virtue" is conquered by the world with the power of example, that is, the so-called "king's landing, deep roots, strong soldiers, and four foreigners are used for their own purposes" (Note: Zhenguan dignitaries, Volume 9. )。 The concept of "Hua Yi" distinguishes China from foreigners and focuses on maintaining China's own internal ruling order. For this reason, the traditional concept of "Hua Yi" not only emphasizes the supremacy of China and the unification of the world, but also requires "preventing Hua Yi". In the eyes of the feudal rulers in China, the internal ruling order in China, as a state of ethics, namely, monarch, minister, father and son, husband and wife, high and low, and a set of patriarchal feudal hierarchy and customs based on the Confucian tradition, is sacred and inviolable, which is not possessed by uneducated foreigners. Therefore, in order to avoid foreign influence on China's internal ruling order, it is absolutely necessary and unambiguous to draw a clear line between China and foreign countries. Foreigners will be welcomed, treated with courtesy and preferential treatment in China only if they "devote themselves to the world" and abide by the customs and etiquette of China. If you don't follow the instructions, ignore or challenge the customs and habits of China, you are an uncivilized barbarian and will naturally be rejected. "Beware of foreigners" is a rule that China feudal rulers have always followed in their foreign exchanges, especially in the late feudal period. It is under the guidance of the thought of "strictly guarding against foreigners" that almost all foreign trade activities in the Ming Dynasty were placed under the tribute trade system controlled by the government for a long time, and all Chinese and foreign non-governmental exchanges and non-governmental markets were illegal. Although private maritime trade was allowed in the later period, there were still various restrictions. At the beginning of Qing dynasty, due to the change of external situation, the emphasis on "preventing foreigners from China" reached an unbounded level. During this period, western countries had more and more contacts with China, and another different culture represented by it came in waves under the escort of gunboats, and the doors were locked frequently, and this culture was at least as good as China or even worse in terms of "strange skills and cunning". In this situation, the Qing rulers' sense of superiority towards Chinese civilization was intertwined with an instinctive fear and precaution against foreign civilizations, so they emphasized "foreign defense" more than the previous generation and tried their best to limit foreign exchanges. During this period, the Qing dynasty paid special attention to maintaining the Chinese system in its foreign exchanges. Whether Emperor Kangxi and the Holy See were debating whether to allow China believers to follow the traditional rituals of offering sacrifices to heaven, worshipping Confucius and ancestor worship, or during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods, they stubbornly regarded the two trade missions sent by Britain as "tribute envoys" and asked them to bow down to the emperor in accordance with the China system, otherwise they would not be received. The purpose is to maintain China's "statutes" and "rules", which are "strict"