What was the root cause of the Qing Dynasty's closed-door policy?

First of all, the policy of closing the country to the outside world has been practiced since the middle and late Ming Dynasty, and then the Qing government continued to implement the policy of closing the country to the outside world even after it gained the dominion of the Middle Kingdom. From a grandiose point of view, they practiced the closed-door policy because the rulers of the Qing Dynasty were foolish and arrogant, thinking that they were a heavenly kingdom and did not know how to look at the world.

But what actually happened? The implementation of the closed-door policy has a very complex historical background. We can look back at Chinese history, when human productivity was relatively backward, the ocean was a barrier of absolute security. At least before the Ming Dynasty, we have never heard of any Chinese dynasty that had been troubled and threatened by the power of the sea.

It can be said that before the Ming Dynasty, the threat faced by the Chinese dynasty was mainly from the northern nomads, and it was unheard of for overseas forces to cross the ocean to threaten the Chinese dynasty. In this context, there is no such thing as a sea ban.

However, from the middle to late Ming Dynasty, the Middle Kingdom began to be frequently disturbed by the power of the sea. Because, with the development of human productivity and navigation technology, overseas forces, have the ability to cross the ocean to pose a threat to the Central Plains Dynasty; and by plundering the resources of the sea, they are also enough to feed a huge armed forces. So the Japanese, the pirate trouble began to emerge frequently, and even later the Dutch colonizers and Portugal also ran over one after another to join in the fun.

In this context, the Chinese dynasty naturally had to calculate a cost problem. That is to open up the coastline, how much benefit can be gained? And how much does it cost? And the result of the calculation is obvious, that is, the possible benefits gained, and the costs to be paid, absolutely not proportional. That being the case, a sea ban is natural.?

We often say that the entry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty into the Central Plains led to China's closure; but in fact, in the context of the time, any regime would have practiced a similar policy. On this point, if we look at it, Japan also practiced a closed-door policy in the corresponding era. Of course, both China and Japan's closed-door policy were also forced open by outside forces at about the same time.

Many people say that before the Qianlong emperor, overseas forces did not have the power to threaten the Qing government, but it is clearly forgotten that the impetus for the Manchu Qing's initial sea ban was that the threat from the sea was too great. Because, the maritime power represented by Zheng was a constant threat to the southeastern rule of the Manchu Qing; and if there was not a total sea ban (or even an internal relocation of the coastal population), it would have made it easier for Zheng to infiltrate the interior, and for Zheng's power to grow.

There are also many people who say that the Japanese, pirates, and powers hit China because the Manchu government practiced a closed-door policy and refused to do good business with them, and that's why they used force to open China's doors. In other words, if the Manchu government had been willing to do business with them, they would not have invaded China by force. Do we really believe this? We can take a look at the British colonies at the time, there were many countries that used to welcome them warmly and gave them great help, but what was the final result?

So, under the circumstances of that time, even even now, if you want to make the Japanese, pirates or the great powers to be peaceful, so that they do not casually invade you, there is only one way, is to make them understand that the price they need to pay for invading you, that is amazing, far more than he can afford, so that he will choose to do business with you in a friendly way. Otherwise, why do good business with you when you have the ability to rob you, rob you, and you have no power to fight back!