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The new Manchu dynasty tried something different with their neighbors, diplomacy. Here in their lovely Summer Palace, they greeted delegations from all over the Eastern world. Attendance was compulsory. Neighbors were expected to pay tribute to the emperor. This was Manchu diplomacy. But guests had to be comfortable. The emperor even sent officials to Tibet to draw and measure the Dalai Lama's residence and then built a scale model to make his guest feel at home. The Dalai Lama (达赖喇嘛) never made the trip.
But the other great spiritual leader of Tibet, the Panchen Lama (班禅喇嘛) did pay a visit. So great was his prestige that according to Tibetan sources, he was asked by the emperor to sit on the dragon throne, a totally unique privilege. Chinese sources pictured him in a rather more humble pose, offering the emperor a sacred scarf. And for him, the emperor had his palace in Tibet faithfully reconstructed. It was certainly cheaper to build these great temples with their sinuous golden dragons than to man and maintain the Great Wall. The emperor even went so far as to learn Tibetan, so as to talk to his visitor without translators. And he ordered all the main public inscriptions to be in all the languages of the Manchu Empire: Tibetan, Chinese, Mongolian and Manchu. Many monks settled here and still continue to worship, long after the last emperor had left his throne.
And as for the Great Wall, it was allowed to fall into ruin once again. A defense no longer needed. The only wall the Manchu dynasty cared about was the one that ran right around their palace, built to protect the wild game they loved to hunt. The Great Wall, for the first time in its history, was of no value to the Chinese people. And now the wall's last intriguing chapter was about to be written. The Great Wall, the longest and most astonishing of all the world's ancient wonders lasted 2,000 years, but it was only in the last 200 years that the West got a good look at it. In 1793, the British dispatched a diplomatic expedition to China, led by Lord Macartney (马戛尔尼), in an effort to open it up to British trade. When Macartney stopped to admire the wall as he journeyed across China, his Chinese guides were puzzled. Why would anyone be interested in the pile of ancient stones? One member of the team drew a sketch of the wall, one that was reproduced thousands of times and is still how most people view the Great Wall today. Every ambassador to China received by the emperor was obliged to kowtow, that is to bow three times each accompanied by three acts of prostration, the forehead touching the ground nine times in all.
scale model: A scale model is a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object being represented. Very often the scale model is smaller than the original and used as a guide to making the object in full size
kowtow: kneel and touch one's forehead to the ground
prostrate: throw oneself flat on the ground in reverence or submission
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