The Last Embassy: The 1795 Dutch Mission to the Qianlong Court
This lecture is about a little-studied embassy to the Qing court, a Dutch mission of 1794–95. Drawing on Dutch, French, Spanish, Qing, and Korean sources, it explores not just the mission itself but also the question of why it has been neglected and misunderstood. It also reflects on long-standing metanarratives about the history of Sino-Western interaction.