Abstract: The policy of closing the country was gravely pushed forward in the Mid-Qing Dynasty period, which brought tremendous detriment to China. The Opium War had opened gate of China to the outside world, but the Qing Dynasty government still held the diplomatic principle of the dynasty; the ruling class still carried out its close diplomatic policy. The principle and the policy began to be changed until the Second Opium War. Chinese diplomacy gradually broke through the close of the medieval age, and began to be with the contemporary breath, but the break did not mean the end of the close outlook. After the period, the consciousness emerged now and then inside the ruling class.

Key words: Qing Dynasty government, close consciousness, detriment, the Second Opium War