Even before Macartney's departure from Britain, he and Dundas had anticipated that there might be some disagreement with the Chinese side on the details of the ceremonies and rituals to be performed at the meeting between Macartney and the emperor of China. Dundas had instructed Macartney to accept "all ceremonials of the Court which may not commit the honour of your Sovereign or lessen your own dignity", and not to let any "trifling punctilio" get in the way of the mission. The ritual of the kowtow, which requires an individual to kneel with both knees on the ground and bow so as to touch their forehead to the ground, presented a particular dilemma. The kowtow was required not only when meeting the emperor, but also when receiving imperial edicts from his messengers. While Portuguese and Dutch merchants in Canton (now Guangzhou) had acquiesced to the ritual, British subjects, who regarded the act as slavish and humiliating, generally avoided kowtowing to the emperor's edicts by leaving the room when such messages were received.