乾隆帝信仰藏傳佛教，抱著守護藏傳佛教菩薩王的胸懷。十八世紀末以前，駐紮西藏的清朝官員會見達賴喇嘛時，當以藏傳佛教的傳統行叩頭禮。十八世紀末時，清廷廢止官員在西藏進行叩頭禮儀，但此事並不改變清朝與西藏之間以佛教禮儀為基礎之傳統關係本質，清朝官員不行叩頭之後也必須尊崇達賴喇嘛的宗教權威。相對而言，嘉慶帝對清朝官員輕視達賴喇嘛的態度並不關心。嘉慶帝對達賴喇嘛的敬意乃流於形式，嘉慶時期的清廷與西藏的關係雖然表面上相同於乾隆時期，但本質上已有相當的差距。

Emperor Qianlong, a devout follower of Tibetan Buddhism, believed he was a Bodhisattva King who bore the responsibility to protect Tibetan Buddhism. Until the end of the eighteenth century, whenever the Zhu Zang Dachen (the high Qing imperial official to Tibet) had an audience with the Dalai Lama, he was required to perform the rite of kowtow in accordance with Tibetan Buddhist practices, but at the end of the eighteenth century, the rite of kowtow was abolished. This did not change the de facto relationship between the Qing court and Tibet, which was based on the values and traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Even though the rite of kowtow was no longer observed, the Qing high officials to Tibet were still required to respect the religious authority of the Dalai Lama. However Emperor Jiaqing was not particularly concerned about whether the Dalai Lama's religious authority was respected by the Qing officials. His reverence for the Dalai Lama was merely a formality. Although the relationship between the Qing court and Tibet during Jiaqing's rule seemed to be the same as it had been in Qianlong's reign, it was considerably different in nature.