Highly educated in the Confucian tradition, Thiệu Trị had some curiosity about the West, but like his father was very suspicious of all non-Chinese outsiders.
Meskipun memperoleh pendidikan tinggi dalam tradisi Konfusian, Thiệu Trị juga memiliki rasa ingin tahu mengenai Barat, namun, sama seperti ayahnya, ia sangat mencurigai semua orang luar non Tionghoa.