Lin Zexu was called the first person in China to see the world, mainly because he was the first official in China who took the initiative to learn about the external history, geography, manufacturing, law and medicine. Moreover, in order to systematically understand the history, geography and politics of all countries in the world, Lin Zexu also specially wrote and translated foreign language books and wrote The History of the Four Kingdoms, which is also China's first systematic work on world geography.

Later, the famous Atlas of the Sea was compiled by Wei Yuan under the entrustment of his good friend Lin Zexu on the basis of the annals of four continents and other books. It is also the first time to put forward the viewpoint of learning from foreigners to control foreigners in the annals of the sea. It is precisely because of Lin Zexu's systematic understanding of various systems in the West that he refuted the evil deeds of the British when British sailors later killed farmers in China. And Lin Zexu's understanding of the law also made him occupy a dominant position in the later anti-smoking movement.

It can be said that when the civil servants in the Qing Dynasty disdained foreigners, only Lin Zexu was able to put down his identity and take the initiative to understand everything about westerners and the history and culture of other countries. Because of this, Lin Zexu is called "the first person in China" by modern history books.

In addition, Lin Zexu was an indispensable figure in the anti-imperialist struggle in China's modern history. He is also an excellent expert in water control and a good official who enforces the law honestly. It can be said that Lin Zexu wanted to seek the way of rejuvenating the country all his life.