China had been forced to accept the Treaty of Nanjing on 29th of August 1842 due to her defeat in the opium war. This could be considered as her first defeat and her first time being humiliated by the "barbarians".

 But, this linking between China and foreign countries slowly started to show changes. The opening of the Canton port was one of the factors. By the time of 1662, all ports were closed to foreign trade except for Macao linked to Portugal, but in 1685, customs houses were opened at Canton and foreign trade had started. This trade only meant that the bountiful Middle Kingdom had no need to import from the barbarians but the Emperor being generous “allowed” to trade; it also helped to retain their gratitude. This trade was conducted between private foreign and Chinese citizens, it required no formal diplomatic relations, only unofficial commercial transactions. This had let the tributary states to import Chinese goods outside the tributary system and gradually the importance of the tributary trade began to fade out. Then, by the early 19th century both the government and the private traders of the Western nations insisted on international relations according to the law and diplomacy of Europe; it was only China who would not sacrifice their cherished system. But actually by this time, the tributary system had already worn itself out to a large extent and the Western states had begun to grow their power. The difference in their power started to shrink. These two factors show that China is not cherished by the “barbarians” as much as before since they started to gain authority and get Chinese goods by other means. Yet they still seem to depend on China but the states think that they don’t deserve to be subservient to China as they used to be anymore; they are more powerful now. Also the Canton trade shows how China puts herself into a difficult situation due to her overstepped self-glorification. If the Emperor had not acted like this, maybe they were still able to keep their face of a great empire for a longer period of time.

 Then comes the turning point; the opium trade and the opium war occurred in the phase of 1939 – 1942. In 1796, the drug became illegal in China and this made professional smugglers have their business to distribute the drug in China. By 1816, opium, which is imported from Britain, was a major significance in the trade. But Chinese government was worried about the fact that Britain and the other Western merchants wished China to pay their opium payment in silver and gold. This made the loss of her treasure being drained out rapidly. China wishes to either stop this trade or legalize the trade and exchange only with the merchandise, meanwhile Britain desires to have a closer trading relationship with China and have an open direct communications. Starting with the “Napier Fizzle” in 1834, they start trying to negotiate. But China had to face with the opposition of the citizens in respect of the legalization and Britain did not earn what they wished still because of her high-esteem. China tries to penalize the opium addicts but it does not work and she starts to think that Britain has the duty to cure them since they are the one who distributed the opium in her land. Their relation starts to be distorted. The actual war was caused by the killing of a Chinese man by the British and American seaman and this war was the first defeat China suffered. From 1840, China had been forced to accept to negotiate as British invaded to the Northern parts. Followed by the Quanbi Convention, the Treaty of Nanjing was signed by the Emperor on 29th of August 1842 and the war was over. This opium issue reveals us that British had succeeded in invading China by the means of trade and this seems quite unique. British, being aware of the big influence of the opium in China, were able to have the confidence and used its advantage to get out of the obedient situation. According to Roberts, this treaty represents a sharp break with China being forced to abandon its traditional method of dealing with the outside world. So this treaty is a turning point of how China links with the foreign states.

 The Nanjing treaty is often being called as the ‘unequal treaty’. China did have an unequal relationship between the “barbarians” from long ago, but the position of China changed during its time. The defeat of the war made her be inferior to Britain just like she used to treat the others. The Middle Kingdom no longer exists from this point and the dynasty does not have its authority as before anymore. So, the Treaty of Nanjing was a departure from China’s traditional pattern of international relations and this was only a beginning of the Sino-Western relations being one of the continuous conflicts, leading to the ultimate humiliation of China.