In 1741, the English-owned East India Company, at this point in time being the most powerful trading company in the world, experienced much economic loss “at the hands of Spain” just off the coast of Canton, the one legal port for foreign trade with China. As the British tried to get the supplies they needed, the Chinese officials that worked there abused them. The East India Company tried to deal with the situation in 1759 by approaching the emperor directly with a petition; however, the company trader sent for the mission, James Flint, was arrested for sailing through a port other than Canton and for inappropriately showing petitions to the emperor. 7
Meanwhile, the demand for Chinese tea, porcelain, silk and other decorative goods by Europe and America increased in a steadfast fashion, and Westerners began to have to pay for Chinese produce by means of silver, which became “a source of alarm to the British government.”8 However, in 1773, it was discovered that much of the land in English colonized India boasted an abundance of opium poppy. 9 A trading triangle of goods from Britain to India, India to China, and China to Britain was then created, and soon enough, India “exported so much opium to China that 5 to 10 percent of its revenues derived from its sale.” A previously exasperated Britain had discovered their “alternative product to exchange in China for Chinese goods”10: opium.
During the period of economic uncertainty concerning British trade and its outcome, Britain did attempt to remedy its relationship with China. In 1792, Lord George Macartney and his entourage were sent on behalf of Britain to resolve the situation that had occurred back in 1759 with the East India Company. 11 Macartney, with a large supply of British goods in tow, approached Emperor Qianlong to ask that the “Canton system be abandoned and all of China opened to British trade.”12 However, Macartney was sent on his way when he refused to kowtow to the Emperor, and Emperor Qianlong sent a response to King George III in which he stated that his country had no need for British manufactures.13 This incident proved that China had indeed not let go of the historically unreasonable cultural traditions, and still regarded itself as the greater country. Britain was obviously infuriated with the way in which China had shunned their efforts to create a harmonious relationship, and this launched the beginning of a dislike between the two countries that would only get worse with time.
Whilst the British-Chinese relationship continued to spiral downwards, Chinese society in the mid- and late- Qing dynasty era came to adore the opium supplied by the British, and the Qing government began to see the amount of addicted opium smokers as a problem.14 Unfortunately, as opium was also used as a medicinal drug to treat diarrhea, the governmental decision had to allow ‘medicinal’ sales of opium to continue openly. When a proclamation in 1813 prohibited opium smoking altogether, the opium trade became much less direct – only foreign traders attempted to continue to sell opium, particularly to “Chinese adventurers willing to come out and purchase their opium stocks.”15 When, in 1815, a British envoy from the East India Company arrived in China to once again approach the Qing government about enlarging trade privileges between the two countries, they were thrown out of the country before the officials even had a chance to talk to the Emperor. Both the emergent concerns about the opium addiction problem and the deteriorating Chinese economy – two issues that China held Britain responsible for, as Britain was supplying the opium and, in turn, receiving an immense amount of Chinese silver as payment- were the reasons why China treated Britain with such disrespect. However, this added to the progression of sequential events that would eventually cause English resentment of China to reach its climax.
In 1838, the emperor at this point in time, Emperor Daoguang, made a resolution that the trade of opium must be stopped. Nevertheless, the foreigners selling the opium ignored his rulings. Commission head Lin Zixu decided to arrest Lancelot Dent, one of the head opium traders, and when the foreign community refused to surrender Dent, Lin shut down all trade at port Canton and made it impossible for the foreigners to leave the country. After six weeks of quarreling, the foreigners gave up their opium and were allowed to leave. Commissioner Lin then destroyed all three million pounds of the drug, believing that the Qing government’s method of ruling – a Confucianist regime based on “ethical leadership and firm guidance” 16- would be enough to end the confrontation with Britain. Thinking that Britain would see they were at fault, the Qing dynasty expected no kind of retaliation. However, “the buildup toward war between China and Britain was now gaining momentum.”17
Britain, completely furious at their loss of three million pounds of opium, expected repayment for its loss. Officials in England then sent off armed forces to China, blockading the Canton port city on its way north towards Beijing, the capital of China. The compromises made in The Convention of Quanbi in January 1841 met only “a bare minimum of British demands”18 and was eventually rejected by both parties involved; The Emperor was angry that his representatives had made allowances, and the British felt that their needs were not being met (even though Britain had been promised 6 million dollars in compensation and that Canton trade would be reopened within ten days).19
After his inauguration as Britain’s director of trade in late 1841, Sir Henry Pottinger’s armed forces immediately occupied numerous cities along China’s coastline. China’s military strength proved to be weak compared to that of Britain; China then agreed to negotiate, and the Treaty of Nanjing was signed on August 29th of 1842.20 Humiliated, China had signed to terms that included opening five port cities to British residence, rewarding six million dollars in compensation for the destruction of the opium, a payment of three million dollars in silver for war expenses, and giving up Hong Kong to Britain. 21
The first Opium war proved to be the most humiliating defeat China ever had to endure. Britain’s political and economical conquering of China was so significant that the Qing dynasty could no longer regard itself as the superior country, and Chinese citizens began to question China’s supremacy as well as China’s Confucian-style government system. The Western world had created such an impact on the Chinese people that many began to believe that perhaps following a governing system such as Britain’s would be more beneficial to the country. 22 These government-opposing thoughts, in combination with the other factors drastically affecting the country – a growing population, inflation of prices due to the great outflow of silver, diminishing efficiency of the military, corruption in the court, many rebellions against various aspects of Chinese culture- caused the greatest disruption in Chinese society that had ever been encountered. 23
Only after a second war and two more treaties did China begin to realize that perhaps the cultural differences between themselves and the West were what was stopping the country from moving forward both politically and economically. After the Treaty of Nanjing, Britain was still upset because there was no dramatic increase in profits from the China trade. As the Treaty of Nanjing had not even touched upon the Opium issue, opium smuggling continued throughout China, and this caused the Chinese to have an even greater amount of resentment towards the West. However, it was not until the Arrow incident of 1856 that the armed forces were used again. On October 8th, 1856, the Chinese invaded a British-registered ship, known as the Arrow, which was owned by a Chinese resident in Hong Kong. This invasion, which took place without permission, also included “hauling down the British flag”.24 The British armed forces, in combination with a French task force who were still bitter towards a murder of a Frenchman that had occurred in 1856, took over the Canton port in December of 1857. 25 By June of 1858, the joint force had been successful in establishing a new treaty, that of Tianjin, which allowed foreign ambassadors to reside in Beijing, opened ten new ports for foreign trade, allowed the official trade communication language to be English, and legalized the trade of opium.26 However, angry Chinese forces opened fire on the British a year later, killing more than four hundred men and sinking four ships. Once again, a joint English-French force invaded China, won the conflict, and the Convention of Peking was signed on October 24th of 1860. 27 This treaty stated that the Emperor was to formally apologize for disrupting the Treaty of Tianjin, eight million in silver was to be given to the two European countries, emigration on British ships to China was to be permitted, and part of the Kowloon peninsula was to be given to Hong Kong.28
The two Opium Wars and the “unequal treaties forced on the Chinese by the West”29 compromised “China’s sovereignty and weakened the country’s political institutions”30 during an integral part of the country’s history. The Opium Wars played a major role in the collapse of the last of China’s imperial dynasties, but also allowed the Chinese to realize that they must detach themselves from their old-fashioned traditions and, in order to maintain the level of superiority they have always had, reevaluate their culture’s methodology. The Opium Wars became the source of evolution and progress as China began to put an end to their Confucian way of life and embrace Western thought and culture with open arms.
1 Guthrie, lecture, September 16th, 2002.
2 Encarta Article, “Opium Wars”, 2002.
3 Guthrie, lecture, September 16th and 18th, 2002.
4 Encarta Article, “The Qing Dynasty”, 2002.
5 Guthrie, lecture, September 18th, 2002.
6 Encarta Article, “Opium Wars”, 2002
7 Guthrie, lecture, September 16th, 2002.
11 Guthrie, lecture, September 16th, 2002.
12 Encarta Article, “Opium Wars”, 2002.
13 Guthrie, lecture, September 16th, 2002.
16 Guthrie, lecture, September 16th, 2002.
18 Encarta Article, “Opium Wars”, 2002.
20 Encarta Article, “Opium Wars”, 2002.
21 Guthrie, lecture, September 16th, 2002.
22 Guthrie, lecture, September 18th, 2002.
23 Guthrie, lecture, September 16th and 18th, 2002
24 Encarta Article, “Opium Wars”, 2002.
25 Encarta Article, “Opium Wars”, 2002.
26 Guthrie, lecture, September 16th, 2002.
27 Encarta Article, “Opium Wars”, 2002.
28 Guthrie, lecture, September 16th, 2002.
29 Encarta Article, “Opium Wars”, 2002.
30 Encarta Article, “Opium Wars”, 2002.