Opium Wars in China Notes
The Opium Wars in China
Overview
The Opium Wars in the mid-19th century mark a critical point in modern Chinese history.
The First Opium War was between China and Great Britain (1839-1842).
The Second Opium War involved China against Great Britain and France (1856-1860).
China lost both wars.
Consequences of China's defeat:
Ceding Hong Kong to British control.
Opening treaty ports for foreign trade.
Granting special rights to foreigners within these ports.
The British increased opium sales in China.
The Chinese learn that they should never again become weak and vulnerable to foreign powers. A common saying is “,” meaning “if you are backward, you will take a beating.”
Two Worlds Collide: The First Opium War
In the mid-19th century, Western powers like Great Britain, France, and the United States expanded their influence through:
Economic and military strength.
Spreading religion via Christian missionaries.
Promoting free trade.
China did not become a formal colony, unlike its neighbors (India, Burma, Malaya, Indonesia, Vietnam).
Confucianism, China’s system of beliefs, was secular and did not impede science and modernity, unlike some religions in other parts of the world.
China struggled to respond to the industrialized, mercantilist, and militarily strong West.
19th-century China was a land-based empire with a 2,000-year-old bureaucracy and conservative Confucian ideas.
Ineffectiveness in dealing with the West led to:
Unequal treaties.
Repeated foreign military invasions.
Internal rebellions.
Political infighting.
Social upheaval.
The first Opium War shifted the balance of power in Asia in favor of the West.
Opium and the West’s Embrace of Free Trade
Trade between China and the West occurred within the Canton System, based in Guangzhou (Canton).
The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) initiated this system, and the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty further developed it.
In 1757, the Qing emperor restricted foreign trade to Guangzhou/Canton only, through licensed Chinese merchants.
This system limited and regulated foreign trade.
Canton System: Restricted China’s foreign trade to Guangzhou from the 17th to mid-19th century and subjected all trade to Imperial Chinese government rules.
The Scourge and Profit of Opium
The British sold opium made from poppy plants, used for medicinal and recreational purposes in Eurasia for centuries.
The British East India Company invested heavily in opium cultivation and processing in India (Bengal).
The British had a profitable monopoly over opium trade with China.
In the early 19th century, Chinese people began smoking British opium recreationally, leading to addiction.
Opium addiction caused severe withdrawal symptoms and drove addicts to desperate measures.
In 1800, the Chinese government banned opium production and importation.
In 1813, opium smoking was outlawed, with punishment involving 100 beatings.
The British East India Company hired British and American traders to transport opium to China.
Chinese smugglers bought opium from ships off the Guangzhou coast and distributed it within China.
By 1830, over 100 Chinese smugglers’ boats were involved in the opium trade.
In 1834, the British East India Company lost its opium monopoly.
Competition among dealers lowered prices, increasing opium use and addiction.
From 1810 to 1838, opium imports increased from 4,500 to 40,000 chests.
Silver outflow from China increased to pay for opium, rising from two million ounces in the early 1820s to over nine million ounces a decade later.
In 1831, the Chinese emperor discovered opium smoking among army members, government officials, and students.
British East India Company: Founded in 1600, it acted as an agent of British imperialism in trade with India and East Asia, expanding British influence aggressively in China, especially in the 19th century.
The Users Versus Pushers Debate
By 1836, the Chinese government became more serious about enforcing the 1813 ban, closing opium dens and executing dealers.
A debate arose among officials on how to address the crisis.
One side took a pragmatic approach, targeting opium users rather than producers, arguing for legalization and taxation to reduce consumption and generate revenue.
Lin Zexu led the opposing side, viewing the opium trade as a moral issue that needed to be eliminated.
Lin believed that if the opium trade and addiction were not suppressed, the Chinese empire would lose its ability to function with peasants, townsfolk, students and soldiers all losing their ability to contribute to society.
He advocated punishing the “pushers” who imported and sold the drug.
Lin Zexu: An effective Chinese official in the Qing Dynasty who underestimated the seriousness of British demands during the Opium War period. He believed China needed to learn about “barbarians” and import their technology but didn't fully grasp the European challenge.
Lin Zexu's Crackdown
In 1839, Lin Zexu arrived in Guangzhou (Canton) to enforce the opium ban.
He wrote to Queen Victoria questioning the morality and political support for the trade.
He arrested over 1,600 Chinese dealers, seized and destroyed tens of thousands of opium pipes, and demanded foreign companies turn over opium supplies.
When the British refused, Lin stopped all foreign trade and quarantined foreign merchants.
After six weeks, merchants turned over 2.6 million pounds of opium (over 20,000 chests).
Lin’s troops seized and destroyed opium on British ships.
Lin pressured the Portuguese to expel uncooperative British from Macao, forcing them to move to Hong Kong.
These actions increased tensions, leading to the first Opium War.
To the British, Lin’s destruction of opium was an affront, as they saw China as out of touch with "civilized" nations that practiced free trade.
British representatives requested merchants turn over opium with the promise of compensation from the British government, to prevent conflict and reopen trade.
The opium liability (worth millions of pounds sterling) and demands from merchants led British politicians to act more forcefully to expand British interests in China.
War began in November 1839 when Chinese warships clashed with British merchantmen.
In June 1840, 16 British warships and merchantmen arrived at Guangzhou.
Over the next two years, British forces bombarded forts, seized cities, and attempted negotiations.
A preliminary settlement ceded Hong Kong to Britain, required an indemnity, and granted diplomatic relations.
Lin Zexu was sent into exile.
Chinese troops, using outdated equipment, were largely ineffective against the British.
Technology and Tactics in the First Opium War
The First Opium War highlighted the technological and military gap between Great Britain and China.
The British had better weaponry and warships, defeating the Chinese with a smaller army (19,000 vs. 200,000 troops).
The British learned from the Napoleonic Wars (1799–1815) and used bases in India for supplies.
Steam-driven vessels like the Nemesis provided a significant naval advantage, turning guns on uptown rivers with great accuracy.
The longer firing ranges of British rifles gave their army several advantages.
Chinese war junks were smaller and intended for close-range river combat, leading to defensive tactics.
Chinese projectile range was much shorter, with technology about 200 years behind the British.
Britain’s naval fire changed the tide of the war.
Timeline of the First Opium War
Mid 1836: Advocates for legalizing opium faced resistance from the Spring Purification Circle, which persuaded Emperor Daoguang to reject legalization.
Mid 1838: Lin Zexu wrote to Queen Victoria urging her to end the opium trade.
Late 1838: Lin Zexu ordered all foreign traders to surrender their opium.
Late 1839: The Battle of Chuenpi, the first battle of the First Opium War, occurred when a British ship attempted to sail to Canton.
Early 1840: Emperor Daoguang asked all foreigners in China to halt material assistance to the British in China.
Mid 1840: A British expeditionary force reached Canton from Singapore.
Early 1841: In the Second Battle of Chuenpi, British forces attacked Humen Strait in Canton, capturing Chinese forts. The Convention of Chuenpi ceded Hong Kong Island to the British.
Mid to Late 1841: In the Battle of Chinhai, British forces commanded the high ground around Canton and defeated the military divisions at Ningbo and Dinghai.
Mid 1842: British launched Yangtze River campaign, defeating the Chinese at the mouth of the river and occupying Shanghai.
Mid 1842: The Treaty of Nanking was signed between Britain and China, formally ending the First Opium War and opening five new trading ports.
The War’s Aftermath
The Treaty of Nanjing, signed in 1842, greatly favored the British:
Hong Kong provided an excellent deep-water port.
A large indemnity (compensation) was paid to the British government and merchants.
Five new Chinese treaty ports were opened.
Extraterritoriality was granted to British citizens.
A “most favored nation” clause ensured any rights gained by other foreign countries would apply to Great Britain as well.
The Treaty of Nanjing provided no benefits for China. Opium imports rose, peaking at 87,000 chests in 1879.
After the war, a political struggle ensued between a peace faction (aligned with the ‘users’ faction) and a ‘war’ faction (aligned with the ‘pushers’ faction).
The Treaty of Nanjing ended the Canton System and was followed by unequal treaties between China and western powers.
The treaties allowed westerners to build churches and spread Christianity in the treaty ports.
Western imperialism and free trade had its first great victory in China.
When the Chinese emperor died in 1850, his successor dismissed the peace faction.
The new emperor tried to bring Lin back from exile, but Lin died along the way.
The Chinese court avoided accepting foreign diplomats at Beijing, and compliance with treaties fell short of expectations.
Extraterritoriality: 19th and 20th century concept where foreigners were exempt from the laws of the country where they were living.
Unequal Treaty: Series of treaties in the 19th and 20th centuries that forced China to grant territorial rights and cede sovereignty to foreign powers.
Second Opium War (1856–1860)
In 1856, the Second Opium War broke out, resulting in new unequal treaties, indemnities, and the opening of 11 more treaty ports.
This war led to increased Christian missionary work and legalization of the opium trade.
Even after the first Opium War and new ports opening, Chinese agreements were not properly implemented.
British merchants were restricted to who they could with, with their government pressing to do more.
In October 1856, Chinese authorities arrested the crew of a ship operated by the British which prompted British forces to put pressure on China militarily to open itself up even further to British merchants and trade.
France joined the British, citing the execution of a French Christian missionary in China as the reason.
Joint French-British forces captured Guangzhou before moving north to Tianjin.
In 1858, the Chinese agreed to western demands in documents like the Treaty of Tientsin, but then refused to ratify the treaties, leading to further hostilities.
Capturing Beijing
In 1860, British and French troops landed near Beijing and fought their way into the city.
Negotiations quickly broke down, and the British High Commissioner ordered troops to loot and destroy the Imperial Summer Palace.
The Chinese emperor fled to Manchuria.
His brother negotiated the Convention of Beijing, ratifying the Treaty of Tientsin, adding indemnities, and ceding the Kowloon Peninsula to Britain.
The war ended with a weakened Qing Dynasty that needed to rethink its relations with the outside world and modernize its structures.
Thinking about the Opium War
In 1839, the British enforced their version of free trade and insisted on their citizens’ rights.
Critics argue that the British pushed opium, which was illegal in their own country, while arguing about free trade.
Some claim the Opium Wars were about upholding free trade, while others suggest Great Britain was protecting its international reputation.
Some American historians argue the wars were about expanding commercial relations and abolishing the Canton trading system.
Some western historians say the war was fought to keep China’s balance of trade in a deficit, using opium as a tool.
Not everyone in Britain supported the opium trade.
From China’s historical perspective, the first Opium War marked the beginning of the end of late Imperial China and the start of the “century of humiliation.”
China’s defeat signaled a weakening state and its ability to project power.
The unequal treaties undermined China’s relations with other countries and its tea trade.
The opium trade added to the cost to China in silver and social consequences.
Rebellions within China made it difficult for the Chinese government to pay its tax and indemnity obligations.
Present-day Chinese historians view the Opium Wars as wars of aggression, teaching the lesson that “if you are ‘backward,’ you will take a beating.”
These lessons shaped the Chinese Revolution against imperialism and feudalism.