Causes

• Peasants drive out Ming dynasty in 1644

  • Ming commander unites his forces with nomads from the Manchurian plains → Manchus

    • Manchus are allowed into China to stop rebellion → refuse to leave → set up Qing dynasty

      • Now also referred to as Qings

• Qings = few in numbers, but ruled for 3 centuries

  • Encouraged development of Chinese culture

  • Permitted citizen interference in government

  • Left villages alone

  • Operated public works (irrigation canals, roads, bridges)

  • New crops (potatoes, corn, peanuts) → population grew

    • Farmland became scarce

  • Eventually started to neglect public → revolts

• Canton Trade System = regulated Qing trading system

  • West had to trade through southern port of Canton

    • Could only reside in limited spaces

    • Could not bring family

    • Could not stay more than a few months a year

  • Only licensed merchants

  • Qing emperor saw Western merchants as barbarians → had to offer certain things

    • Tribute = gift given to leader for gratitude of their rule

    • Kowtowing = kneeling before the leader

• British felt a trade imbalance with China → started to plant opium (drug) in Bengal, India

  • Lord George Macartney tried to give tribute to fix trade → failed

    • British decided that they could only fight with violence

• Prohibitions from trading Opium → merchants had to move to Lintin island (entrance of Pearl River) to avoid officials

  • Opium clippers = the modernized, fast clipper ships that smuggle opium to China

  • “Fast crabs” and “scrambling dragons” = the Chinese boats that would collect and then disperse opium along the coast of China

• Became a very popular drug -> many companies + individuals (foreigners, Chinese) wanted to become involved

  • Caused too much outflow of money → currency was becoming instable

  • Officials who used it started to fall behind in their work

    • Daoguang emperor declared to fully get rid of it → sent official Lin Zexu to Canton, 1839

• Zexu became Imperial Commissioner of Canton

  • Wanted to completely prohibit opium

    • Destroyed a shipment of British opium at Canton

    • Tried to send letters to Queen Victoria about the opium issues

  • Still respected to this day for his honest and incorruptible efforts

• British parliament becomes worried

  • Hawks → called for war

  • Doves → thought opium trade was immoral

• Small fights between Britain and China exploded into the Opium War

  • China poisoned British wells + prohibited sale of food and all trade

  • British warships opened fire on Chinese when they denied them food and water

Events

• Formal declaration of war 1-31-1840

  • Small confrontation British vs Chinese at Chuanbi, Canton Bay

• Commissioner Lin

  • Lied about Chuanbi -> Chinese lost, but told emperor they won

  • Did not believe Chinese were strong enough to win war

    • Tried to punish users/dealers to stop trade

    • Kept trying to use morals to convince foreigners to stop opium

      • Foreigners were too prideful/angry to listen -> didn’t work

• June 1840 -> British arrive at and assert authority at Canton

  • Ask for:

    • Compensation for stolen Opium

    • Abolition of Canton Trading System

    • Right to occupy an island off of the Chinese coast

  • Built naval blockade + traveled coastline

    • Wanted to intimidate + find a leader to agree to their terms

• Lin taken down from Commissionar for incompetence

  • Successor was too soft -> British invasion continued

• 7-21-1842, final major battle of the war

  • Chinkiang (Zhenjiang) fell to invaders

    • Allowed an opening to Nanking (Nanjing), major city in major area

      • Losing Nanking = split in North + South China

• Treaty of Nanking, 8-29-1842

  • Chinese ports Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, Shanghai are open

  • 20 million silver dollar payment to Britain

    • Compensation for opium + cost of the war

  • Abolish Cohong monopoly

    • Controlled trade at Canton

  • Hong Kong = British territory

    • Disappointed -> Hong Kong was initially difficult

      • Eventually became a dominant city

• Second Opium War (France + Britain vs China), 1857-1860

  • Chinese ignored treaty -> created obstacles to trade

  • US wanted to help China, but also wanted less obstacles to trade

• Treaties of Tianjin, 1858

  • China + Russia + US + France + Britain

  • 11 new treaty ports in China

  • Chang river = open to commerce

    • Most important trading river

  • Foreigners/missionaries can travel in China

  • Importation of opium = legalized

  • Tariff of 5%

  • Could have diplomatic relations in the capital (Beijing)

    • Would destroy Chinese tradition -> tried to stop the diplomats

      • Had to sign additional Beijing Treaty

• Other Western countries used this as an excuse to make other treaties -> unequal treaties

  • Extraterritoriality = exemption of foreigners from Chinese law

  • Foreigners have the same rights

  • Foreigners (missionaries, traders, travelers) allowed in China

  • Fixed tariffs

Effects

• Chinese government lost control over its economy

• Foreign merchants could do business in China -> less business for native merchants

• Missionaries taught Christianity

• Foreigners were not subject to Chinese law

• Foreigners built new places at trading ports

• Foreign troops + goods were all around

• Tariff so low -> more money to buy locally than import