The opium war which took place in the 19th century was one of the first major defeats of the Chinese government. China had a tremendous amount of wealth which was mostly attributed to the tea trade in the country. Britain had a great demand for this tea, while the country had nothing to offer the Chinese government in return. China was also ignorant to the western revolution and considered the western culture barbaric. China was a traditional country which held strongly to its traditions and culture. While China hoped to keep its culture free of the western culture effect, Britain was looking for open trade ways in China. China was adamant and failed to learn from other cultures in the world and, as a result, they were not ready for the attack that Britain launched against them. China had missed all the many changes that had taken place during the Western revolution, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from other nations. Conflict of interest and misconceptions of the Chinese towards Britain led to the opium war and the defeat of the Chinese.
During the 18th century, England was faced with the difficult task of balancing trade relations with the West. The English became heavy lovers of the Chinese tea. To balance trade between the two nations, England tried selling more of its cotton to China to no success. The Chinese were more accustomed to silk and light cotton, contrary to the heavy cotton that England was trying to sell China. England had to find an alternative item from India to trade with China so that they could continue paying for the Chinese tea. The Chinese had a great need for Opium, even though the commodity was considered illegal in the country. The trade had diverse impacts on the Chinese population with most of them becoming too weak to continue with their daily activities and using the silver reserves in the country to pay for the opium. England did everything in their capacity to keep the opium trade going including bribing the Chinese officials.
The Chinese emperor at the time was faced with a difficult decision as whether to legalize the drug. Knowing the negative impacts that were associated with the drug, the emperor decided to send his most trusted official to eradicate opium in the country. His fist course of action was to round up all the addicts in the country and make them stop using the drug. When the official later tried to force the foreigners in the country to sign agreements not to deal in the drug again, the opium war broke, and the Chinese were no match for the English weaponry which had become more advanced through the many wars that the country had gone through. China was eventually forced to open its country to allow trading with the westerners. What had at began as a conflict of interest eventually resulted in the partitioning of the Chinese empire. A part from the opium trade in the country, the Christian missionaries from the Great Britain who had managed to bring Hong Kong paid little respect to the Chinese culture. The Chinese were not only humiliated by the defeat that followed the war but also had a different battle which was to eradicate the evils that they associated with the English culture.
The Nanking Treaty China was forced to open five trading posts; Amoy, Canton, Foochow, Shanghai and Ningbo. The Chinese were also forced to pay an indemnity fee that was the value of 20 million silver dollars. The Chinese were also forced to abandon the Canton monopoly which hindered trade in and out of Canton, and instead, a new set of customs duties was introduced. The British were also allowed to occupy Honk Kong in endurance, and it became a British territory.
During the time of these events, it is important to understand that the Chinese had a different opinion on the smuggling trade as that of the British officials. After the signing of the Nanking trade, it was evident that things in Canton were changing for the British. Merchants in Hong Kong were caught up between the Chinese officials and the British officials. The Chinese perceived the English movement in the country as impure. As a result, a new political wave known as the spring purification movement was started in the late 1830’s. China was more adamant to change and continued to keep their orthodox texts as their source of knowledge. The country was thus outdated in their way of thinking. As a result, China was unaware of the many changes that were taking place in the western world following the western revolutionization. The Chinese had banned all books from the western nations in their country due to the fear of Christian influence on the Chinese. China was the most superior nation in its region, and all those who failed to follow its culture and adhere to its traditions were considered barbarians. They considered their civilization superior and hence did not see the need to borrow from the western culture.
Following the opium trade in the country, the Chinese even began extensive studies into the British culture which led to the misconceptions that the Chinese could defeat the British. The Chinese perceived the opium trade as a conspiracy against the nation and not as a conflict of interest between the two nations. Their actions were perceived as sinister and meant to poison the country along with its people. These claims were backed by the social and financial crises that ensued in the country following the opium trade in the country. Further studies into the British culture brought out more aspects of their culture which led them to be sure that the British brought with them many evils that the Chinese needed protection from. The Chinese were keen on the sociocultural aspects of the British and how their women were allowed to pick their husbands, and little attention was paid to the potential threat that Britain posed towards China. The Chinese only saw the evil that was associated with the English culture. The Chinese also thought their Chinese trade far too important to Britain, for Britain to dare launch an attack on China. The Chinese perceived Britain as way too civilized because of their tendency by official to tilt their hats in greetings. These misconceptions caused the Chinese to be less prepared for the attack during the opium war.
The opium war was the first sign of the weakness of the Chinese military prowess. When the Chinese retaliated from the opium trade by confiscating all the opium and burning it, England responded by sending its troops into China. As a result of this war, the Chinese lost the island of Hong Kong to England. The country also lost many of its economic advantages to the western nations. It is important to note that Lin Xehu’s letter was written on the eve of the Opium war, but it never reached the hands of Queen Victoria. The letter is an indication of Xehu’s views on the smuggling of drugs as well as the laws governing the free trade market in the area. He uses a respectful but an assertive tone regarding the opium trade. In his letter he reckons how despite the great geographic distance between the two countries, China trade benefits the English people who he considers barbarians, especially following the deployment of warships in their coastal region. Though Zexu failed to understand the English concept of imperialism, he clearly understood the great risk that the English culture posed against the Qing authority in China. Burning the opium, was china’s first attempt to retaliate from the English imperialism. In response, England sent its troops to China. China had to surrender when England threatened to blow the walls of its major city at the time, Nanjing, and hence the signing of the Nanking Treaty.
Before the rise of the opium war in China, it is evident that China trade was of great significance to Britain. Trade with the Chinese was however limited as the Chinese were a very traditional nation and they did not want to be contaminated with the western culture. To the economic disadvantage of Britain, china’s tea had become a valuable commodity among the English households. Britain’s thick cotton was of no use for the Chinese, who were used to the light cotton and silk. Britain had to find a way to which the country would be able to acquire some of the great wealth that the Chinese stored in silverware. Opium became the only alternative for Britain, at the heavy expense of the Chinese population. The Chinese became addicts, and their productivity reduced tremendously. The Chinese viewed the western culture as barbaric, and through the years, the Chinese had ignored the western revolution believing themselves to be a powerful nation in the region. Unlike other nations such as Japan, the country refused to learn from Britain and failed to understand the English concept of imperialism. China refused the wishes by Britain to have their vessels in their ports and only allowed them business in Macao. In its failure to study the outside world, china’s defenses had been left weak, and yet China thought they had a chance against the British troops. When China made a threat against the English traders in China, England felt justified in launching an attack on Chinese soil which led to the defeat of the Chinese government. Throughout the Chinese war and after, the Chinese viewed the western culture as an evil that the Chinese had to rid themselves of.
In conclusion, the opium war in China was a result of a conflict of interest between China and Britain, and the lack of the Chinese to comprehend the English imperialism that resulted from the western revolutionization. During the 18th century, China was a wealthy nation most of which resulted from tea trade. Britain had no commodity to trade with China and paying for the Chinese tea which had become an important household good in England was becoming difficult. China had strict trading regulations with other nations especially those from the west in fear that the westerners would corrupt the Chinese culture. Western culture was considered barbaric, and China had shielded itself from the outside world, only sticking to its orthodox and traditional learning materials. When the Chinese started studying the English culture after the opium trade in their country, attention was paid to the irrelevant details of the nations which had no impact on their military prowess. The Chinese considered its trade far too important to Britain for them to launch an attack against them. The geographical distance between the two countries gave China the misconception that an attack would be unlikely. Being the strongest economy in the region, China had considered themselves untouchable and were, therefore, unprepared for the opium war, leading to their defeat and signing the Nanking Treaty which gave up many of their rights to Britain and opened the country to the western traders.
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