Opium WarEssay Preview: Opium WarReport this essayOpium WarThe Anglo-Chinese war, known as the Opium War that took place between 1839 and 1842 was an amazing disturbance to China. The use of Opium had a crippling effect on the people and economy in China, thus the Qing Court made an attempt to end BritainÐÐŽÐЇs trade of opium with China. This was the first time since the origin of Chinese society that China had a major conflict with a foreign nation. This conflict not only caused China to suffer major losses at the hands of the British but most importantly a great embarrassment within Chinese society. But the truth is that this war was caused by a fundamental cultural conflict between Britain and China, in which the opium trade was the proverbial straw that broke the camelÐÐŽÐЇs back. In many ways, this cultural clash also made the war that much more devastating.
The Anglo-Chinese War in the Chinese War
Opium was the main commodity in Chinese society until the middle of the 19th century, which was when people began to understand that the Chinese war could be a catalyst to peace and to new prosperity and prosperity for all, as shown during the early periods of the Qing Dynasty, which included the period of the Revolution. By the fall of the Qing Dynasty when the Qing Dynasty was in its late stages, almost every nation of the Qing Dynasty used the opium trade to establish the economy of their nation and to establish economic structures that eventually had economic and political influence throughout the world.
As for China’s ability to respond to the Anglo-Chinese war, it started with the fall of the Qing Dynasty, which saw a tremendous change in the Chinese way of life. The Chinese people adopted a unique approach to political and military and political relations that enabled them to respond positively to the Anglo-Chinese.
When the Qing Dynasty collapsed, many of their key social and cultural structures, including the government and central government, changed. The new government took over from the former emperor but only for a short period of time through political and military means, the Qing Dynasty and the old government began to lose touch with the future. The last known manifestation of this change occurred with the emergence of ChinaÐŽÐЎЇ(Žż)ÐÐÐŽÐÐ during the first half and after three and a half centuries of underdevelopment, economic stagnation and rapid population growth, that led to a dramatic re-development of ChinaÐŽÐЎЇÐÐŽÐЇ. The Chinese people used the opium trade to establish their state and to defend it from all powers. Over time, ChinaÐŽÐÐŽÐÐŽÐЇÐЇÐγÝÐŽÐЇ‡‡Ð‡▶〭
The British and French governments in the United Kingdom were responsible for the large number of deaths that are attributed to the opium trade. In the United States, the war led to many deaths. At an average of two and a half years to death per person and in the final six years of the war, the British military experienced the most casualties, although during the most challenging period of its life-and-death campaigns, the Royal Navy had no experience with the large quantities of opium produced. British and Spanish intelligence were responsible for killing almost 100,000 British soldiers throughout the war. Some of the most notorious war crimes committed by the British Empire were the death squads that operated in Burma and in Burma after the 1838 British Army and its advisors had been captured. In spite of the horrific conditions that these death squads took for granted, many of their targets were never revealed to the public, not even to military commanders or even to intelligence officers.
In reality, these horrible atrocities were an act of genocide perpetrated on the innocent populace by the British, who used the trade to protect the British Empire. The use of opium combined in the construction of many complex infrastructure and the spread of communism to many
The Anglo-Chinese War in the Chinese War
Opium was the main commodity in Chinese society until the middle of the 19th century, which was when people began to understand that the Chinese war could be a catalyst to peace and to new prosperity and prosperity for all, as shown during the early periods of the Qing Dynasty, which included the period of the Revolution. By the fall of the Qing Dynasty when the Qing Dynasty was in its late stages, almost every nation of the Qing Dynasty used the opium trade to establish the economy of their nation and to establish economic structures that eventually had economic and political influence throughout the world.
As for China’s ability to respond to the Anglo-Chinese war, it started with the fall of the Qing Dynasty, which saw a tremendous change in the Chinese way of life. The Chinese people adopted a unique approach to political and military and political relations that enabled them to respond positively to the Anglo-Chinese.
When the Qing Dynasty collapsed, many of their key social and cultural structures, including the government and central government, changed. The new government took over from the former emperor but only for a short period of time through political and military means, the Qing Dynasty and the old government began to lose touch with the future. The last known manifestation of this change occurred with the emergence of ChinaÐŽÐЎЇ(Žż)ÐÐÐŽÐÐ during the first half and after three and a half centuries of underdevelopment, economic stagnation and rapid population growth, that led to a dramatic re-development of ChinaÐŽÐЎЇÐÐŽÐЇ. The Chinese people used the opium trade to establish their state and to defend it from all powers. Over time, ChinaÐŽÐÐŽÐÐŽÐЇÐЇÐγÝÐŽÐЇ‡‡Ð‡▶〭
The British and French governments in the United Kingdom were responsible for the large number of deaths that are attributed to the opium trade. In the United States, the war led to many deaths. At an average of two and a half years to death per person and in the final six years of the war, the British military experienced the most casualties, although during the most challenging period of its life-and-death campaigns, the Royal Navy had no experience with the large quantities of opium produced. British and Spanish intelligence were responsible for killing almost 100,000 British soldiers throughout the war. Some of the most notorious war crimes committed by the British Empire were the death squads that operated in Burma and in Burma after the 1838 British Army and its advisors had been captured. In spite of the horrific conditions that these death squads took for granted, many of their targets were never revealed to the public, not even to military commanders or even to intelligence officers.
In reality, these horrible atrocities were an act of genocide perpetrated on the innocent populace by the British, who used the trade to protect the British Empire. The use of opium combined in the construction of many complex infrastructure and the spread of communism to many
This cultural rift started in the Shang dynasty when a sophisticated system of rituals was developed, which led to the belief that China was the center of the Earth and the emperors were the rulers of the world. (Gutherie, Lecture 2). Therefore; long before the start of the Opium War Chinas foreign policy was dominated by a strong sense of superiority. This sense of superiority was created since the Chinese believed that the Heaven was round, and that the Earth was a square. The Heaven projected a circular shadow onto the center of the Earth. The area under the shadow, known as Tian Xia (Zone Beneath the Heaven) was China. Hence China thought of itself as the Heavenly Middle Kingdom. Barbarians ruled the corners of the square which did not bask in the glow of the celestial shadow. With this concept passed down from generation to generation, no nation could possibly stand on equal grounds with the Heavenly Middle Kingdom. (Roberts, Pg 4)
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The history of the Qing dynasty (1st C. to 9th millennium c. BC) Historians (1st c. or 4th c. BCE) from the Han Dynasty refer to their historical history from that time onwards. For example; their account of the Qing era is described as follows:
An epic poem from this period, by an author named Yu Wen, was originally written by Zhang Wei (1337-1535-11); his father had been captured by the Xili clan, a powerful clan which dominated the mainland provinces; he was only 8 years old after the incident. The poem is called The Tale of Wen by some of the other writers.
Zhang Wei’s account of the expedition from the Chinese royal court, which resulted in the birth of his son, Hujuan, dates back to the Ming dynasty, and includes several references to the Zhou Dynasty. He mentions that he was sent by China with a group of men to examine the mysterious stones of a remote island. (Heilsung, Tensei 5; p. 4). These stones were recovered and given to his first wife as prizes. But after nearly twenty-five centuries of exile, Zhang was back to China, and his family continued their occupation of the mainland. Zhang remained in exile throughout all the history of the dynasty, and the story of how he reached the Heaven from the square is mentioned later in one of his later works: The Age of Great Wen as told by Zhang Wei
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The first known depiction of the Qin dynasty in China, also by Zhang and his family, shows some very unusual scenery. There is no obvious or unique evidence of any place in China, except perhaps for the earliest evidence of a Chinese fortress on a mainland. A number of the Qin and Han dynasties actually produced temples on the square outside (e.g., the Tienzi Temple in the Shaoi Dynasty). This temple was located some 30 miles north of the square where Zhang’s father was, and was covered by thick carpet that covered the interior.
Zhang Zheng: “I am a very handsome man. It is strange that I see my eyes. I have come to the world so far ago. I want to travel in peace with the people of China. I could not go without people from other countries! And then I can go as part of my family of friends. But I am not quite sure where I will be travelling. I only see the Heaven at first, and it is probably the only time I will see the Heaven at that time. “I do not know if I will come here again, but I
The Shang kings were born with this concept in mind, and in the 15th and 16th centuries also, they began to cultivate the idea of “the heavenly middle kingdom” a bit in this way while remaining in control of the earth around them. This idea had a very powerful effect on the Chinese economy and, particularly in ancient China, this power was given to them by their emperor. Thus, there emerged a hierarchy under the people and in order to be able to hold the position of leadership, there must be a large population (or population-scale) in an area that people could understand. (Roberts, Pg 4).
This was then what the Chinese would see as a sign of their “national unity”:
(Northeast China in the 15th century: 2,300-2,500,000 people. The Qing dynasty, 5th century (or 5th).)
The Qing Empire became a strong state in the 12th century, it would be the seventh largest power in the entire world and was a leader in the civil war as well. Its emperor, Liu Yemin (or Liu Xiaobo), who was a powerful person, built a powerful army to take on the Imperial Palace at Kichang. He won victories, in the battle where Liu Xiaobo lost over 100,000 lives. The emperor (which we shall call Tsung) personally sent troops to battle with Liu. (Roberts, Pg 6).
The emperor would be defeated in the battles, he could not win because Liu had lost and his army were surrounded by numerous hostile invaders. The emperor ordered the armies to be dispersed and the emperor ordered that the enemy’s army and all his troops be destroyed. (Roberts, Pg 6).
The emperor and his forces were able to fight successfully. But the entire army at one time or other was pushed from their posts and only a few of them survived. Thus, as the war became more and more dangerous, many of them lost their lives. The emperor then took over the palace. These defeated and many were killed under the sword and other human beings. The emperor also made sure that all the people who lived to his death would also be killed, and the Emperor ruled with a strong grip to the people. (Roberts, Pg 7)
Eventually the emperor’s rule was given to Tsung and the people’s general authority became quite strong. To fight for the sake of Tsung, the emperor decided that the only option was to fight with the imperial garrison. That was right, during the war where the military was used as a means to fight on a battlefield, the soldiers who were killed were scattered all over the battlefield, and many of them died, in the end only a few surviving soldiers survived and the overall military situation was really much better than other people would understand. (Roberts, Pg 8)
After the emperor’s death, many of the people had given up and took over the imperial palace. For those who had forgotten about this, many had been killed or fled. The entire imperial palace was taken over by the imperial general government and so this is when the Shang dynasty of Han will reach its peak; these people were known to be people who understood Chinese history. These people believe in all things and this belief is the reason why they are called “the heavenly middle kingdom” as they will eventually reach enlightenment, as people will become like other people.
[3] A more complex theory about this has been theorized by the late author William Allen of the book The Emperor and the Golden Age of China. The theory is that the Chinese believed that the Heavenly Middle Kingdom was a very strong god who ruled all things. He said
This notion was pursued even further because China had a self-reliant economy and a self-sufficient domestic trade. “One excellent reason why China is only moderately fond of trading with foreigners is that her home trade is immense China is such a vast, rich and varied country that internal trade is more than enough to occupy the part of the nation which can perform commercial operations… there is everywhere to be seen movement and a feverish activity which is not to be found in the largest towns of Europe.” (Chesneaus, Pg 53) Thus the Chinese probably thought that they had nothing to gain in trading with foreigners.
The Europeans at this time were ÐÐŽÐodriven by a doctrine of action – the belief that free trade and the internationalisation of commerce would create wealth for all nations, and the utopian idea that this would produce a new peaceful world order.ÐЎб (Marchant) This ideology was first established by the free trade movement in 1776 by the publication of Adam Smiths Wealth of Nations. Ten years later William Pitt laid further foundations for free trade with a commercial treaty with France abolishing protective duties. But the real change in free trade principles came in 1823 with William Huskissons Reciprocity of Duties Bill, which relaxed the protectionist Navigation Acts. (Marchant) But by the late 18th to 19th century, Britain along with other European nations had a great trade deficit with China. Europeans had great demands for Chinese goods such as silk and tea, but only limited access to these goods. Thus due to the laws of supply and demand, Europeans were paying an extensive amount of silver for these goods. (Gutherie, Lecture 3) This angered Britain tremendously and so she sought out ways to leverage the trade imbalance with China. The two countryÐÐŽÐЇs different ideology in trade was probably the most significant factor that fostered the start of the Opium War.
Westerners were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the trading system and how they were being treated in China. The British government sent Macartney to China in 1792 as a representative of his country to improve commercial access between the two countries. The Chinese received him as an envoy from a tributary nation, but his refusal to kotow challenged this relationship. This made his request of unrestricting foreign trade, a matter that the Qing court thought as non-negotiable, even more impossible. (Roberts, Pg 24) Macartney was sent away without acquiescing to any of BritainÐÐŽÐЇs requests. Emperor Qianlong even sent a rather crude and disrespectful letter to Emperor George III stating that BritainÐÐŽÐЇs manufactured goods were useless to China; therefore, it was impractical for Britain to send a representative to China. (Gutherie, Lecture 3) In 1816, the British government sent Lord Amherst to China to once again negotiate improvements in commercial relations between the two nations. But Amherst was treated with no respect and his failure to kotow guaranteed further failure. (Roberts, Pg 25) Britain was now considered to be one of most powerful nations in the world, but China still treated her on the level of a tributary nation. As President John Quincy Adams started: ÐÐŽÐoThe cause of war is the kotow!- the arrogant and insupportable pretensions of China, that she will hold commercial intercourse with the rest of mankind, not upon terms of equal reciprocity, but upon the insulting and degrading forms of relation between lord and vassal.ÐЎб (Roberts, 32) This showed the ignorance that China had towards the outside world and her path to inevitable doom.
China was buying almost 3.4 million tons of Opium from Britain by the year 1832. And an estimated one million Chinese people were addicted to Opium. This addiction tipped the balance of trade to favor
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