Chinas Opium Wars
... The answers to these questions undoubtedly can be found by examining China in the recent years after it was first opened by British warships and guns during the Opium War of 1839 – 1842. ... The purpose of this paper is to explore the Opium War and root out the affects of the Opium War, and identify the impact it had upon the Chinese. ... Once opium was introduced the Britain found its tool to do so. ... However, the Opium War gave China a determination to catch up to the barbarians of the West. ... Prior the Opium War, China was closed to the world. ... The China-Russian border remained open and the border unchanged throughout the 1840’s, well after the Opium War had ended. ... However, China’s challenge to secure itself from the barbarians, proved only invite a larger problem for the Chinese, the Opium War. The Opium War 1839-1842 Despite the harsh regulations, foreign trade expanded in China in the late 18th and 19th centuries. ... Finally in 1820, Britain found the one product which the Chinese did not have, opium. Britain realized that the import of opium was the only way to balance and maintain trade between the two countries. In the years to follow opium smuggling developed rapidly along the southern coast of China. In 1816, 5,106 chests of opium were smuggled into China. Sixteen years later, the chests of smuggled opium rose to 23,570 in number an increase of nearly 470%. Below is a table to illustrate the increased import of opium within China by British. ... ) 1773 1000 1790 4,054 1800 4,570 1810 4,968 1816 5,106 1823 7,082 1828 13,131 1832 23,570 By the 1830’s smoking opium had become a major problem in China. Some historians say that nearly every man under 40 smoked opium. Chinese officials were so worried about the use of opium one stated that “unless this trade is stopped, before ten years have passed there will not be a man left fit to make a soldier”. Due to the smuggling of opium, the trade deficit Western countries had with China quickly turned to surplus. By 1833, opium constituted nearly one-half of the total value of British imports to China. ... Faced with uncertainty regarding the opium problem, the Chinese government opened a debate for Manchu’s and senior officials. The debate lasted nearly two years, and in 1839, the Emperor issued a decree that dealt harsh punishment for those involved in opium. Opium smokers were liable to flogging and pillory (traditional punishment for common offenders), and those who were caught smuggling or selling opium were threatened with imprisonment or death by strangulation. At this time, special commissioner Lin Ze-xu was sent to the city port of Canton to further handle the opium problems there. Lin soon issued orders by proclamation of the Emperor to confiscate any and all opium and or paraphernalia in the city. Within a few months over 1,600 Chinese people were arrested, nearly 50,000 pounds of opium and 70,000 pipes were in the hands of Chinese officials. Lin also tried correspondence with the Queen of England to stop the trade of opium in Chinese ports to no avail. Commissioner Lin also ordered all foreign traders to surrender opium in the port cities of Canton and Lintin. ... Lin then ordered the digging of three trenches, each seven feet in depth and 150 feet long to dispose of the opium. The raw opium was broken up and mixed with water, salt and lime and emptied into the Pearl River. In Canton, in public display, Lin burned the opium confiscated and spread the ashes across the sea. When Lin gave the order to close Canton to all foreign trade, the British began to defy the Chinese official and were openly hostile toward the Chinese people, to this end, the Opium War started. Due to a strong British military and the overwhelming opium addiction within Chinese army, the Chinese admitted defeat. ... All of this, because his display of aggression in Canton had started the Opium War. ... The Opium War, which lasted almost two years, ended with the Chinese losing in disgrace. China Opened Although the war in China was dubbed the Opium War, the war was not about opium at all.