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The Qing dynasty of China entered into a long decay beginning in the 1700's, beset by increasingly aggressive foreign powers that clamoured for two-way trade with China. Europeans bought porcelain, silk, spices and tea from China, but could sell little in return. The drain on silver in Europe helped strain finances already squeezed by European wide wars.
Opium itself had been manufactured in China beginning in the 15th century and was mixed with tobacco, in a process invented by the Spanish, but dominated by the Dutch by the 18th century. The imperial government prohibited the smoking of opium in 1729.
However, the British began manufacturing opium in India in quantity starting in the mid-18th century, learning the art from the Mughal state, which had traded in opium in the land trade since at least the reign of Akbar (1556-1605), and began an illegal trade of opium for gold in southern China. In 1764, when the British conquered Bengal, they began to see the potential profit in opium, which up until this point had been primarily out of Netherlands-controlled Jakarta. Profits approached 400%, and poppies grew almost anywhere.
British exports of opium skyrocketed, from an estimated 15 tons in 1720, to 75 tons in 1773, shipped in over two thousand "chests" of opium, each containing 140 pounds of opium.
In 1773 the Governor-General of Bengal was granted a monopoly on the sale of opium, and abolished the old opium syndicate at Patna. For the next 50 years, opium would be a key to the British East India Company in its hold on India. Since importation of opium was illegal (the Chinese could, after all, manufacture enough for medicinal purposes themselves), the British would sell tea in Canton on credit, carrying no opium, but would instead sell off the right to smuggle the opium in at auction in Calcutta. In 1797, the company would end local Bengal purchasing agents, and would require direct sale of opium to the company by farmers.
In 1799 the Chinese Empire reaffirmed its ban on opium imports, and in 1810 the following decree was issued:
(Lo-shu Fu, A Documentary Chronicle of Sino-Western relations, Vol. 1 (1966), page 380)
But to no avail, the addictive properties of the drug, the misery of the population in China, and the vast need for silver of the British Government (see gold standard) combined to press opium trade higher. In the 1820's opium trade averaged 900 tons per year from Bengal to China.
Main article: First Opium War
In 1834, to accommodate the revocation of the East India Company's monopoly, the British sent Lord Napier to Macao. He attempted to circumvent the restrictive Canton Trade laws, which forbade direct contact with Chinese officials, and was turned away by the governor of Macao, who promptly closed trade starting on September 2nd. The British were not yet ready to force the matter, and agreed to resume trade under the old restrictions, even though Lord Napier, dying of illness, implored them to force open the port.
Within the Chinese mandrinate, there was a debate on legalizing opium trade itself, this was rejected in favor of continued restrictions. In 1838, the death penalty was imposed for native drug traffickers, which by this point the British were selling 1400 tons to China. In March of 1839, a new commissioner, Lin ZexuLIN Zexu (; pinyin: Lin Zexu) ( August 30, 1785 November 22, 1850) was an official loyal to the Daoguang Emperor of China. Lin was born in Fuzhou, in the Fujian province. A formidable diplomat, Lin was sent to Guangdong to halt the importation of opium by was appointed to control the port of Canton by the emperor. He immediately decided to enforce the imperial demand that there be a permanent halt to drug shipments into China. On March 27th, 1839Events January 9 The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process. January 19 British East India Company captures Aden January 20 In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats a Peruvian and Bolivian alliance. February 24 William Ot, Charles Elliot, Superintendent of Trade, demanded that all British subjects turn over opium to him, to be confiscated by Commissioner Lin Zexu, amounting to nearly a year's supply of the drug. When the British refused to end the trade, Lin threatened to end all trade with Britain.
In November of 1839, Chinese patrol boats tried to stop a trading vessel under Lin's embargo of trade, and the British responded by sending warships which arrived in June of 18401840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). Events January 3 One of the predecessor papers to the Herald Sun of Melbourne, Australia, The Port Phillip Herald is founded by George Cavanaugh. January 10 Uniform penny postage.
The war was lopsidedly against the Chinese. British warships raked the coasts at will, and British troops, armed with modern musketA musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth-bore long gun. It is fired from the shoulder, except for the rare wall guns. The date of their origin is unknown, but they were obsolete by the middle of the 19th century, having been superseded by rifles. Typical calibs and cannonprojectile, or cannonball, is labelled 1. The gunpowder is labelled 2. The fuse is inserted in the hole labelled 3. A cannon is a large, smooth-bored, muzzle-loading gun used before the advent of breech-loading, rifled guns firing explosive shells. A canns, were able handily defeat the Chinese forces. The British took Canton, and then sailed up the Yangtze and took the tax barges, slashing to a fraction the revenue of the imperial court in BeijingBeijing Sh Abbreviation: ( pinyin: Jing The Forbidden City Origin of Name bei north jing capital put together: northern capital Pronounced''Bay-jing (J as in joy Area Total % of national Ranked 29th 16,808 kmē 0. 175% Population Total ( 2001) % of nationa.
By 1842, the Chinese sued for peace which was concluded with the Treaty of Nanjing negotiated in August of that year, which was accepted in 1843.
See Also: Ch'ing China: The Opium Wars
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