How Did Lin Zexu Sell Opium?

While westerners in China pushed to claim rights and generally oppose Chinese reformers who worked to better China, Chinese government and society faced internal problems. Being a main target for imperialism, China faced much western influence. One of the events that marked the beginning of intense western influence was the case concerning the Opium Wars. A main imperialistic power, Great Britain, began trading China opium, a heavily addictive drug, in exchange for tea and silk. At first, it seemed like a positive idea – the Chinese

In the 19th Century British planned to invade China for economic reasons. It had no motives to conquer the state rather entice it to accept a free trade. The country was rich in tea which was in high demand not only in Britain but all over the world. China also had porcelain and silk which the Britons envied. The intruders did not have enough silver to buy the commodities thus opted for a barter system. Consequently, a war between the two states occurred. It was fought between 1848 and 1852 with China becoming unsuccessful due advanced military competence of Britons. The signing of an agreement between them then followed, and British was additionally awarded extraterritorial rights by China. However, the imperialism in China was a positive thing to the natives because it introduced trade and much education in the region which opened up opportunities.

In the text, “Letter to Queen Victoria”, written by Lin Zexu in 1839, he implores the Queen of Great Britain, Queen Victoria, to stop her subjects from selling opium to the Chinese public. Zexu does so by exemplifying the past relationship of China and Britain, by moral persuasion, and by warnings and threats. However, Lin Zexu’s assumption of calling British subjects as Barbarian and compliant to Chinese rule ineffectively persuades.

By 1839, war was imminent. The opium trade had caused the reversal of the silver deficit, now putting an economic strain on China, while Britain’s economy flourished from the profit they were making off the drug. Because it was being illegally imported, all of the money was going directly to Britain instead of to the Chinese government in the form of taxes. This caused a severe economic decline in China as unemployment rose, agriculture declined, and funding for public improvements diminished.

The increase of production and use of opium created many problems for China. An issue that resulted of the opium trade was the illegal opium trade with Britain. While most goods and products were legally traded, opium had increased in the illegal market. Previously China’s emperor had written to Britain’s monarchy about the encroachment of their demand of goods and land within China. The emperor Qianlong, in his letter, states that “porcelain which the Celestial Empire produces are absolute necessities to European nations and to yourselves” (Document 1). This shows that European countries often wanted the products of China. It also provoked the illegal trade of opium a very valued

While The boxer rebellions is still ongoing, the British were selling opium, a poisonous drug made from poppy plants, to the chinese people. The British colonies refused to stop importing opium and continued selling opium to injure the chinese. In document 1 The Opium War, The chinese suffered shameful defeat and were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing, which gave Britain the island of Hong Kong and free from the chinese laws at the chinese ports. China’s humiliated lost made them resist against the British rule, eventually leading to the Opium Wars. Although they were manipulated by the British, they still resisted to prove their loyalty and their love for their country. This indicates that the chinese people show Nationalism by portraying the pride they have for their country. The chinese also shows ideology by showing loyalty to their sacredness and ancient culture. In conclusion, imperialism altered China to a country that has nationalism and pride for their

The earlier policies were built around the fact that Britain held China in great respect. In 1793, King George III of England wrote to the Qianlong Emperor of China, “China is by far the most superior in the matter of customs, traditions, and laws. . . I wish to submit myself so as to partake of your great civilization,”. His letter highlights the deep admiration Britain held for China and China’s far-reaching power. On the other hand, China rigidly restricted all trade with other countries. The Qianlong Emperor wrote back that British “merchants will assuredly never be permitted to land or reside here, but will be subject to instant expulsion,”. China’s original resistance strategy is effective because they have the military power to back it up and are able to prevent British merchants from trading in China. The issue is that since legal trade was banned, the illegal exchange of opium began. Nevertheless China carried their no-tolerance trade policies onward until 1839, when Lin Zexu, a Chinese official, wrote to Queen Victoria that “all those people in China who sell opium should receive the death penalty,”. The policy makes sense because the opium trade had already disrupted the economic and social systems of China and was an issue that needed to be taken care of. However this form of

After the ban of Tobacco in 1644 by the last Ming emperor Huaizhun the already addicted Chinese people had to find something new to smoke and as opium was already smoked mixed together with tobacco before the ban, many of the smokers changed to opium smoking itself or also Arsenic, that is also a drug. So as the Opium smoking was already widely spread across China, it was already slowly destroying the health and the cohesion of the nation, but it was still a problem only within China. Even though Chinese-European trade already existed in the seventeenth century a law for the trade was made 1757 and it was called the “Canton-System” and the trade between China and all European countries got reduced to only Canton or as it is today called

The Chinese sold many things that European markets were interested in. The British, observing the demand for opium in China, both for legitimate reasons, and by addicts, grew and sold large amounts of opium, and sold it to intermediaries for silver that would eventually sell it on to the Chinese. The balance of trade being upset, and the concern over the growing number of Chinese opium addicts, led the Chinese government to impound foreign ships, destroy cargos, and arrest merchants. Basically suppressing the trade. The British did not like China's decisions. Therefore the British responded violently, they had a couple of bloody battles, the British won numerous times , dominating Chinese armies. China tried fighting back but it made things worse. Another major event that occurred in the Opium wars is the Treaty of Nanjing. This treaty is a big event because it gave Britain a lot of advantages, like the Chinese giving full control of Hong Kong to Britain. Also giving Britain more ports where they could trade Opium, the last thing that the British was given by the Chinese in accordance to the treaty was money. This basically showed that the British won the first Opium war, due to all the privileges the British gained from the Chinese’s peace

At the end of the eighteenth century, China 's items were richly fancied by Britain. Nevertheless, the Chinese considered Europeans to be savages and would not have jumped at the chance to trade with them. In the midst of trade, there was an anomaly to bolster China, in light of the fact that the Europeans were constrained to buy Chinese stock using silver. The Western Imperialists began to create opium poppies from in India, and thereafter sneak them into China. China soon got the chance to be reliant on the drug and spent most of it 's money on the purchase of it from the Europeans and Americans. This moved the equality of vitality to be to bolster Europe.

Lin Tze-su, a commissioner sent by the emperor, went to Canton in order to stop the opium trade. Tze-su decided things had gone too far once two British sailors killed a Chinese man, and the British officials would not hand over the

In the early eighteen hundreds, Britain and other European countries demanded more and more Chinese commodities, especially tea and silk. However, only the port in Canton was opened to foreign countries, and Chinese would not take any other form of payments besides silver. The desire to make China into a free market that foreigners have more access to and the increasing, though illegal, European opium import to China eventually created tension between the European countries, especially Britain, and the Chinese government (Allingham Par. 1-2). The two battles fought and won by European powers were known as the Opium Wars. China’s politics, economy, and intellects were both positively and negatively

England’s unethical decision, fueled by greed, not only exploited but also crippled China’s society and culture. The Chinese became addicted to opium, and thus, instead of working and living as righteous citizens, they spent all of their money and time to feed their addiction for opium. While China’s tea fostered England’s economic productivity and culture, England’s opium destroyed China’s economic productivity and culture due to England’s unethical business decision.

The rise of nationalism in the late 1700s through the early 1800s was frowned upon by the Chinese. It brought democracy, opium trade which eventually led to the opium wars, and the fight over who territories in Shanghai. The British were looking to trade for silver. They offered China lots of silver, for their tea. Britain had essentially scammed the Chinese and instead of paying them the silver they were promised, they payed them with large quantities of opium from the British-Owned India. China didn’t like this, but many of China’s citizens became addicted to the drug of opium. The Chinese were now furious and filled with hate towards western culture. This led to a rise of nationalism within China for its citizens to rebel against this foreign

Finally, deeply rooted tensions between Britain and China began to come to the surface as the Chinese attempted to crack down on opium use and trade within its borders.