Imperialism In Qing China

Imperialism was the cause of the economy to beginning to boom in numbers in China. China’s sudden wealth made some eastern nations such as Japan and France very curious. These nations believed that if China was to be colonized that it would make it so much easier for them to have trade routes to and from China. Not only is imperialism impacting the economy but also the culture of China. China’s culture began to change when people all over Europe began to move to China. This is what made the culture of China so diverse. Without Imperialism China would not be the nation that it is today.

Before the arrival of western powers, China was very stable, agricultural, and ethnocentric. They had many factories that produced silk, cotton, and porcelain with their natural resources: salt, tin, silver, and iron mines. They had no interest of trade or interaction with foreigners. From the early eighteenth century, European and American Imperialism spread throughout China with a goal to extend their nation’s power. China was one of many territories that undertook the changes of New Imperialism. By 1912, the country was governed by outside nations: Great Britain (mostly), Russia, Germany, France, and Japan. Their influence on China resulted malignantly on the country’s economy, political ties, and lifestyle; in spite of the few

While under the rule of the Emperor Qianlong, China’s foreign policy and trade was beginning to unfold and open up to Europe. Qianlong, however, still maintained a strict and regulated administration of all foreign trade and foreign ability to exist within China. “ It is true that Europeans, in the service of the dynasty, have been permitted to live at Peking, but they are compelled to adopt Chinese dress, they are strictly confined to their own precincts and are never permitted to return home.” All outside interactions with China could only be permitted if ‘in the

China has 5000 years of history which experienced wars, collapses, failures and successes. The Opium War in the year 1839 and 1856 marked the changing point of China’s trade policy with foreigners, especially with British in opium and tea. China changed from getting tributes to being forced to sign the Nanjing Treaty and Tianjing Treaty with British and French. Due to China’s over confidence and unwelcome attitude toward foreigners and opium, it caused the British to declare the Opium War to China which made Chinese suffer for many years, but at the same time it also forced China to open its doors to the foreigners.

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

Great Britain also desired to trade with China but did not respect the restrictions. After the deliverer of a trade arrangement refused to perform the kowtow ritual to Qianlong, the emperor wrote a letter back to King George III and said that “China was self-sufficient and did not need the British.” Because of these events and others, China became more and more isolated from other countries. Later in the 1800s, the British, Dutch, and others attempted to get out of the stronghold that was China’s trade restrictions.

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.

During the early nineteenth century, both China and Japan enforced policies restricting foreign trade in order to avoid industrialization and western ideas, but after both societies experienced foreign invasions and unequal treaties being established by foreigners, Japan began to industrialize and became imperialists trying to create an empire, while China differed in that the people wanted reform and government restrained the reformation of their society, therefore causing multiple rebellions and overall the collapse of their empire.

China was impacted by Imperialism in a big way. The imperialism in china started because of Opium Trade. The british were the start of the Opium Trade. The Chinese people were pulled in to the drug because they were addicted to it. The people who traded the the drug had become aware that it was becoming a problem. So, they thought stopping would solve it but at this point the Chinese people were in need of it because of how high their addiction was. When the Chinese saw that the trade was being pulled back by the british they turned to fight and created a war between the two. Obviously at the time Britain had the most resourceful and powerful military on the planet, so they undoubtedly won the war.

British trade with China during the Qing dynasty from 1750 - 1900 was economically harmful for the Chinese, and the Chinese Imperial government responses were political. A document showing a Chinese citizen’s view on the events and how they played out would have helped me to better understand how it affected the people of China’s

China before the 1800s was very isolated. The West comes in and gains control by selling Opium to the Chinese for tea and silk. This was nowhere fair, eventually, China wanted to ban this trade that led to war. The Royal Navy’s modernized ships versus poor china’s unadvanced ships, I wonder who won. China was forced into the world of modernization. The British came in and reshaped China like it was clay, with no regard to the natives. This eventually leads to some failed rebellions. These past three examples are how western modernization helped or ruined countries, and that it isn't always black and

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.

Imperialism was good for China. They gained new things due to imperialism it helped them learn new things and have new technology. They gained new things like education and technology.

     Another country that had imperialistic rule was China. The British forced the Chinese to trade with them. As the result of the Opium War, which China lost, they had to accept extraterritoriality. In 1894, Japanese pressure on China led to war. Japan crushed China and western powers moved quickly to carve out spheres of influences on the Chinese coast. Imperial powers accepted the idea of an Open Door Policy, where trade was open to everyone. Negative effects China had were that there land was carved up, they most many rights and people due to wars. Poverty and misery increased, while no nationalism occurred. Chinese

China experiences the pressure of the imperialist’s military which China did not have the knowledge or the experience to match. China went from a superior leader, self-sufficient country, that thought that everyone else were barbarians to a torn country. China accepted foreign trade, but they wanted to control and limit how much and with who the trade was used for, they felt that they European trade was unnecessary. They did not allow the western merchants to have any power or privileges and restricted them to Canton, plus they refused to open their trade system beyond Co-Hong which caused china to not become as prosperous as Japan. (Valentini 2013) Because China the believed that they were the center of civilization and that the Western culture was inferior the Chinese government refused to go along with any of the European’s request and the two nations became hostile towards