1. Opium and the Opium Wars

2. The Western Traders Community of traders in Guangzhou
Trade tea and silk through a monopoly
The trade expands rapidly in 1830s
Traders want
End to the monopoly
To be allowed to trade in other ports
A fixed rate of tax

5. Lin Zexu Proposed ending opium trade to solve currency problems
Understood the Western traders as pirates
1839 arrived in Guangdong
Destroyed opium
Imprisoned traders in their compound to make them promise not to trade opium again
→ CRISIS

6. The Opium War 1840 British fleet sent from India
British troops beseiged Guangzhou then paid off
British fleet sailed up the coast and threatened Tianjin
→Treaty of Nanjing

9. The Treaty of Nanjing 1842 End of the Cohong monopoly
Open 5 more ports to foreign trade
New system of fixed tax rates
Hong Kong ceded to Britain
The Qing made a large payment to the British

10. Problems after the Treaty of Nanjing
The Chinese saw it as a rebellion that had been pacified
The British saw it as a war they had won
Factional disputes at court about what to do
Trouble in Guangzhou because some people had lost out from the treaty
→ The Second Opium War

11. The Treaty of Tianjin 1858 Ten more ports opened to foreign trade
Foreigners allowed to travel in China
Chinese internal customs duties fixed for foreigners
Extraterritoriality ie foreign law used for foreigners
Foreign diplomats allowed to reside in Beijing

12. Educational images of the Opium War from the People’s Republic of China’s Southern Daily (Nanfang ribao) in 2004

13. Interpretations Imperialism Impact of the West
J.A. Hobson and Vladimir Lenin
Argument very influential in 1910s and 20s
Impact of the West
John K. Fairbank
China as the centre of the world
Spread of psychoactive substances

14. Opium and the Spread of Psycho-active Substances
Listed from 8th C as a medical drug
Recreational consumption spread from the Philippines in the 17th C
Large scale imports tied to British consumption of tea