Suggested Writing Time 40 Minutes s1

WORLD HISTORY

SECTION II

Note: This exam uses the chronological designations B.C.E. (before the common era) and C.E. (common era). These labels correspond to B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (anno Domini), which are used in some world history textbooks.

Part A

(Suggested writing time --- 40 minutes)

Percent of Section II score --- 33 1/3

Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Documents 1-10. (The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.) Write your answer on the lined pages of the Section II free-response booklet.

This question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical documents.

Write an essay that:

 Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the documents.  Uses all of the documents.  Analyzes the documents by grouping them in as many appropriate ways as possible. Does not simply summarize the documents individually.  Takes into account the sources of the documents and analyzes the the authors’ points of view.  Identifies and explains the need for at least one additional type of document.

You may refer to relevant historical information not mentioned in the documents. 1. Using the following documents, analyze how the relationship between China and England changed between 1792 and 1900. What aspects of the relationship did NOT change?

Historical Background: Official diplomatic relations between China and England began in 1793 when a British delegation led by Lord Macartney briefly met with Chinese Emperor Qianlong. Though trade between the two countries increased, relations deteriorated as England successfully replaced payment in silver with payment in addictive opium. This policy led to the Opium War, 1839-1842 and continued strained relations resulted in the Boxer Rebellion at the end of the century. Document 1

Source: Emperor Qianlong’s letter to George III, 1793

The Celestial Court has pacified and possessed the territory within the four seas. Its sole aim is to do the utmost to achieve good government and to manage political affairs, attaching no value to strange jewels and precious Document 2 objects. The various articles presented by you, O King, this time are accepted by my special order to the office in charge of such functions in consideration of the offerings having come from a long distance with sincere good wishes. As a matter of fact, the virtue and respect of the Celestial Dynasty having spread far and wide, the kings of the myriad nations come by land and sea with all sorts of precious things. Consequently there is nothing we lack, as your principal envoy and others have themselves observed. We have never set much store on strange and ingenious objects, nor do we need any more of your country’sDocument manufactures. 3 . . .

Document 2

1792, Earl Macartney (later Lord Macartney) kneeling before Chinese court as caricatured by British cartoonist.

Document 5

Document 6

Document 7 Document 3

Source: Lord Macartney, British emissary to the Chinese imperial court, commenting on his first visit, 1793.

Thus, then have I seen ‘King Solomon in all his glory.’ I use this expression, as the scene recalled perfectly to my memory a puppet show of that name which I recollect to have seen in my childhood, and which made so strong an impression on my mind that I then thought it a true representation of the highest pitch of human greatness and felicity. Document 9

Document 4

Document 11

Source: Lin Zexu, Imperial Commisioner stationed in Canton. This letter sent by the commissioner is addressed to Queen Victoria, 1839.

We find that your country is sixty or seventy thousand li from China. Yet there are barbarian ships that strive to come here for trade for the purpose of making a great profit. The wealth of China is used to profit the barbarians . . . . By what right do they use this poisonous drug to injure the Chinese people?

I have heard that the smoking of opium is very strictly forbidden by your country; that is because the harm caused by opium is very clearly understood. Since it is not permitted to do harm in your country, then even less should you allow it to be passed on to do harm in other countries. Of all that China exports to other countries, there is not a single thing that is not beneficial to people: they are of benefit when eaten, or of benefit when used, or of benefit when resold: all are beneficial. This is for no other reason than to share the benefits with the people of the whole world . . . . We have heard heretofore that your honorable ruler is kind and benevolent. Naturally you would not wish to give unto others what you yourself do not want. . . . Document 5

Source: Lord Palmerston’s (British Foreign Secretary) letter to the Chinese government, 1840

It appeared that the Laws of the Chinese Empire forbid the importation of Opium into China, and declare that all Opium which may be brought into the Country is liable to confiscation. The Queen of England desires that Her Subjects who may go into Foreign Countries should obey the Laws of those Countries; and Her Majesty does not wish to protect them from the just consequences of any offenses which they may commit in foreign parts. But, on the other hand, Her Majesty cannot permit that Her Subjects residing abroad should be treated with violence, and be exposed to insult and injustice; and when wrong is done to them, Her Majesty will see that they obtain redress.

Document 6

Source: Terms of the Treaty of Nanjing, 1842 (ending the Opium War)

. . . [T]he Emperor further engages, that when British merchandise shall have once paid at any of the said ports the regulated customs and dues, . . . such merchandise may be conveyed by Chinese merchants to any province or any city in the interior of the Empire of China . . . .

It is agreed that her Britannic Majesty’s Chief High Officer shall correspond with the Chinese High Officers, both at the capital and in the provinces, . . . on a footing of perfect equality. . . . Document 7

Source: Li Hongzhang, leader of the Self-Strengthening Movement in Shanghai, 1865

However ingenious or miraculous it may look in appearance, a mechanical device comes about as a result of applying the easily understandable natural law. It will not work and certainly not work for long if it is not based upon reason and facts. Chen Tingqing is correct when he states in a memorial to Your Majesty that even a most complicated piece of Western machinery is built upon the same principle upon which a Chinese watch or clock is made. Though our social structure and political institutions are not only different from, but superior to their Western counterparts and therefore must be maintained and strengthened, it has been nevertheless suggested that to transform China from a weak to a strong country in order to assure her safety, we must imitate the West in technical matter, especially in the manufacturing of machinery.

Document 8

Source: Court Official Zhang Zhidong, late 1860s

The doctrine of people’s rights will bring us not a single benefit but a hundred evils. Are we going to establish a parliament? . . . Even supposing the confused and clamorous people are assembled in one house, for every one of them who is clear-sighted, there will a hundred others whose vision is beclouded; they will converse at random and talk as if in a dream --- what use will it be? Document 9

Source: You Zan, Chinese economic scholar, 1894

The Westerner’s most effective weapon in butchering our financial well-being has been and still is opium, the poison of which permeates into every corner of the nation. We exchange precious silver for harmful drugs, and the total amount of silver that has flowed out of the country during the past fifty years is so large that we have ceased to count. The more we ban the opium traffic, the more the people violate the ban. Meanwhile the Westerners, sitting their comfortably and radiating a self-satisfied smile, collect their profit. They will not be satisfied until every Chinese looks like a skeleton and every Chinese penny goes into their pockets. They will not be happy until China, as a nation, has degenerated to such an extent that no recovery is remotely possible. Their strategy is clear: to prevent China from becoming strong, they have to keep her permanently poor. . . .

Document 10

Source: Lithograph postcard depicting Western soldiers as they beat up Chinese during the Boxer Rebellion, 1900.