Imperialism in China Unit 5: Imperialism Opium Wars Opium Trade in China ● Emperor Qianlong restricted foreign trade to one single location at Canton (Guangzhou) in southern China ● Britain ran heavy trade deficits with China; could only trade with silver ○ Feared they would run out of silver ● Britain owned massive opium (highly addictive product from the opium poppy) industry in India ○ Opium began being mixed with tobacco for smoking; increased demand ■ High demand for opium in China = Britain trading opium for goods instead of silver ● Qing banned opium as addiction spread Trade Rules in China for Foreigners 1. No foreign warships may sail inside the Bogue [i.e., the harbor approach to Canton city] 2. Neither foreign women nor firearms may be brought into the factories [i.e., the warehouse complex reserved for foreign traders within the harbor but outside Canton city walls] 3. foreign ships must not enter into direct communication with the Chinese people and merchants without the immediate supervision (of a native Chinese) 4. Each factory [each trading nation had its own 'factory'] is restricted for its service to 8 Chinese (irrespective of the number of its occupants) . 5. Foreigners may not communicate with Chinese officials except through the proper channel of the Co-hong Trade Rules in China for Foreigners 6. Foreigners are not allowed to row boats freely in the river . .On the 8th, 18th, and 28th days of the moon 'they may take the air . All ships' boats passing the Custom-houses on the river must be detained and examoined, to guard against guns, swords, or firearms being furtively carried in them. On the 8th, 18th, and 28th days of the moon these foreign barbarians may visit the Flower Gardens and the Honam Joss-house, but not in droves of over ten at one time. If the ten should presume to enter villages, public places, or bazaars, punishment will be inflicted upon the (interpreter) who accompanies them 7. Foreign trade must be conducted through the hong merchants. Foreigners living in the factories must not move in and out too frequently, although they may walk freely within a hundred yards of their factories . 8. Foreign traders must not remain in Canton after the trading season [which lasted from October to May each year] . they should return home or go to Macao [the Portuguese enclave at the mouth of the harbor] 9. Foreigners may neither buy Chinese books, nor learn Chinese [difficult to accept that this restriction could be enforced!] 10. The hong merchants shall not go into debt to foreigners Year Amount of opium imported to China from India (1 chest = 140 lbs) 1773 1,000 chests 1790 4,000 chests 1824 10,000 chests 1828 18,000 chests 1839 40,000 chests 1865 76,000 chests 1884 81,000 chests (peak) “Opium has a very violent effect. When an addict smokes it, it rapidly makes him extremely excited and capable of doing anything he pleases. But before long, it kills him. Opium is a poison, undermining our good customs and morality. Its use is prohibited by law. Now the commoner...dares to bring it into the Forbidden City. Indeed, he flouts the law! He should be turned over to the Board of Punishment, and should be tried and severely sentenced. However, recently the purchases and eaters of opium have become numerous. Deceitful merchants buy and sell it to gain profit. The customs house at the Ch'ung-wen Gate was originally set up to supervise the collection of imports (it had no responsibility with regard to opium smuggling). If we confine our search for opium to the seaports, we fear the search will not be sufficiently thorough. We should also order the general commandant of the police and police- censors at the five gates to prohibit opium and to search for it at all gates. If they capture any violators, they should immediately punish them and should destroy the opium at once. As to Kwangtung and Fukien, the provinces from which opium comes, we order their viceroys, governors, and superintendents of the maritime customs to conduct a thorough search for opium, and cut off its supply. They should in no ways consider this order a dead letter and allow opium to be smuggled out!” - Emperor Jiaqing, 1810 Opium Smuggling and First Opium War ● With ban in place, Britain began illegally smuggling opium into China ● Chinese officials demanded British at Canton surrender all opium ○ 21,306 chests (~3,000,000 lbs) destroyed ● Britain demanded repayment for destruction of property ● Chinese refusal led to First Opium War ○ Easy victory for British; military technology far ahead ○ Peace treaty increased trading ports from 1 → 5 ○ Also carved up Shanghai and Hong Kong into spheres of influence Treaty of Nanjing The Treaty of Nanjing was signed by Chinese officials at gunpoint and gave Britain: ● an excellent deep-water port at Hong Kong; ● a huge indemnity (compensation) to be paid to the British government and merchants; ● five new Chinese treaty ports at Guangzhou (Canton), Shanghai, Xiamen (Amoy), Ningbo, and Fuzhou, where British merchants and their families could reside; ● extraterritoriality for British citizens residing in these treaty ports, meaning that they were subject to British, not Chinese, laws; and ● a “most favoured nation” clause that any rights gained by other foreign countries would automatically apply to Great Britain as well. Century of Humiliation ● British felt the Qing were not fulfilling the treaty; Qing officials avoided diplomatic meetings ● British and French launched Second Opium War and captured Beijing ● Chinese gov’t signed a new treaty to end the war ○ Gave foreigners 11 more trading ports ○ Christian missionaries flooded into China ○ Opium trade formally legalized ● Humiliating defeats in Opium Wars forced the Qing to reevaluate their place in the world ○ “If you are backward, you will take a beating.” ● Not all British supported Opium Wars ○ Many British citizens and politicians believed opium trade to be evil Tai Ping Rebellion The Tai Ping Rebellion (1850-1864) ● Lasted 14 years ● Bloodiest civil war in history ○ 20-70 million casualties ● Largest war of the 1800s ● Greatly weakened Qing Dynasty and proved they could not control things from Beijing Hong Xiuquan ● Christian convert (failed civil service candidate) ○ Received visions from God telling him to save China (and that he was Jesus’ brother) ○ Argued for massive land and political reform; anti-Manchu and anti-Confucian ○ Popular among poor farmers and laborers The Taiping Tianguo ● Means, “Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace” ● Expanded north along the Yangtze River ○ More than 1 million followers by 1850 ● Qing government persecutes group leading to civil war The Rebellion ● Hong’s capital = Nanking ○ Defeated Qing in several battles early on, but never took Beijing ○ Conquered huge amounts of territory ○ Civilians often caught in crossfire ● Hong nearly assassinated by his commander-in-chief in 1853; began ordering numerous executions ○ Broke through siege of Nanking, but were defeated in Shanghai in 1860 End of the Rebellion ● Qing victorious, but further weakened ● Helped by foreign soldiers ● 1864- Hong dies from food poisoning (possibly committed suicide) ○ Fighting continued years after his death Tai Ping Rebellion Aftermath ● Overwhelming casualties (20-30 million) ● Qing government never fully recovered ○ Reform attempted in 1890s, but was too late ● Warlords with own armies spread across China ● Early roots of communism introduced The Boxer Rebellion The Boxers ● Europeans and Americans gradually imposed their demands and beliefs on the Chinese people ○ People feel bullied, Qing unable to stop them ● In reaction, rural Chinese formed secret spiritual/martial arts society (The Righteous and Harmonious Fists) to resist foreign influence; called “Boxers” by Westerners ○ Extremely anti-foreigner, anti-Christian ● Boxers attracted many young men to their cause, began targeting missionaries and converts ○ Were well-organized, but poorly armed (still used swords and polearms) The Boxer Rebellion ● Boxers killed thousands of foreigners, missionaries, and Chinese converts to Christianity between 1899-1901 ○ Qing empress unofficially supported Boxers at first ● In response, Eight-Nation Alliance sent ~50,000 troops to stop Boxers ○ Empress sent Qing army to block foreign troops (not all Qing officials supported the empress) ● Rebellion crushed by Eight-Nation Alliance in Beijing; capital occupied for a year after ○ 100,000 Chinese civilians dead ○ Beijing countryside looted by foreign troops, many atrocities ○ China forced to pay massive reparations (payments to make amends for wrongdoing) ● Boxer Rebellion failure = death knell of the Qing dynasty ○ Qing collapse ~10 years later Soldiers of the Eight-Nation Alliance *Russia missing U.K. U.S. Australia British Germany France Austria- Italy Japan India Hungary .