2.23 Opium War Hong Xiuquan’s Heavenly Kingdom PDF

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history 115 notes 2015...

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x2.23 Opium War/Hong Xiuquan’s Heavenly Kingdom  Key terms o Tea/opium o “foreign mud” o Napier Affair o Lin Zexu o Charles Elliot

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o Opium War (1839-42) o Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing) o Treaty ports o Hakka o Hong Xiuquan o Taiping Rebellion Opium war is the beginning of modern history Opium trade very beneficial for EIC – made lots of bank!! o Balanced out tea they were buying o By 1830s, they were selling more opium then tea…silver flow out of china o Trying to end monopoly of trade with china at canton  1833 lobbyists succeeded, - monopoly was ended in 1834 – victory for free traders in britian!!  Suddenly, a free for all from britian to canton to jump into china trade HUGE surge in opium trade at canton in 1834 because monopoly was over o DOUBLED opium coming into china  16000-27000 All relations in canton were through merchants, no diplomats o 1834 – british government had to send diplomat – Lord Napier – British Superintendent of trade  Preside over british merchants in canton  Sent letter to general when arrived in canton – did not follow the customs of china (going to macao, etc)  Saw himself as an equal to Chinese…. And was asked to leave  Governer cut off food supplies of foreign trades when Napier refused to leave, eventually cutting off trade  Napier called in two gunships, general called for soldiers  Chinese government didn’t want to shut down trade… but napier was a problem  British traders turned against him, pushed him out, died shortly afterwards in macao, very embarrassed o Charles Elliot was then sent to be the superintendent of trade What to do about opium? o Loss of silver was a problem

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Merchants at canton recommended legalizing opium  Taxed it, regulated it  Forbid silver from being given to foreign merchants Others argued it should be suppressed, cracked down on  Make it illegal Emperor decided to suppress it Official named Lin Zexu was put in charge of stopping the trade 1938  Passed exams, Confucian scholar (very strong morals), general  Considered ‘un corruptible’  Sent to canton to end trade  Plan was to get importers to sign pledges to promise they wouldn’t send opium to china  March 1939 – ordered british merchants to surrender all opium in 3 days and to pledge they wouldn’t sell again  They said no  He threatened to execute Chinese merchants  Wrote a letter to queen Victoria – could hear chinas (and his) moral authority in this issue  Everything china imports is beneficial, but britians opium imports are opium, not beneficial, hurting the people Charles Elliot (napiers replacement) intervened on behalf of the british  Convinced british to give opium to HIM  By signing a guarantee that british government would make good on any of their losses  Handed it to Lin Zexu – who destroyed it all  3 million pounds of opium  Cut up, mixed with lime, thrown in pit dug specially for this purpose  Flushed it out the river to the sea  This was Lin Zexus moment of victory .. but it would not last Charles Elliot signed the guarantee … which is why it didn’t last  No authority from England to do this  Demanded money from government  Made them responsible for millions of pounds of drugs  Wanted china to pay for it  But it was ILLEGAL  Huge public and governmental debate- what to do about this issue

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 Resentment since the macarnety mission swelled up Parliament was divided down the middle … won by 9 votes to go to war with china over the opium

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 We want to open greater trade – sent a war fleet Opium war – 1839-42 o Took about a year to go from britian to china  China won at MOST 1 battle … no war ships o Officials knew they could drag the war inward, and britian would perish with their inland military strength o Fought entirely on the coast and rivers – british had a huge advantage o Complete disaster for Chinese – Manchus specifically  First serious military defeat  Viewed as a tributary state o Officals on the coast recognized how strong the british army was .. thought they should ask for peace o Britian wan o Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing) ended the opium war  August 29, 1842  First of long succession of the ‘unequal treaties’  Dictated to china by foreign powers ,with no negotiation  Chinese granted everything the British asked for in this treaty… had no choice  British got Hong Kong – at the time only a semi deserted fishing island  As a colony  China Got an war indemnity – losing party in the war pays the winning party for the costs of going to war  21 million dollars  British officials allowed equal access to chines officials  Treaty ports – opened up the coast  Including canton, shanghai, and 3 others  British were allowed to trade, live, etc, in all these places  End of canton system  Shangahi – main artery through the tea and silk emporium in china o Far cheaper without the costs of shipping to canton Did NOT legalize opium  Legalized in 1860 after 2nd opium war  British did not want anyone to think that this war was about opium itself Where were the missionaries? o Only some advocated against the war  Robert Morrison’s son was the interpreter for the british at the Treaty of Nanking o Opposed opium trade on moral levels 

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But the treaty of nanking delighted them, as it gave them access into china that they previously hadn’t had access to Opening of Shanghai was a BFD o Trade about canton plummeted, because everyone moved their trade to shanghai o Millions of people in canton livelihood depended on the trade there o Huge economic recession in south china o Investment pouring into shanghai o Life in south china became more and more difficult in the years after the opium war  Rebellion began brewing Taiping Rebellion o Went on for more than 10 years o At least 20-30 million people died … one of the most devastating wars in all of human history o Hakka – minority group in china  Own language, customs, cuisine  Their name literally means ‘guest people’  Always the latecomers in china … like gypsies in Europe  Viewed with suspicion by other Chinese  Relied heavily on other Hakka  Young men learned martial arts  Built large communal houses – defensive fortification o Hong Xiaquan – Hakka born near Canton in 1813  Communists of later times saw themselves as finishing this guys work  Started out wanting to be a civil servant… Confucian scholar from poor farming family  Clan pooled money to make it possible for him to take exams, have tutors  Tutors worked for him for free because he was known to be so brilliant  Initially did very well o Passed local exam o Failed provincial exam o

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 Kept failing 1837 – had a nervous breakdown, spent a few weeks in coma  Woke up and was ‘taller, better looking, with a deeper voice’  Had a serious of dreams during coma o Exterminated barbarians o Chinese history o o

Young man washing organs Yelling at Confucius, said he failed Chinese exam

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 Continued to fail exams  1843 – Chinese missionary  Wrote pamphlet about bible, someone gave it to him on his way to exam  Read it at home … and everything fit, he knew what his dreams meant  He was the son of god…. Ok  Exterminate barbarians… the Manchus o People yelling at Confucius were god and jesus  Had to destroy the Manchus, make China Christian  Began by converting two of his cousins  Went from Hakka to Hakka and preaching about his god and bible  Rumor spread that if you followed his religion, you were protected by disease  1850, more than 20000 followers  Christians who believed Hong was son of god  Anti Manchu  Were originally farmers, but morphed into an army  January 11, 1951 – Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was announced Taiping Rebellion began o Marching north with 60,000 followers o Began gaining poor people who felt they had nothing else to lose by joining army o Hong asked people who joined to burn down their own home so they could never come back o 1953 .. half a mil...