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This question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical documents.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:
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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
Document
3
ingenious objects, nor do we need any more of your country’s
manufactures.
...
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)
X.
. . . [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 . . . .
XI.
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.