Unit: Revolution 1750 – 1914
Lesson: Qing China
C SS-HS-2.1.1 Students will explain how belief systems, knowledge, technology and behavior
patterns define cultures and help to explain historical perspectives and events in the modern
world (1500 A.D. to present) and United States (Reconstruction to present). DOK 2 ore Content:
SS-HS-2.3.1 Students will explain the reasons why conflict and competition (e.g., violence,
difference of opinion, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, genocide) may develop as cultures
emerge in the modern world (1500 A.D. to present) and the United States (Reconstruction to
present). DOK 2
SS-HS-3.1.1 Students will give examples of and explain how scarcity of resources necessitates
choices at both the personal and societal levels in the modern world (1500 A.D. to present) and
the United States (Reconstruction to present) and explain the impact of those choices. DOK 2
SS-HS-3.4.3 Students will explain and give examples of how interdependence of personal,
national and international economic activities often results in international issues and concerns
(e.g., natural resource dependencies, economic sanctions, environmental and humanitarian
issues) in the modern world (1500 A.D. to present) and the United States (Reconstruction to
present). DOK 2
SS-HS-4.4.2 Students will explain how human modifications to the physical environment (e.g.,
deforestation, mining), perspectives on the use of natural resources (e.g., oil, water, land), and
natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes, tsunamis, floods) may have possible global effects (e.g.,
global warming, destruction of the rainforest, acid rain) in the modern world (1500 A.D. to
present) and United States (Reconstruction to present). DOK 2
SS-HS-5.1.1 Students will use a variety of tools (e.g., primary and secondary sources, data,
artifacts) to analyze perceptions and perspectives (e.g., gender, race, region, ethnic group,
nationality, age, economic status, religion, politics, geographic factors) of people and historical
events in the modern world (1500 A.D. to present) and United States History (Reconstruction to
present). DOK 3
SS-HS-5.1.2 Students will analyze how history is a series of connected events shaped by multiple
cause and effect relationships, tying past to present. DOK
SS-HS-5.3.3 Students will analyze how an Age of Revolution brought about changes in science,
thought, government and industry (e.g., Newtonian physics, free trade principles, rise of
democratic principles, development of the modern state) that shaped the modern world, and
evaluate the long range impact of these changes on the modern world. DOK 3
Objectives:
1. Analyze the internal and external challenges that weakened the Qing Empire in the 19th
century.
Essential Question
Why was the Qing Empire vulnerable to Western pressure in the 19th century?
Procedures:
1. Read pages 667 – 675 and fill out daily sheet
2. When the Qing Empire conquered China in the 1600’s the restored peace and stability and
promoted the recovery and expansion of the agricultural economy, thus laying the foundation for
the doubling of the Chinese population between 1650 and 1800. By 1800 the population was
causing environmental damage and contributing to an increasing number of irritated farmhands,
laborers, and merchants.
5. Many sources led to the decline of the Qing such as the various minorities of peoples who had
been driven off their land, people regarding the government as being weak, corrupt, and in
collusion with foreign merchants and missionaries. The result was a series of internal rebellions
in the 19th century and an influx of European intervention.
6. Group assignment
Assessment
1 Get into three groups
2. Using a variety of primary sources along with back ground information, answer the following
questions in paragraph form
1. What do these documents tell us about the relations between China and the West in the
nineteenth century?
2. What roles did internal factors such as economic conditions and political structure
play in the unfolding of events in the Qing Empire in the 19th century?
3. Why did Europeans fell that it was their duty to colonize Eastern Asia?
4. What was the reaction to European intervention in China by the ruling elite and by the
citizens? Why?
5. How did the Qing Empires previous relationship with Europe affect the ways in which
they responded to their problems in the 19th century?
“The Break up of China, and Our Interest in it”
THE literal "cycle of Cathay," or period of sixty years,--not the vague literary expression
of Lord Tennyson,--which has just ended, was probably the most momentous for China,
if not for the world at large; for it was in 1839 that the difficulties of intercourse between
the East and the West came to the first crisis. The year 1899 seems to mark another crisis,
which, as regards the integrity of the Chinese problem, may prove final. Yet the situation
in Far Eastern Asia was grasped by only a few Western observers before 1895, when the
struggle for suzerainty over Corea revealed the helplessness of China, and lifted Japan to
a seat in the council of Powers. Though worsted in two foreign wars and nearly wrecked
by an internal convulsion, the government of the "Son of Heaven" had learned nothing
new and forgotten nothing old. The abortive issue of the French attack in 1884 seemed
even to give it greater arrogance, and to increase the deference with which it was treated
by Europe.
For ten years after the late Jules Ferry had declared Peking to be "une quantite
negligeable" events conspired to prove his estimate incorrect. The Burlingame burlesque
was forgotten, and the Dragon was again believed to be awakening. He looked very
formidable--at a distance. Taking into consideration the blindness of the British, who had
been the pioneers of trade, and whose commercial supremacy was still unthreatened, to
the political and social conditions of the country, we need not wonder at the ignorance
displayed by other peoples. English military experts referred to China as a desirable ally
in the struggle, then thought imminent, of Slav and Saxon over India. A succession of
muzzled or incompetent envoys represented Queen Victoria at Peking, and set to the
consuls throughout the Chinese Empire an example of subservience to native authorities
intensely mortifying to the foreign commercial communities which had grown to
prosperity under a more vigorous regime. The lives and property of the Queen's subjects
became so cheap that they were the favorite toys of petty mandarins.
During all this period the attitude of the American government and people was different,
but hardly more enlightened. The relations of the United States to china were peculiar;
the few American resident merchants, who had built up fortunes by exporting Oriental
produce, disappeared, and no large importers had arisen. The delusions of a prohibitive
tariff and a purely home market paralyzed American enterprise abroad, and the effect of
our navigation laws was to deprive us of that share in the carrying trade of Asia which we
had enjoyed before our civil war. On the other hand, an enormous influx of Chinese
peasants upon the Pacific coast had glutted the labor market, and produced as bitter a
racial hostility to them as could be reciprocated by the untraveled multitudes of the
Flowery Land. Familiarity with the Chinese individual in our own country had bred
contempt for his nation at home, and the interests, missionary rather than commercial, of
American citizens in China were more courageously though not more skillfully upheld
than those of European subjects.
How long the nations of the West might have indulged in pleasant dreams of a selfinstructed Chinese monarchy holding out both hands for the world's commerce and
civilization, varied by that strange recurrent nightmare known as "the Yellow Peril," it is
difficult to say. But the internal ferment and consequent expansion of Japan hastened the
awakening. At first the attention of Europe was concentrated on the naval struggle in the
Yellow Sea, from which it was thought possible to learn valuable lessons in armament
and tactics. Even after the destruction of Chinese sea power and the occupation of Corea
by Japanese troops, the danger threatening the Celestial Empire itself was not realized in
Europe. China, it was widely and confidently asserted, could absorb Japanese armies as
she would a duststorm. They must simply melt away, leaving their island homes
depopulated. The conservative prophets were so rapidly discomfited that bewilderment
seized the press and politicians of Great Britain. The Yellow Peril bogey was transferred
to Japan, and when Germany, Russia, and France decided to interfere, the authorities of
Downing Street seemed willing to be ignored. Had a strong personality ruled the counsels
of the Queen something might have been done to save British prestige; but Lord
Rosebery was a man of many moods and many minds, hampered by an unpopular
domestic policy which he had inherited together with that Elijah's mantle of leadership
which was soon to trip him up.
The events which followed the Treaty of Shimonoseki are within the memory of every
adult reader of the newspapers. Book after book has been published, professing to give a
solution of the Far Eastern question, and often embodying merely the prejudices of a
compiler or the perfunctory notes of a flying journalist. The utterances of the Honorable
G.N. Curzon and Mr. Archibald R. Colquhoun were the most important, until the
publication recently of Lord Charles Beresford's report to the British Associated
Chambers of Commerce. (The Break-up of China. Harpers.) Lord Charles appeals not
only to the commercial classes of his own country, but to the public of the United States
as well; he is, like his predecessors, a believer in a fair field and no favor for all nations in
China, but in addition to this he advocates an Anglo-American entent, which, with the
probable adhesion of Japan and possibly of Germany, he regards as necessary to maintain
the "open door." The alternative policy he judges "certain to encompass the doom of
China, and equally certain to produce international strife. Mastery in Asia under a system
of 'spheres of influence' will not be determined by effusion of ink."
The merit of this report lies in the fact that it gives the results of careful investigations on
the spot by a man of world-wide fame in his profession, having extensive knowledge of
human nature and a judgment as open and impartial as robust patriotism and special
associations ever leave to us at maturity. Beresford received the confidence of all AngloSaxon communities in China, as well as assurances of sympathy from German traders
and of hearty support by the people and press of Japan. He had access to the highest
officials of the Chinese government, and almost every facility for verifying the military
and naval collapse of the empire. He was also interviewed by the fugitive leader of the
ill-fated Reform Party in China, which was overthrown by the coup d'etat of September,
1898. He saw the Russians at work in Manchuria and the Germans in Shantung, and he
listened to the grievances of Englishmen against their consular service, to which some
reformers in this country are wont to point as a model. He has studied the treaties, and
observed the administration and effects of the tariff which depends upon them, as
conscientiously as the forts and arsenals which might have more personal interest for a
rear admiral who has seen active service. Above all, he has learned how to assimilate and
condense the vast amount of information which he received, how to discard the extreme
view, and how to sift the unfounded assertion. Whether or not one may agree with the
practical utility of the open door policy, the Break-up of China is the most available and
authoritative statement of essential truths for a student of politics or a seller of produce in
the Orient.
Lord Charles has assuredly made out a good case against the inaction or opportunism of
the British government amid recent developments, and he shows how seriously British
and American trade is menaced by the closing of an immense general market. The advent
of the United States to a seat on the court-martial of Powers which is trying the case of
China is likely to be of great moment. Hitherto the majority has been distinctly inclined
to give a sentence of summary decapitation and dissection. America, secure in a splendid
isolation and confident in the permanent sufficiency of her domestic market, regarded the
Oriental problem as academic, and its solution as immaterial to her welfare, until the guns
of Admiral Dewey stirred the masses of his fellow countrymen to a keen sense of their
needs and responsibilities. But other than sentimental reasons must be advanced for our
undertaking with Great Britain or a syndicate of Powers to buttress the tottering colossus
of China.
Almost all statistics of the foreign trade of China are based upon the returns of the
Imperial Maritime Customs, which do not include the figures of import or export by
overland routes. But the commerce of Western Europe and America is almost wholly seaborne, and Lord Charles Beresford shows how great our export trade to China is, and
how much it increased during the decade which ended with 1897. In free competition
with British plain gray and white cotton goods, the American variety has risen from
fourteen and a half per cent of the total import eleven years ago to twenty-nine and a half
per cent during the year before last. The figures given by Consul-General Jernigan in his
report of October 25, 1895, indicated that the value of the direct sea-borne trade relations
between China and the United States for 1894 was greater than that between China and
the European continent (Russia excepted); that it was more than double that between
Russia and China, and amounted to nearly five eighths of the direct trade of Great Britain
with China. Mr. A.R. Colquhoun stated that "the volume of the United States trade with
China represented more than one seventh of the entire foreign trade of the empire in
1896. While the import trade from China has increased slowly, the export trade to China
has increased one hundred years, and is more than fifty per cent larger than the German
exports." (China in Transformation, page 156.) A depression in 1898, due in part to our
war with Spain, is more than offset by the estimates for 1899. And all this
notwithstanding the purchasing power of Chinese silver has fallen thirty per cent since
1893.
Our present rivalry with Russia is in kerosene oil. But the Russian oil is so much inferior
that dishonest methods are employed to introduce it. Tins and cases which have contained
American oil and still bear its trademarks are used to pack Russian oil, to the injury of the
American exporter and the native consumer. Another branch of American trade, and one
capable in an open market of indefinite development, is the importation of flour for the
northern provinces; but if these regions of China, where wheat instead of rice is the staple
food of the people, should be acknowledged as the Russian "sphere of influence," the
exclusion of American flour and oil by administrative enactment is sure to follow. It is,
moreover, noteworthy in the statistics of the northern ports that American imports have
more generally increased in that section than in the Yangtse Valley or the southern
provinces, where they are not at present threatened with political discrimination.
Russia has always been served by the best men she has in the career of diplomacy. With
her especially it may be said that "a diplomat is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his
country." There may be significance in the fact that her present ambassador at
Washington has played a great part in the overshadowing influence of the Tsar at Peking.
Of course, the cabinet and the press are given to understand, with extreme unctuousness,
that Russian influence in Asia is friendly to American interests; but it is well to
remember, as a guarantee of Russian good faith, the recent crime against the liberties of
Finland.
Lord Charles Beresford's chapters on Railways and Waterways are highly interesting,
because it is by facility of travel and transportation that the dough of Cathay must be
leavened. But the distinguished defender of the open door is not always consistent in his
exposition. He is inclined to surrender in practice a crucial part of his policy for the sake
of getting it adopted in theory. "If the open door policy is maintained throughout China,"
he writes, "the more countries who employ their capital and energy in making railways,
the better it will be for British trade; but in order to secure the open door policy, it may be
that we shall have to concede to other countries preferential rights or spheres of interest,
as far as railway enterprise is concerned. This we have already done with regard to
Germany in Shantung and Russia in Manchuria, and the question arises, What is our
position in the Yangtse Valley, where other Powers possess railway concessions?" Very
pertinent; but if there are to be spheres of railway influence, why should there not be
spheres of mining, bridging, conservancy, or other engineering influence? Where are they
to cease, and how are they to be regulated? It would be a jungle of jurisdictions, a gnarled
knot of privileges which only the sword could cut. We have already, as pointed out by
Lord Charles, an example of conflicting courts in the residential concessions at the port
of Hankow, where the invalidity of certain titles to real estate is the distress of the
occupants, and would be the despair of an American conveyancer.
The trouble is that there has been no definite agreement among the Powers since the
collapse of China was made clear to the meanest intellect. Each government has been
bullying Peking in its turn, demanding this or that contract or concession with or without
the color of a pretext. Where only a harbor or a fringe of seacoast is involved, the
disadvantages of the scramble policy may not be immediately patent; but when it is
extended to the complicated charters of public carriers, the development of mineral
resources, or any enterprise requiring the employment of intricate machinery and skilled
labor, the absurdity is manifest. It might reach such proportions that the consent of five
Powers would be necessary to construct a breakwater in the Gulf of Pechili, or that one
Power could veto the opening of a switch at a railway junction in the Yangtse Valley.
No such compromise is possible. Either, as Lord Charles Beresford believes and in the
main strongly presents to us, "the world must adhere firmly to the open door and equal
opportunity policy," with its logical sequence of a revival of the imperial authority in
China by injecting stimulants and vigorously chafing the extremities, or there must be
accurately surveyed and delimited geographical regions, where Briton, Cossack, Frank,
Teuton, Japanese, or Yankee may grow whatever crop of institutions he may prefer and
the soil can bear.
Is it for the benefit of the United States to deal with China as a vast unit under her native
flag, or as fragments under many flags? That is what we have to decide; and Lord Charles
confesses that, when he passed through America, the public mind was partly distracted
from his message by the acute stage of the Philippine problem. It is to be hoped that our
government is silently exercising the utmost vigilance in behalf of our commercial
privileges on the continent of Asia. Failure to do so might not be politically disastrous to
the present administration, but posterity will not forgive nor history condone faults of
omission or indifference after such warning as have already been given. Surely, no
American administration would seriously contemplate the establishment of a dependency
or protectorate on the mainland of China, while our interests there may be safeguarded by
international control and reciprocity; but it is difficult to see how these securities can be
obtained without more definite engagements on the part of our State Department than our
uninformed public opinion now demands. Nevertheless, the signs of a healthy and
growing interest are numerous. The American Asiatic Association of those directly
interested in the Far East was formed last year, with headquarters at New York,
corresponding to the British China Association, and may in time possess equal weight. A
very valuable document, Commercial China in 1899, has been issued by the Bureau of
Statistics of the Treasury Department at Washington, and gives in a concise and
intelligible form the main facts and prospects of the situation. A wide dissemination of
this pamphlet is earnestly to be desired; and every factor is to be encouraged that brings
home to American manufacturers and merchants the opportunity that awaits them,--an
opportunity that, by a wise foreign policy and far-sighted commercial methods, can add
immensely to our trade and to our international influence.
"The Break-Up of China, and Our Interest in It", The Atlantic Monthly, August 1899; Volume 84, No. 502; pages
276 - 280.
Modern History Sourcebook:
The Taiping Rebellion, 1851-1864
Hung Xiuquan (1814-1864) was the son of a farmer and an aspiring Chinese bureaucrat.
He came under the influence of Christian missionaries, and reached the conclusion that
he was the younger brother of Jesus sent to found the Heavenly Kingdom on earth. Faced
with the collapse of Qing dynasty rule (under Western onslaught), Hung tapped into the
deep millenarianism of the Chinese peasentry (previously expressed in Buddhist terms)
and began a rebellion - the Taiping Rebellion ("Taiping tien-quo" means the "Heavenly
Kingdom of Great Peace").
There were many other revolts, but this was by far the most serious. Lasting from 1851
to1864 it took control of large swerves of south and central China, including the southern
capital of Nanking. There a theocraticmilitary government was established.
Although it was millenarian in form, the Taiping leaders adopted many policies which
would later become the marks of modernizers in China: prohibition of opiumsmoking,
gambling, the use of tobacco and wine, polygamy, the sale of slaves, and prostitution.
The promoted the equality of the sexes: they abolished foot-binding and appointed of
women as administrators and officers in the Taiping army. They also tried to abolish the
private ownership of land and property, and they developed a program for the equal
distribution of land.
The following is an excerpt from the basic document of the Taiping Kingdom, called "The
Land System of the Heavenly Kingdom." published in 1853.
All fields are to be divided into nine grades: every mou [6.6 mou equal one acre] of land,
which during the two seasons, both early and late, can produce 1,200 catties [of grain]
shall be ranked as a superior field of the first class; every mou that produces 1,100 catties
as a superior field of the second class; and every mou that produces 1,000 catties as a
superior field of the third class. Every mou that produces 900 catties shall be considered
as a medium field of the first class; every mou that produces 800 catties as a medium
field of the second class; and every mou that produces 700 catties as a medium field of
the third class. Every mou that produces 600 catties shall be considered as an inferior
field of the first class; every mou that produces 500 catties as an inferior field of the
second class; and every mou that produces 400 catties as an inferior field of the third
class. One mou of superior field of the first class shall be considered equal to a mou and
onetenth of a superior field of the second class, and to a mou and twotenths of a superior
field of the third class; also to a mou and threeandahalf tenths of a medium field of the
first class, to a mou and fivetenths of a medium field of the second class, and to a mou
and sevenandahalf tenths of a medium field of the third class; also to two mou of an
inferior field of the first class, to two mou and fourtenths of an inferior field of the second
class, and to three mou of an inferior field of the third class.
The division of land must be according to the number of individuals, whether male or
female; calculating upon the number of individuals in a household, if they be numerous,
then the amount of land will be larger, and if few, smaller; and it shall be a mixture of the
nine classes. If there are six persons in a family, then for three there shall be good land
and for three poorer land, and of good and poor each shall have half. All the fields in the
empire are to be cultivated by all the people alike. If the land is deficient in one place,
then the people must be removed to another, and if the land is deficient in another, then
the people must be removed to this place. All the fields throughout the empire, whether
of abundant or deficient harvest, shall be taken as a whole: if this place is deficient, then
the harvest of that abundant place must be removed to relieve it, and if that place is
deficient, then the harvest of this abundant place must be removed in order to relieve the
deficient place; thus, all the people in the empire may together enjoy the abundant
happiness of the Heavenly Father, Supreme Lord and Great God. There being fields, let
all cultivate them; there being food, let all eat; there being clothes, let all be dressed; there
being money, let all use it, so that nowhere does inequality exist, and no man is not well
fed and clothed.
All men and women, every individual of sixteen years and upwards, shall receive land,
twice as much as those of fifteen years of age and under. Thus, those sixteen of years of
age and above shall receive a mou of superior land of the first class, and those of fifteen
years and under shall receive half that amount, fivetenths of a mou of superior land of the
first class; again, if those of sixteen years and above receive three mou of inferior land of
the third class, then those of fifteen years and below shall receive half that amount, one
and onehalf mou of inferior land of the third class.
Throughout the empire the mulberry tree is to be planted close to every wall, so that all
women may engage in rearing silkworms, spinning the silk, and making garments.
Throughout the empire every family should keep five hens and two sows, which must not
be allowed to miss their proper season. At the time of harvest, every sergeant shall direct
the corporals to see to it that of` the twentyfive families under his charge each individual
has a sufficient supply of food, and aside from the new grain each may receive, the
remainder must be deposited in the public granary. Of wheat, pulse, hemp; flax, cloth,
silk, fowls, dogs, etc., and money, the same is true; for the whole empire is the universal
family of our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God. . . . For every twentyfive families there must be established one public granary, and one church where the
sergeant must reside. Whenever there are marriages, or births, or funerals, all may go to
the public granary; but a limit must be observed, and not a cash be used beyond what is
necessary. Thus, every family which celebrates a marriage or a birth will be given one
thousand cash and a hundred catties of grain....
In every circle of twentyfive families, the work of the potter, the blacksmith, the
carpenter, the mason, and other artisans must all be performed by the corporal and
privates; when free from husbandry they are to attend to these matters. Every sergeant, in
superintending marriages and funeral events in the twentyfive families, should in every
case offer a eucharistic sacrifice to our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great
God; all corrupt ceremonies of former times are abolished.
In every circle of twentyfive families, all young boys must go to church every day, where
the sergeant is to teach them to read the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well
as the book of proclamations of the true ordained Sovereign. Every Sabbath the corporals
must lead the men and women to the church, where the males and females are to sit in
separate rows. There they will listen to sermons, sing praises, and offer sacrifices to our
Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God....
In the creation of an army, for each 13,156 families there must first be a corps general;
next there must be five colonels under the command of the corps general; next there must
be five captains under the command of each colonel, altogether twentyfive captains; next
each of the twentyfive captains must have under his command five lieutenants, altogether
125 lieutenants; next each of the 125 lieutenants must have under his command four
sergeants, altogether 500 sergeants; next each of the 500 sergeants must have under his
command five corporals, altogether 2,500 corporals; next each of the 2,500 corporals
must have under his command four privates, altogether 10,000 privates, the entire army
numbering altogether 13,156 men.
After the creation of an army, should the number of families increase, with the increase
of five families there shall be an additional corporal; with the increase of twentysix
families there shall be an additional sergeant; with the increase of 105 families there shall
be an additional lieutenant; with the increase of 526 families there shall be an additional
captain; with the increase of 2,631 families there shall be an additional colonel; with the
total increase of 13,156 families there shall be an additional corps general. Before a new
corps general is appointed, the colonel and subordinate officers shall remain under the
command of the old corps general; with the appointment of a corps general they must be
handed over to the command of the new corps general.
Within [the court] and without, all the various officials and people must go every Sabbath
to hear the expounding of the Holy Bible, reverently offer their sacrifices, and worship
and praise the Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God. On every seventh
seven, the fortyninth day, the Sabbath, the colonel, captains, and lieutenants shall go in
turn to the churches in which reside the sergeants under their command and expound the
Holy books, instruct the people, examine whether they obey the Commandments and
orders or disobey the Commandments and orders, and whether they are diligent or
slothful. On the first seventh seven, the fortyninth day, the Sabbath, the colonel shall go
to a certain sergeant's church, on the second seventh seven, the fortyninth day, the
Sabbath, the colonel shall then go to another sergeant's church, visiting them all in order,
and after having gone the round he must begin again. The captains and lieutenants shall
do the same.
Each man throughout the empire who has a wife, sons, and daughters amounting to three
or four mouths, or five, six, seven, eight, or nine mouths, must give up one to be a
soldier. With regard to the others, the widowers, widows, orphaned, and childless, the
disabled and sick, they shall all be exempted from military service and issued provisions
from the public granaries for their sustenance.
Throughout the empire all officials must every Sabbath, according to rank and position,
reverently present sacrificial animals and offerings, sacrifice and worship, and praise the
Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God. They must also expound the Holy
books; should any dare to neglect this duty, they shall be reduced to husbandmen.
Respect this.
From Franz Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, vol. 2, Dosuments
and Comments (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1971), pp. 313315, 319320.
This text is part of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a
collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in
modern European and World history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright.
Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational
purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No
permission is granted for commercial use of the Sourcebook.
(c)Paul Halsall Aug 1997
halsall@murray.fordham.edu
Modern History Sourcebook:
Commissioner Lin:
Letter to Queen Victoria, 1839
Lin, high imperial commissioner, a president of the Board of War, viceroy of the two
Keäng provinces, &c., Tang, a president of the Board of War, viceroy of the two Kwang
provinces, &c., and E., a vice-president of the Board of War, lieut.-governor of
Kwangtung, &c., hereby conjointly address this public dispatch to the queen of England
for the purpose of giving her clear and distinct information (on the state of affairs) &c.
It is only our high and mighty emperor, who alike supports and cherishes those of the
Inner Land, and those from beyond the seas-who looks upon all mankind with equal
benevolence---who, if a source of profit exists anywhere, diffuses it over the whole
world---who, if the tree of evil takes root anywhere, plucks it up for the benefit of all
nations;---who, in a word, hath implanted in his breast that heart (by which beneficent
nature herself) governs the heavens and the earth! You, the queen of your honorable
nation, sit upon a throne occupied through successive generations by predecessors, all of
whom have been styled respectful and obedient. Looking over the public documents
accompanying the tribute sent (by your predecessors) on various occasions, we find the
following: "All the people of my country, arriving at the Central Land for purposes of
trade, have to feel grateful to the great emperor for the most perfect justice, for the
kindest treatment," and other words to that effect. Delighted did we feel that the kings of
your honorable nation so clearly understood the great principles of propriety, and were so
deeply grateful for the heavenly goodness (of our emperor):---therefore, it was that we of
the heavenly dynasty nourished and cherished your people from afar, and bestowed upon
them redoubled proofs of our urbanity and kindness. It is merely from these
circumstances, that your country---deriving immense advantage from its commercial
intercourse with us, which has endured now two hundred years---has become the rich and
flourishing kingdom that it is said to be!
But, during the commercial intercourse which has existed so long, among the numerous
foreign merchants resorting hither, are wheat and tares, good and bad; and of these latter
are some, who, by means of introducing opium by stealth, have seduced our Chinese
people, and caused every province of the land to overflow with that poison. These then
know merely to advantage themselves, they care not about injuring others! This is a
principle which heaven's Providence repugnates; and which mankind conjointly look
upon with abhorrence! Moreover, the great emperor hearing of it, actually quivered with
indignation, and especially dispatched me, the commissioner, to Canton, that in
conjunction with the viceroy and lieut.-governor of the province, means might be taken
for its suppression!
Every native of the Inner Land who sells opium, as also all who smoke it, are alike
adjudged to death. Were we then to go back and take up the crimes of the foreigners,
who, by selling it for many years have induced dreadful calamity and robbed us of
enormous wealth, and punish them with equal severity, our laws could not but award to
them absolute annihilation! But, considering that these said foreigners did yet repent of
their crime, and with a sincere heart beg for mercy; that they took 20,283 chests of opium
piled up in their store-ships, and through Elliot, the superintendent of the trade of your
said country, petitioned that they might be delivered up to us, when the same were all
utterly destroyed, of which we, the imperial commissioner and colleagues, made a duly
prepared memorial to his majesty;---considering these circumstances, we have happily
received a fresh proof of the extraordinary goodness of the great emperor, inasmuch as he
who voluntarily comes forward, may yet be deemed a fit subject for mercy, and his
crimes be graciously remitted him. But as for him who again knowingly violates the laws,
difficult indeed will it be thus to go on repeatedly pardoning! He or they shall alike be
doomed to the penalties of the new statute. We presume that you, the sovereign of your
honorable nation, on pouring out your heart before the altar of eternal justice, cannot but
command all foreigners with the deepest respect to reverence our laws! If we only lay
clearly before your eyes, what is profitable and what is destructive, you will then know
that the statutes of the heavenly dynasty cannot but be obeyed with fear and trembling!
We find that your country is distant from us about sixty or seventy thousand miles, that
your foreign ships come hither striving the one with the other for our trade, and for the
simple reason of their strong desire to reap a profit. Now, out of the wealth of our Inner
Land, if we take a part to bestow upon foreigners from afar, it follows, that the immense
wealth which the said foreigners amass, ought properly speaking to be portion of our own
native Chinese people. By what principle of reason then, should these foreigners send in
return a poisonous drug, which involves in destruction those very natives of China?
Without meaning to say that the foreigners harbor such destructive intentions in their
hearts, we yet positively assert that from their inordinate thirst after gain, they are
perfectly careless about the injuries they inflict upon us! And such being the case, we
should like to ask what has become of that conscience which heaven has implanted in the
breasts of all men?
We have heard that in your own country opium is prohibited with the utmost strictness
and severity:---this is a strong proof that you know full well how hurtful it is to mankind.
Since then you do not permit it to injure your own country, you ought not to have the
injurious drug transferred to another country, and above all others, how much less to the
Inner Land! Of the products which China exports to your foreign countries, there is not
one which is not beneficial to mankind in some shape or other. There are those which
serve for food, those which are useful, and those which are calculated for re-sale; but all
are beneficial. Has China (we should like to ask) ever yet sent forth a noxious article
from its soil? Not to speak of our tea and rhubarb, things which your foreign countries
could not exist a single day without, if we of the Central Land were to grudge you what is
beneficial, and not to compassionate your wants, then wherewithal could you foreigners
manage to exist? And further, as regards your woolens, camlets, and longells, were it not
that you get supplied with our native raw silk, you could not get these manufactured! If
China were to grudge you those things which yield a profit, how could you foreigners
scheme after any profit at all? Our other articles of food, such as sugar, ginger, cinnamon,
&c., and our other articles for use, such as silk piece-goods, chinaware, &c., are all so
many necessaries of life to you; how can we reckon up their number! On the other hand,
the things that come from your foreign countries are only calculated to make presents of,
or serve for mere amusement. It is quite the same to us if we have them, or if we have
them not. If then these are of no material consequence to us of the Inner Land, what
difficulty would there be in prohibiting and shutting our market against them? It is only
that our heavenly dynasty most freely permits you to take off her tea, silk, and other
commodities, and convey them for consumption everywhere, without the slightest stint or
grudge, for no other reason, but that where a profit exists, we wish that it be diffused
abroad for the benefit of all the earth!
Your honorable nation takes away the products of our central land, and not only do you
thereby obtain food and support for yourselves, but moreover, by re-selling these
products to other countries you reap a threefold profit. Now if you would only not sell
opium, this threefold profit would be secured to you: how can you possibly consent to
forgo it for a drug that is hurtful to men, and an unbridled craving after gain that seems to
know no bounds! Let us suppose that foreigners came from another country, and brought
opium into England, and seduced the people of your country to smoke it, would not you,
the sovereign of the said country, look upon such a procedure with anger, and in your just
indignation endeavor to get rid of it? Now we have always heard that your highness
possesses a most kind and benevolent heart, surely then you are incapable of doing or
causing to be done unto another, that which you should not wish another to do unto you!
We have at the same time heard that your ships which come to Canton do each and every
of them carry a document granted by your highness' self, on which are written these
words "you shall not be permitted to carry contraband goods;" this shows that the laws of
your highness are in their origin both distinct and severe, and we can only suppose that
because the ships coming here have been very numerous, due attention has not been
given to search and examine; and for this reason it is that we now address you this public
document, that you may clearly know how stern and severe are the laws of the central
dynasty, and most certainly you will cause that they be not again rashly violated!
Moreover, we have heard that in London the metropolis where you dwell, as also in
Scotland, Ireland, and other such places, no opium whatever is produced. It is only in
sundry parts of your colonial kingdom of Hindostan, such as Bengal, Madras, Bombay,
Patna, Malwa, Benares, Malacca, and other places where the very hills are covered with
the opium plant, where tanks are made for the preparing of the drug; month by month,
and year by year, the volume of the poison increases, its unclean stench ascends upwards,
until heaven itself grows angry, and the very gods thereat get indignant! You, the queen
of the said honorable nation, ought immediately to have the plant in those parts plucked
up by the very root! Cause the land there to be hoed up afresh, sow in its stead the five
grains, and if any man dare again to plant in these grounds a single poppy, visit his crime
with the most severe punishment. By a truly benevolent system of government such as
this, will you indeed reap advantage, and do away with a source of evil. Heaven must
support you, and the gods will crown you with felicity! This will get for yourself the
blessing of long life, and from this will proceed the security and stability of your
descendants!
In reference to the foreign merchants who come to this our central land, the food that they
eat, and the dwellings that they abide in, proceed entirely from the goodness of our
heavenly dynasty: the profits which they reap, and the fortunes which they amass, have
their origin only in that portion of benefit which our heavenly dynasty kindly allots them:
and as these pass but little of their time in your country, and the greater part of their time
in our's, it is a generally received maxim of old and of modern times, that we should
conjointly admonish, and clearly make known the punishment that awaits them.
Suppose the subject of another country were to come to England to trade, he would
certainly be required to comply with the laws of England, then how much more does this
apply to us of the celestial empire! Now it is a fixed statute of this empire, that any native
Chinese who sells opium is punishable with death, and even he who merely smokes it,
must not less die. Pause and reflect for a moment: if you foreigners did not bring the
opium hither, where should our Chinese people get it to re-sell? It is you foreigners who
involve our simple natives in the pit of death, and are they alone to be permitted to escape
alive? If so much as one of those deprive one of our people of his life, he must forfeit his
life in requital for that which he has taken: how much more does this apply to him who
by means of opium destroys his fellow-men? Does the havoc which he commits stop with
a single life? Therefore it is that those foreigners who now import opium into the Central
Land are condemned to be beheaded and strangled by the new statute, and this explains
what we said at the beginning about plucking up the tree of evil, wherever it takes root,
for the benefit of all nations.
We further find that during the second month of this present year, the superintendent of
your honorable country, Elliot, viewing the law in relation to the prohibiting of opium as
excessively severe, duly petitioned us, begging for "an extension of the term already
limited, say five months for Hindostan and the different parts of India, and ten for
England, after which they would obey and act in conformity with the new statute," and
other words to the same effect. Now we, the high commissioner and colleagues, upon
making a duly prepared memorial to the great emperor, have to feel grateful for his
extraordinary goodness, for his redoubled compassion. Any one who within the next year
and a half may by mistake bring opium to this country, if he will but voluntarily come
forward, and deliver up the entire quantity, he shall be absolved from all punishment for
his crime. If, however, the appointed term shall have expired, and there are still persons
who continue to bring it, then such shall be accounted as knowingly violating the laws,
and shall most assuredly be put to death! On no account shall we show mercy or
clemency! This then may be called truly the extreme of benevolence, and the very
perfection of justice!
Our celestial empire rules over ten thousand kingdoms! Most surely do we possess a
measure of godlike majesty which ye cannot fathom! Still we cannot bear to slay or
exterminate without previous warning, and it is for this reason that we now clearly make
known to you the fixed laws of our land. If the foreign merchants of your said honorable
nation desire to continue their commercial intercourse, they then must tremblingly obey
our recorded statutes, they must cut off for ever the source from which the opium flows,
and on no account make an experiment of our laws in their own persons! Let then your
highness punish those of your subjects who may be criminal, do not endeavor to screen or
conceal them, and thus you will secure peace and quietness to your possessions, thus will
you more than ever display a proper sense of respect and obedience, and thus may we
unitedly enjoy the common blessings of peace and happiness. What greater joy! What
more complete felicity than this!
Let your highness immediately, upon the receipt of this communication, inform us
promptly of the state of matters, and of the measure you are pursuing utterly to put a stop
to the opium evil. Please let your reply be speedy. Do not on any account make excuses
or procrastinate. A most important communication.
P. S. We annex an abstract of the new law, now about to be put in force.
"Any foreigner or foreigners bringing opium to the Central Land, with design to sell the
same, the principals shall most assuredly be decapitated, and the accessories strangled;
and all property (found on board the same ship) shall be confiscated. The space of a year
and a half is granted, within the which, if any one bringing opium by mistake, shall
voluntarily step forward and deliver it up, he shall be absolved from all consequences of
his crime."
This said imperial edict was received on the 9th day of the 6th month of the 19th year of
Taoukwang, at which the period of grace begins, and runs on to the 9th day of the 12th
month of the 20th year of Taoukwang, when it is completed.
Modern History Sourcebook:
Qian Long:
Letter to George III, 1793
Qian Long [Ch'ien Lung], (r. 1735-1795) ruled China for much of the 18th century, the
last period in which China was strong enough to resist, or better, disdain external
influence. Here is letter he sent in response to a request from George III of Britain (r.
1760-1820) for trade privileges. In 1793, while Britain was in the midst of the French
Revolutionary situation in Europe, China retained its fredom to act as it wished. But
within 50 years, all was to change. By the 1840s the British were able to sail into China's
rivers and destroy its fleets.
You, O King, live beyond the confines of many seas, nevertheless, impelled by your
humble desire to partake of the benefits of our civilisation, you have dispatched a mission
respectfully bearing your memorial. Your Envoy has crossed the seas and paid his
respects at my Court on the anniversary of my birthday. To show your devotion, you
have also sent offerings of your country's produce.
I have perused your memorial: the earnest terms in which it is couched reveal a respectful
humility on your part, which is highly praiseworthy. In consideration of the fact that your
Ambassador and his deputy have come a long way with your memorial and tribute, I have
shown them high favour and have allowed them to be introduced into my presence. To
manifest my indulgence, I have entertained them at a banquet and made them numerous
gifts. I have also caused presents to be forwarded to the Naval Commander and six
hundred of his officers and men, although they did not come to Peking, so that they too
may share in my allembracing kindness.
As to your entreaty to send one of your nationals to be accredited to my Celestial Court
and to be in control of your country's trade with China, this request is contrary to all
usage of my dynasty and cannot possibly be entertained. It is true that Europeans, in the
service of the dynasty, have been permitted to live at Peking, but they are compelled to
adopt Chinese dress, they are strictly confined to their own precincts and are never
permitted to return home. You are presumably familiar with our dynastic regulations.
Your proposed Envoy to my Court could not be placed in a position similar to that of
European officials in Peking who are forbidden to leave China, nor could he, on the other
hand, be allowed liberty of movement and the privilege of corresponding with his own
country; so that you would gain nothing by his residence in our midst.
Moreover, our Celestial dynasty possesses vast territories, and tribute missions from the
dependencies are provided for by the Department for Tributary States, which ministers to
their wants and exercises strict control over their movements. It would be quite
impossible to leave them to their own devices. Supposing that your Envoy should come
to our Court, his language and national dress differ from that of our people, and there
would be no place in which to bestow him. It may be suggested that he might imitate the
Europeans permanently resident in Peking and adopt the dress and customs of China, but,
it has never been our dynasty's wish to force people to do things unseemly and
inconvenient. Besides, supposing I sent an Ambassador to reside in your country, how
could you possibly make for him the requisite arrangements? Europe consists of many
other nations besides your own: if each and all demanded to be represented at our Court,
how could we possibly consent? The thing is utterly impracticable. How can our dynasty
alter its whole procedure and system of etiquette, established for more than a century, in
order to meet your individual views? If it be said that your object is to exercise control
over your country's trade, your nationals have had full liberty to trade at Canton for many
a year, and have received the greatest consideration at our hands. Missions have been sent
by Portugal and Italy, preferring similar requests. The Throne appreciated their sincerity
and loaded them with favours, besides authorising measures to facilitate their trade with
China. You are no doubt aware that, when my Canton merchant, Wu Chaoping, was in
debt to the foreign ships, I made the Viceroy advance the monies due, out of the
provincial treasury, and ordered him to punish the culprit severely. Why then should
foreign nations advance this utterly unreasonable request to be represented at my Court?
Peking is nearly two thousand miles from Canton, and at such a distance what possible
control could any British representative exercise?
If you assert that your reverence for Our Celestial dynasty fills you with a desire to
acquire our civilisation, our ceremonies and code of laws differ so completely from your
own that, even if your Envoy were able to acquire the rudiments of our civilisation, you
could not possibly transplant our manners and customs to your alien soil. Therefore,
however adept the Envoy might become, nothing would be gained thereby.
Swaying the wide world, I have but one aim in view, namely, to maintain a perfect
governance and to fulfil the duties of the State: strange and costly objects do not interest
me. If I have commanded that the tribute offerings sent by you, O King, are to be
accepted, this was solely in consideration for the spirit which prompted you to dispatch
them from afar. Our dynasty's majestic virtue has penetrated unto every country under
Heaven, and Kings of all nations have offered their costly tribute by land and sea. As
your Ambassador can see for himself, we possess all things. I set no value on objects
strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country's manufactures. This then is my
answer to your request to appoint a representative at my Court, a request contrary to our
dynastic usage, which would only result in inconvenience to yourself. I have expounded
my wishes in detail and have commanded your tribute Envoys to leave in peace on their
homeward journey. It behoves you, O King, to respect my sentiments and to display even
greater devotion and loyalty in future, so that, by perpetual submission to our Throne,
you may secure peace and prosperity for your country hereafter. Besides making gifts (of
which I enclose an inventory) to each member of your Mission, I confer upon you, O
King, valuable presents in excess of the number usually bestowed on such occasions,
including silks and curios-a list of which is likewise enclosed. Do you reverently receive
them and take note of my tender goodwill towards you! A special mandate.
In the same letter, a further mandate to King George III dealt in detail with the British
ambassador's proposals and the Emperor's reasons for declining them.
You, O King, from afar have yearned after the blessings of our civilisation, and in your
eagerness to come into touch with our converting influence have sent an Embassy across
the sea bearing a memorial. I have already taken note of your respectful spirit of
submission, have treated your mission with extreme favour and loaded it with gifts,
besides issuing a mandate to you, O King, and honouring you with the bestowal of
valuable presents. Thus has my indulgence been manifested.
Yesterday your Ambassador petitioned my Ministers to memorialise me regarding your
trade with China, but his proposal is not consistent with our dynastic usage and cannot be
entertained. Hitherto, all European nations, including your own country's barbarian
merchants, have carried on their trade with our Celestial Empire at Canton. Such has been
the procedure for many years, although our Celestial Empire possesses all things in
prolific abundance and lacks no product within its own borders. There was therefore no
need to import the manufactures of outside barbarians in exchange for our own produce.
But as the tea, silk and porcelain which the Celestial Empire produces, are absolute
necessities to European nations and to yourselves, we have permitted, as a signal mark of
favour, that foreign hongs [merchant firms] should be established at Canton, so that your
wants might be supplied and your country thus participate in our beneficence. But your
Ambassador has now put forward new requests which completely fail to recognise the
Throne's principle to "treat strangers from afar with indulgence," and to exercise a
pacifying control over barbarian tribes, the world over. Moreover, our dynasty, swaying
the myriad races of the globe, extends the same benevolence towards all. Your England is
not the only nation trading at Canton. If other nations, following your bad example,
wrongfully importune my ear with further impossible requests, how will it be possible for
me to treat them with easy indulgence? Nevertheless, I do not forget the lonely
remoteness of your island, cut off from the world by intervening wastes of sea, nor do I
overlook your excusable ignorance of the usages of our Celestial Empire. I have
consequently commanded my Ministers to enlighten your Ambassador on the subject,
and have ordered the departure of the mission. But I have doubts that, after your Envoy's
return he may fail to acquaint you with my view in detail or that he may be lacking in
lucidity, so that I shall now proceed . . . to issue my mandate on each question separately.
In this way you will, I trust, comprehend my meaning....
(3) Your request for a small island near Chusan, where your merchants may reside and
goods be warehoused, arises from your desire to develop trade. As there are neither
foreign hongs nor interpreters in or near Chusan, where none of your ships have ever
called, such an island would be utterly useless for your purposes. Every inch of the
territory of our Empire is marked on the map and the strictest vigilance is exercised over
it all: even tiny islets and farlying sandbanks are clearly defined as part of the provinces
to which they belong. Consider, moreover, that England is not the only barbarian land
which wishes to establish . . . trade with our Empire: supposing that other nations were all
to imitate your evil example and beseech me to present them each and all with a site for
trading purposes, how could I possibly comply? This also is a flagrant infringement of
the usage of my Empire and cannot possibly be entertained.
(4) The next request, for a small site in the vicinity of Canton city, where your barbarian
merchants may lodge or, alternatively, that there be no longer any restrictions over their
movements at Aomen, has arisen from the following causes. Hitherto, the barbarian
merchants of Europe have had a definite locality assigned to them at Aomen for residence
and trade, and have been forbidden to encroach an inch beyond the limits assigned to that
locality.... If these restrictions were withdrawn, friction would inevitably occur between
the Chinese and your barbarian subjects, and the results would militate against the
benevolent regard that I feel towards you. From every point of view, therefore, it is best
that the regulations now in force should continue unchanged....
(7) Regarding your nation's worship of the Lord of Heaven, it is the same religion as that
of other European nations. Ever since the beginning of history, sage Emperors and wise
rulers have bestowed on China a moral system and inculcated a code, which from time
immemorial has been religiously observed by the myriads of my subjects. There has been
no hankering after heterodox doctrines. Even the European (missionary) officials in my
capital are forbidden to hold intercourse with Chinese subjects; they are restricted within
the limits of their appointed residences, and may not go about propagating their religion.
The distinction between Chinese and barbarian is most strict, and your Ambassador's
request that barbarians shall be given full liberty to disseminate their religion is utterly
unreasonable.
It may be, O King, that the above proposals have been wantonly made by your
Ambassador on his own responsibility, or peradventure you yourself are ignorant of our
dynastic regulations and had no intention of transgressing them when you expressed these
wild ideas and hopes.... If, after the receipt of this explicit decree, you lightly give ear to
the representations of your subordinates and allow your barbarian merchants to proceed
to Chêkiang and Tientsin, with the object of landing and trading there, the ordinances of
my Celestial Empire are strict in the extreme, and the local officials, both civil and
military, are bound reverently to obey the law of the land. Should your vessels touch the
shore, your merchants will assuredly never be permitted to land or to reside there, but
will be subject to instant expulsion. In that event your barbarian merchants will have had
a long journey for nothing. Do not say that
From E. Backhouse and J. O. P. Bland, Annals and Memoirs of the Court of Peking
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1914), pp. 322331
This text is part of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a
collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in
modern European and World history.
Modern History Sourcebook:
The People of Canton: Against the
English, 1842
[Tappan Introduction]: From a paper that was agreed to at a great public meeting in
Canton.
Behold that vile English nation! Its ruler is at one time a woman, then a man, and then
perhaps a woman again; its people are at one time like vultures, and then they are like
wild beasts, with dispositions more fierce and furious than the tiger or wolf, and natures
more greedy than anacondas or swine. These people having long steadily devoured all the
western barbarians, and like demons of the night, they now suddenly exalt themselves
here.
During the reigns of the emperors Kien-lung and Kia-king these English barbarians
humbly besought an entrance and permission to deliver tribute and presents; they
afterwards presumptuously asked to have Chu-san; but our sovereigns, clearly perceiving
their traitorous designs, gave them a determined refusal. From that time, linking
themselves with traitorous Chinese traders, they have carried on a large trade and
poisoned our brave people with opium.
Verily, the English barbarians murder all of us that they can. They are dogs, whose
desires can never be satisfied. Therefore we need not inquire whether the peace they have
now made be real or pretended. Let us all rise, arm, unite, and go against them.
We do here bind ourselves to vengeance, and express these our sincere intentions in order
to exhibit our high principles and patriotism. The gods from on high now look down upon
us; let us not lose our just and firm resolution.
Chinese Cultural Studies:
Lin Zixu Lin Tse-Hsü (1839 CE)
Letter of Advice to Queen Victoria
From Ssuyu Teng and John Fairbank, China's Response to the West,
(Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1954), repr. in Mark A.
Kishlansky, ed., Sources of World History, Volume II, (New York:
HarperCollins CollegePublishers, 1995), pp. 266-69
[Kishlansky Introduction] Lin Tse-Hsu (1785-1850) was the Chinese Commissioner in
Canton whose actions precipitated the Opium Wars (1839- 1842). Although opium was
used in China for centuries, it was not until the opening of the tea trade to Dutch and
British merchants that China was able to import large quantities of the drug. By the early
nineteenth century opium was the principal product that the English East India Company
traded in China and opium addiction was becoming a widespread social problem. When
the emperor's own son died of an overdose, he decided to put an end to the trade. Lin
Tse-Hsü was sent.to Canton, the chief trading port of the East India Company, with
instructions to negoiate an end to the importation of opium into China. The English
merchants were uncooperative, so he seized their stores of opium. This led to immediate
military action. The Chinese were decisively defeated and had to cede to a humiliating
treaty that legalized the opium trade. As a result commissioner Lin was dismissed from
office and sent into exile.
Lin Tse-Hsu's "Letter of Advice to Queen Victoria" was written before the outbreak of the
Opium Wars. It was a remarkably frank document, especially given the usual highly
stylized language of Chinese diplomacy. There remains some question whether Queen
Victoria ever read the letter.
A communication: magnificently our great Emperor soothes and pacifies China and the
foreign countries, regarding all with the same kindness. If there is profit, then he shares it
with the peoples of the world; if there is harm, then he removes it on behalf of the world.
This is because he takes the mind of heaven and earth as his mind.
The kings of your honorable country by a tradition handed down from generation to
generation have always been noted for their politeness and submissiveness. We have read
your successive tributary memorials saying, "In general our countrymen who go to trade
in China have always received His Majesty the Emperor's gracious treatment and equal
justice." and so on. Privately we are delighted with the way in which the honorable rulers
of your countip deeply understand the grand principles and are grateful for the Celestial
grace. For this reason the Celestial Court in soothing those from afar has redoubled its
polite and kind treatment. The profit from trade has been enjoyed by them continuously
for two hundred years. This is the source from which your country has become known for
its wealth.
But after a long period of commercial intercourse, there appear among the crowh of
barbarians both good persons and bad, unevenly. Consequently there are those who
smuggle opium to seduce the Chinese people and so cause the spread of the poison to all
provinces. Such persons who only care to profit themselves, and disregard their harm to
others, are not tolerated by the laws of heaven and are unanimoly hated by human beings.
His Majesty the Emperor, upon hearing of this, is in a towering rage. He has especially
sent me, his commissioner, to come to Kwangtung, and together with the governorgeneral and governor jointly to investigate and settle this matter.
All those people in China who sell opium or smoke opium should receive the death
penalty. We trace the crime of those barbarians who through the years have been selling
opium, then the deep harm they have wrought and the great profit they have usurped
should fundamentally justify their execution according to law. We take into to
consideration, however, the fact that the various barbarians have still known how to
repent their crimes and return to their allegiance to us by taking the 20,183 chests of
opium from their storeships and petitioning us, through their consular officer
[superintendent of trade], Elliot, to receive it. It has been entirely destroyed and this has
been faithfully reported to the Throne in several memorials by this comissioner and his
colleagues.
Fortunately we have received a specially extended favor Born His Majesty the Emperor,
who considers that for those who voluntarily surrender there are still some circumstances
to paliate their crime, and so for the time being he has magnanimously excused them
from punishment. But as for those who again violate the opium prohibition, it is difficult
for the law to pardon them repeatedly. Having established new regulations, we presume
that the ruler of your honorable country, who takes delight in our culture and whose
disposition is inclined towards us, must be able to instruct the various barbarians to
observe the law with care. It is only neccessary to explain to them the advantages and
advantages and then they will know that the legal code of the Celestial Court must be
absolutely obeyed with awe.
We find your country is sixty or seventy thousand li [three li make one mile, ordinarily]
from China Yet there are barbanan 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. That is to
say, the great profit made by barbarians is all taken from the rightful share of China. By
what right do they then in return use the poisonous drug to injure the Chinese people?
Even though the barbarians may not necessarily intend to do us harm, yet in coveting
profit to an extreme, they have no regard for injuring others. Let us ask, where is your
conscience? I have heard that the smoking of opium is very strictly forbidden by your
country; that is because the harm caused by opium is clearly understood. Since it is not
permitted to do harm to your own country, then even less should you let it be passed on
to the harm of other countries -- how much less to China! Of all that China exports to
foreign countries, there is not a single thing which is not beneficial to peo ple: they are of
benefit when eaten, or of benefit when used, or of benefit when resold: all are beneficial.
Is there a single article from China which has done any harm to foreign countries? Take
tea and rhubarb, for example; the foreign countries cannot get along for a single day
without them. If China cuts off these benefits with no sympathy for those who are to
suffer, then what can the barbarians rely upon to keep themselves alive? Moreover the
woolens, camlets, and longells [i.e., textiles] of foreign countries cannot be woven unless
they obtain Chinese silk. If China, again, cuts off this beneficial export, what profit can
the barbarians expect to make? As for other foodstuffs, beginning with candy, ginger,
cinnamon, and so forth, and articles for use, beginning with silk, satin, chinaware, and so
on, all the things that must be had by foreign countries are innumerable. On the other
hand, articles coming from the outside to China can only be used as toys. We can take
them or get along without them. Since they are not needed by China, what difficulty
would there be if we closed our the frontier and stopped the trade? Nevertheless, our
Celestial Court lets tea, silk, and other goods be shipped without limit and circulated
everywhere without begrudging it in the slightest. This is for no other reason but to share
the benefit with the people of the whole world. The goods from China carried away by
your country not only supply your own consumption and use, but also can be divided up
and sold to other countries, producing a triple profit. Even if you do not sell opium, you
still have this threefold profit. How can you bear to go further, selling products injurious
to others in order to fulfill your insatiable desire?
Suppose there were people from another country who carried opium for sale to England
and seduced your people into buying and smoking it; certainly your honorable ruler
would deeply hate it and be bitterly aroused. 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. We have also heard that the ships coming to Canton have
all had regulations promulgated and given to them in which it is stated that it is not
permitted to carry contraband goods. This indicates that the administrative orders of your
honorable rule have been originally strict and clear. Only because the trading ships are
numerous, heretofore perhaps they have not been examined with care. Now after this
communication has been dispatched and you have clearly understood the strictness of the
prohibitory laws of the Celestial Gourt, certainly you will not let your subjects dare again
to violate the law.
We have further learned that in London, the capital of your honorable rule, and in
Scotland,
Ireland, and other places, originally no opium has been produced. Only in several places
of India under your control such as Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Patna, Benares, and Malwa
has opium been planted from hill to hill, and ponds h ave been opened for its
manufacture. For months and years wark is continued in order to accumulate the poison.
The obnoxious odor ascends, irritating heaven and frightening the spirits. Indeed you, O
King, can eradicate the opium plant in these places, hoe over the fields entirely, and sow
in its stead the five grains [millet, barley, wheat, etc.]. Anyone who dares again attempt to
plant and manufacture opium should be severely punished. This will really be a great,
benevolent government policy that will increase the common weal and get rid of evil. For
this, Heaven must support you and the spirits must bring you good fortune, prolonging
your old age and extending your descendants. All will depend on this act.
As for the barbarian merchants who come to China, their food and drink and habitation,
all received by the gracious favor of our Celestial Court. Their accumulated wealth is all
benefit given with pleasure by our Celestial Court. They spend rather few days in their
own country but more time in Canton. To digest clearly the le gal penalties as an aid to
instruction has been a valid principle in all ages. Suppose a man of another country
comes to England to trade, he still has to obey the English laws; how much more should
he obey in China the laws of the Celestial Dynasty?
Now we have set up regulations governing the Chinese people. He who sells opium shall
receive the death penalty and he who smokes it also the death penalty. Now consider this:
if the barbarians do not bring opium, then how can the Chinese people resell it, and how
can they smoke it? The fact is that the wicked barbariians beguile the Ghinese people into
a death trap. How then can we grant life only to these barbarians? He who takes the life
of even one person still has to atone for it with his own life; yet is the harm done by
opium limited to the taking of one life only? Therefore in the new regulations, in regard
to those barbarians who bring opium to China, the penalty is fixed at decapitation or
strangulation. This is what is called getting rid a harmful thing on behalf of mankind.
Moreover we have found that in the middle of the second month of this year [April 9]
Consul [Superintendent] Elliot of your nation, because the opium prohibition law was
very stern and severe, petitioned for an extension of the time limit. He requested an
estension of five months for India and its adjacent harbours and related territories, and ten
months for England proper, after which they would act in conformity wi th the new
regulations. Now we, the commissioner and.others, have memorialized and have received
the extraordinary Celestial grace of His Majesty the Emperor, who has redoubled his
consideration and compassion. All those who from the period of the coming one year
(from England) or six months (from India) bring opium to China by mistake, but who
voluntarily confess and completely surrender their opium, shall be exempt from their
punishment. After this limit of time, if there are still those who bring opium to China then
they will plainly have committed a wilful violation and shall at once be executed
according to law, with absolutely no clemency or pardon. This may be called the height
of kindness and the perfection of justice.
Our Celestial Dynasty rules over and supervises the myriad states, and surely possesses
unfathomable spiritual dignity. Yet the Emperor cannot cear to execute people without
having first tried to reform them by instruction. Therefore he especialiy prornulgates
these fixed regulations. The barbarian merchants of your country, if they wish to do
business for a prolonged period, are required to obey our statues respectfully and to cut
off permanently the source of opium. They must by no means try to test the
effectiveness of the law with their lives. May you, O King, check your wicked and sift
your wicked people
before they come to China, in order to guarantee the peace of your nation, to show further
the sincerity of your politeness and subrnissiveness, and to let the two countries enjoy
together the blessings of peace How fortunate, how fortunate indeed! After receiving this
dispatch will you immediately give us a prompt reply regarding the details and
circumstances of your cutting off the opium traffic. be sure not to put this off. The above
is what has to be communicated.