The Opium War :
Watershed between Ancient
and Modern China
(鸦片战争：古代中国与近代中国的分水岭)
Session 2
Table of Contents
I. Britain’s Efforts to Open China’s Door for Free
Trade before the Opium War 英国打通自由贸易的努力
 Diplomatic action 外交
 Opium trade 鸦片贸易
 Military force 军事入侵
II. The First Opium War 第一次鸦片战争
III. The Second Opium War 第二次鸦片战争
IV. Acceleration of Imperialism in China after the
Opium War 鸦片战争后帝国主义在中国的升级
V. The Consequences of the Opium War 后果
VI. Deep Roots of the Opium War 根源
VII. Discussion
I-1. London’s Efforts to Open China’s Door
before the War
 The Macartney Mission in 1793
 To acquire a place near the tea & silk-producing area 丝绸
 To negotiate a commercial treaty 洽谈商业协定
 To release abuses at Canton 废除不公正的广东贸易体制
 To create a desire in China for British products
 To arrange diplomatic representation at Beijing 外交人员
入京
 To Open Japan, Cochin China to British commerce 开放
日本，印度支那市场
 Amherst Mission in 1816 第二次外交谈判
 Failure of the mission because of refusal to comply to
China’s ritual ceremonies
I-2. The Opium Trade
 Favorable trade imbalance to China 中国的贸易顺差
 90% of East India Company’s shipment to China is gold
and silver, and only 10% were commodities.
 From 1781-1790, 16.4 million taels of silver flowed into
China, and from 1800-1810, 26 million.
 The opium trade
 Britain took a lead in opium trade from 1773
 Favorable trade imbalance to Britain 英国的贸易顺差
 1800-1810: 26 million taels of silver to China
 1831-1833: 10 million taels of silver out of China
The Opium trade and China’s response
Young men from rich familiesofficials, merchants, soldiers,
literati, women, servants, even
monks, nuns and priests
 “If opium was not suppressed,
China would have no soldiers to
fight the enemy and no fund to
support the army. ”数十年后中
原几无可以御敌之兵，且无可以
充饷之银
 Commissioner Lin Zexu 林则徐 took
actions in 1839 and banned opium
trade 禁止鸦片贸易
I-3. Military Force-军事入侵
II. The First Opium War from 1839 to 1842
 The abolish of the monopoly of East Indian Company in
1834 escalated conflict between Chinese government and
British government. British government coordinated the
China trade by appointment of Superintendent of Trade
in China. Individual private business became a state
affairs. 废除东印度公司的垄断导致了国家之间的对抗
 Lin’s determination & actions to stop opium trade
 Under pressure from Lin, Charles Elliot, Chief
Superintendent of Trade, agreed to submit Lin 21,306 chest
of opium on behalf of the British government.
 Lin’s letter to Queen Victoria in January 1840
Letter to Queen Victoria 致维多利亚女王的一封信
• ……
• 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!
• 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.
• This letter was carried by Captain Warren in Jan., 1840
Discussion
 Would Great Britain change its policy to invade China
through military force if Commissioner Lin would not
confiscate English merchants’ opium? 如果林则徐不没
收英国商人的鸦片，是否英国仍旧会动用武力入侵中
国？
 Do you think that Queen Victoria would accept Lin’s
argument against opium trade?
 维多利亚女王会接受林则徐禁止鸦片贸易的的请求吗？
The Immobile Empire: the first great collision of
East & West - Alain Peyrefitte
“The pastoral world of mills driven by donkeys was gone,
and the horse gave way to the steam engine.” Great
Britain became the most powerful industrial county in
the world. In this way:
 “He who controls trade controls the world’s wealth, and
therefore the world itself.”
– Lord Walter Raleigh to Elizabeth.
 “Shortly after 1763 Lord Clive, flushed with his recent
victories over the Mogul Empire and the French,
proposed that he be sent to conquer China by armed
force.”
Continue:
 “Every British citizen knew the words to the anthem
of that ambition: Rule, Britannia/Britannia rules
the waves.” As rulers of the waves, eight million
Britons were confident that they could speak as
masters to three hundred million Chinese.”
 “The fact was that the East was going to have to
open its doors to the West, whose masters now
proclaimed, asserting their own power and
interests, that the world was on and that they
intended to travel it and trade in it freely.”
II-2. Military Invasion
 May 24, Elliot urged London to dispatch an
expeditionary army先遣军 to China.
 After debate, the Parliament decided to send
an army to China with a vote of 271 vs 262.
 June 1840, the British Expeditionary army 先
遣军 arrived in China
II-3. The Nanking Treaty in 1842南京条约
 An indemnity 战争赔款of $21
million 两千一百万两白银
Abolish of the Canton trade system 废除
广东贸易体制
 Opening of five ports for trade & residence
of English officials, merchants and their
families 五口通商
 Concession 割让of Hong Kong 香港
 “A great change in more than three
thousand years of history” – Li Hongzhang
 三千年未有之变局 - 李鸿章

continue
 The Wangsha Treaty望厦条约with the US in July 184 4
 The Huangpu Treaty 黄埔条约with France in October
1844
 Extraterritoriality 治外法权allowed foreigners to have
exempt from the jurisdiction of Chinese laws
 The Most Favored Nation 最惠国待遇 to allow all the
foreign countries to share benefits and privileges from any
treaties
 The right to maintain churches and hospitals in the five
port cities
III. The Second Opium War 1856-1860
 In an effort to expand their privileges in China, Britain
demanded the Qing authorities renegotiate the Treaty of
Nanking (signed in 1842), citing their most favoured
nation status. The British demands included opening all
of China to British merchants, legalising the opium
trade, exempting foreign imports from internal transit
duties, suppression of piracy, regulation of the coolie
trade, permission for a British ambassador to reside in
Beijing and for the English-language version of all
treaties to take precedence over the Chinese.
 The Qing rejected the demand of Britain. An AngloFrench force invaded China from 1856-1860.
III-2. Treaties of Tianjing 天津条约
 Britain, France, Russia, and the U.S. would have the right to
establish diplomatic legations (外交使团-small embassies)
in Peking (a closed city at the time)
 Ten more Chinese ports would be opened for foreign trade,
including Hankou 汉口, and Nanjing 南京
 The right of all foreign vessels including commercial ships
to navigate freely on the Yangtze River
 The right of foreigners to travel in the internal regions of
China, which had been formerly banned
 China was to pay an indemnity to Britain and France in 8
million taels of silver each.
III-3. Treaty of Aigun 瑷珲条约
 On 28 May 1858, the separate Treaty of Aigun was
signed with Russia to revise the Chinese and Russian
border as determined by the Nerchinsk Treaty
 尼布楚条约in 1689. Russia gained the left bank of the
Amur River, pushing the border back from the Argun
River 阿穆尔河. The treaty gave Russia control over a
non-freezing area on the Pacific coast, where Russia
founded the city of Vladivostok 海参崴 1860.
瑷珲条约中中国丧失的领土
III-3. Yuan Ming Yuan Was Looted & Destroyed
IV. Acceleration of Imperialism in China after the Opium War
IV. Acceleration of Imperialism in China after the Opium War
 The Sino-French War from 1883-1885 中法条约
 China lost Vietnam to France
 The Sino-Japanese War from 1894-1895 中日条约
 China recognized the independence of Korea 朝鲜
 ceded Taiwan to Japan 台湾
 Pay an indemnity of 263,176,701 taels of silver (about 150
million U.S.dollars )
 Offered most favored nation trade status 最惠国待遇 and
 opening of Shashi, Chungking, Soochow and Hangzhou.
 China vs. 8 Powers in 1900 (the Boxer Rebellion) 义和
团
IV-2. Acceleration of Imperialism in China after the Opium War
V. Consequences of the Opium War 鸦片战
争之后果
 Politically, China became a semicolonial country because of the




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loss of the three national rights: fixed tariff 固定的关税,
extraterritoriality 治外法权 and the most favored nation 最惠国
待遇
Militarily, foreign gunboats 军舰were allowed to navigate航行
freely in Chinese inland waterways.内陆河
Economically, the fixed customs rates deprived China of a
protective tariff, which damaged China’s self-sufficient economy.
自给自足的经济
Socially, the collapse of China’s agrarian economy led to caused
social disturbances and rebellions. 社会动荡，造反
Diplomatically, China took the first step in its long journey to
membership of the international society.
Territorially, China lost large portion of land. 大片国土丧失
V-2. Self-sufficient Economy Disintegrated &
Domestic Rebellions 自给自足的经济开始解体
The Taiping Rebellion 太平天国运动broke out from 1850-1864.
It ravaged 17 provinces, destroyed more than 600 cities, took an estimated
20 million lives, it weakened the Qing rule significantly.
The Nian Rebellion 捻军起义from 1851-1868
The Moslem Rebellion 穆斯林造反from 1855-1873
Discussion I
What is the root of the conflict
between China and the West?
中国与西方的冲突的根源是什么？
VI. Deep Roots of the Confrontation
 Conflict of the Chinese claims of universal
overlordship 天下观with the Western idea of national
sovereignty.民族国家主权
 Conflict between self-sufficient agrarian and isolated
China and the expansive 扩张型and industrial Britain.
 Conflict between the Chinese tributary relationship
朝贡制度with the Western system diplomatic
intercourse平等的外交关系.
 Conflict between Smithsian idea of free trade and
China’s contempt 蔑视经商 for trade and merchants
Discussion II
 How to understand the collision between China and
the West?
 What kind of impact on China’s history and
development?
 Is it a threatening challenge to a century of
humiliation 屈辱的世纪 or a benevolent challenge to
the era of modern China?
Thank you!
Questions?