Commissioner Lin's Letter To Queen Victoria In 1839

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Central Chinese? Nah Ancient world civilizations always had, or still have, a tendency to place themselves at the center, or superior position. One of the biggest civilizations to do so is China, being the biggest trading post in the world at one time. One country that wanted to trade with China more than anyone else was Great Britain. British men wanted one thing, tea. But unfortunately the British didn’t have anything in return worth trading, so the idea of selling opium to Chinese men for silver and then giving the silver back to China as a trade deal came alive. The opium started to cause a social problem in China, causing Commissioner Lin (Lin Zexu) to write a letter to Queen Victoria in 1839, to fix the issue. In this letter, it is present that Commissioner Lin is sinophilic, and proves that China believes they are the center of every. Context clues of the words, “the Central land” being used multiple times in ways that put China on top of the world. …show more content…

This is a sign of sinophilia, meaning the love of China, but of course Commissioner Lin is Chinese. The interpretation I get from this quote is that China thinks very highly of themselves and think they are the center of the world, whether it be physically or superiority. Another piece of context clues would be, “Has China…ever yet sent forth a noxious article from its soil? Not to speak of our tea and rhubarb, thing 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 ever to exist? (Lin 2) This quote is basically degrading the British and questioning the Queen’s

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