Neo-Imperiailsm in China

Neo-Imperialism’s effect on Qing Dynasty China was not profoundly great. Rather than helping China, imperialism brought about the fall of the Qing and the introduction of communism in East Asia. The Qing Dynasty was a powerful, self-sufficient dynasty that reigned from 1644-1912. During the late 19th century, Europe’s great powers began taking interest in Asia’s natural resources that are needed to fuel Europe’s industrial factories. The British interest for tea led the Europeans to trade with China. At first, trading was subtle, but when conflicts began arising, the situations escalated and a series of wars were fought out with China to resolve them.
The Qing Dynasty was able to take care of the 3 million people who lived within its borders. The people grew crops such as rice, spun silk, farmed tea roses, and make fine porcelain. The Qing Dynasty was the lone power in the Far East. That changed during the late 19th century, when imperialism spread to Asia. The great powers of Europe took interest in primarily Southeast Asia. After the colonization of Southeast Asia, the powers began taking interest in trading with China. They sailed to the trading port of Canton (present day Hong Kong) and offered manufactured goods for tea, silk, and porcelain. The Qing Dynasty accepted and trading began.
Later, the Qing refused to accept European goods and demanded bar silver as payment. As a result, The Western powers began experiencing an outflow of silver to China. The countries, especially Britain, needed to find a way to reverse the flow of silver so the trade was even. So the British resorted to opium, a drug from the sap of the opium poppy. Originally used as medicine in western countries, opium was sold to China as a recreational dr...

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