The Opium War
The Opium War, generally taken as the opening event of China’s modern history, has cynical Chinese patriots and ashamed devoted Westerners for more than a century. In mainland China it is used today not only as indication of firmly established Western immorality, but precisely as proof of the Marxist-Leninist principle that free-enterprise capitalism leads to hostile “imperialism” which allies with conservative “feudalism” to the expense of the common people everywhere. The modern Chinese sense of complaint over the war is reinforced by the obvious facts that opium smoking was harmful and that Commissioner Lin’s effort to repress the opium trade was the instantaneous event for battle.
It would be hard to invent a more unmistakable and intelligible, black and white, story of Chinese victimization than the data of history seem to represent. In contrast, the wrongs suffered by the American colonists, who led them to rebel against British oppression, sink into lack of importance. Indeed, the question is inescapable: why was the Chinese reaction to the opium evil not more powerful?
The inquiring philosopher finds the Opium War less starkly black and white. He may have concluded that the Anglo-Chinese armed conflict would have occurred, whether there was opium trade or not. The Western powers would have aggressed against China even if Britain had not, and that Chinese patriot today would have a sense of complaint even if Sino-Westerners relations had avoided warfare. These suppositions ensue from the fundamental fact that Chinese civilization had developed its own unique ways, distinct from Western ways, but that by 1840 it had lost the power to sustain itself vis-à-vis the expanding west. The rule of a million or so Manchus over some 300 million Chinese was a symptom of the institutional distinctiveness of the Chinese Empire. Which made it behave quite differently from a modern nation-state. The China of today, where a late-maturing patriotism now views the past with a substantial was feeling of humiliation.
The Japanese Restoration was as briskly accomplished as the supporters of the Imperial cause had elaborately prepared it for. The forces, which finally drive the Emperor ahead into the situation of an active ruler, were of random scale of power and of different origin, intellectual idealistic, political, and military, some at work for particular centuries and others the conclusion of the two decades instantaneously preceding the event. Of the methods adopted to guarantee the success of this movement, some were the inclination of men of high essence who were loyally and unselfishly dutiful to the national ideal, while others were surely those of jealous and rash samurai, bent on retaliation or development of their own fortunes.
Jonathan Spence tells his readers of how Mao Zedong was a remarkable man to say the very least. He grew up a poor farm boy from a small rural town in Shaoshan, China. Mao was originally fated to be a farmer just as his father was. It was by chance that his young wife passed away and he was permitted to continue his education which he valued so greatly. Mao matured in a China that was undergoing a threat from foreign businesses and an unruly class of young people who wanted modernization. Throughout his school years and beyond Mao watched as the nation he lived in continued to change with the immense number of youth who began to westernize. Yet in classes he learned classical Chinese literature, poems, and history. Mao also attained a thorough knowledge of the modern and Western world. This great struggle between modern and classical Chinese is what can be attributed to most of the unrest in China during this time period. His education, determination and infectious personalit...
One of the most important aspects of imperialism is the take over of government. The English accomplished this in several ways. Some of the “Unfair Treaties” forced the Chinese to allow the English ships into their ports and to allow them to have a major role in the trade market. The English wanted tea, porcelain, and silk from china. The Chinese however didn’t want to gods the English offered in return. The English began trading opium in return for the goods. Although it was illegal, many of the money hungry merchants excepted the opium in return for the things that were valuable to the English. Because of this, the first Anglo-Chinese war erupted. China underestimated the power of England and was defeated. At the end of the war, they were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing (1842). The treaty was one of the first treaties known as the “Unfair Treaties.” Under this treaty, china gave up the island of Hong Kong, abolished the licensed monopoly system of trade, granted English nationals exemption from Chinese laws, and agreed to give England whatever trading concessions that were granted to other countries then and later.
At the end of the eighteenth century, China’s goods were much desired by Britain. However, the Chinese saw Europeans as savages and did not want to trade with them. During trade, there was an imbalance in China’s favor, because the Europeans were forced to buy Chinese goods using silver. The Western Imperialists began to grow opium poppies from in India, and then smuggle them into China. China soon became addicted to the drug and spent most of it’s money on the purchase of it from the Europeans and Americans. This shifted the balance of power to be in Europe’s favor.
Japanese revolts ensue with the opening of Japan to the Western World. The middle and lower classes wanted Japan to be open while the conservative daimyo did not. Both of these groups looked to the emperor for a decision. The shogunate, reliant on the isolation, collapsed under pressures caused by outsid...
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...
China was once the center of the world. Any other country in the world could not match China’s political prowess and economic strength. However, as time progressed China stagnated while other powers, especially those in Europe, were going through their industrial revolution were growing more powerful and were eager to break into the Chinese market. Great Britain was one European power that was eager to break into the Chinese market since China was one of the few if not only country that had a trade surplus with Great Britain. Great Britain then decided to sell non-textile products to China and started selling them opium. China was not pleased that their people were being exposed to addictive drugs that rendered their working class unable
Rebellions had broken out around 1796 and 1804 and again in 1813, and the Manchus were losing their control over the immeasurable region (Jayawardena, 1986, p.168). French, Dutch, British and American boats, utilizing Macao as a base, entered similarly as Canton where specie and opium which shaped 57% of Chinese imports in 1838 were traded for tea, porcelain, silk and cotton products (Jayawardena, 1986, p.168). This restricted exchange, on the other hand, could not fulfill colonialist intrigues. The Industrial Revolution had introduced a time of development and Western nations requested that China opened up as a business opportunity for the products of its manufacturing products and factories as source of raw materials (Jayawardena, 1986, p.167). The British pursued the first war animosity on China; once the Chinese were defeated the British took over Shanghai. Once new rules and regulations were forced and agreed by the Chinese; the colonizers was still not satisfied attacking the Chinese again. Generally, China 's prevailing philosophy had been Confucianism, and according to this ideology the significant social institution is family. This is where everyone in the society has to position their role and for women it meant the obedience of her husband and if she is not married, her father (Jayawardena, 1986, p.169). In addition, women were expected to
At the end of the Opium War, China was left defeated. While the loss severely undermined the Qing Dynasty's power, little did they know that their loss would have serious repercussions. The emperor signed a treaty with the British that would later be known as one of the “Unequal Treaties” made in China during this period. The treaty in question was named the treaty of Nanjing (also known as the treaty of Nanking). This treaty would have lasting effects even into recent history.
Allingham,, Philip V. "England and China: The Opium Wars, 1839-60." The Victorian Web: An Overview. 24 June 2006. Web. 06 Apr. 2011.
Tsuzuki, Chushichi. The Pursuit of Power in Modern Japan, 1825-1995. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Questia. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.
Though it seems that it was the Western influence that set off this revolutionary change, a more scrutinizing look into Japanese society at the time reveals that Japan was in fact on the brink of supplanting the fixed, hierarchical Tokugawa order for one that was better suited for its fast evolving, capitalistic society. As historian David Lu states, “Our people began to discover [modern civilization’s] utility and gradually and yet actively moved towards its acceptance. However, there was an old fashioned and bloated government that stood in the way of progress.” (Lu, 351). Therefore in a way we can view the intrusion of Western powers in Japan on that infamous July day in 1853 as an event that occurred during a time when Japan was ready for a world renewal, and not a direct and complete cause of modernization of Japan; in fact it was Japan’s revaluation of modernization and what it meant to be Japanese amidst strong western influences that eventually ...
Imperialism has not only influenced colonial territories to better themselves or to further the mother country’s realm of power, it also had a significant impact on the people’s culture, education, environment, and political systems. Japan and Britain were two imperial systems that countered each other in many facets but also had strikingly similar qualities that had helped them become strong imperial powers that needed one another to continue their position amongst others. The Japanese empire was an inspirational country to other Asians that spearheaded the fight against the European imperialism. After the Meiji restoration, the emperors decided that the modernization of Japan was going to begin and in order for it to be a success, the government had to change along with their culture, “.restored authority faced new dangers in a new age.
To the normal Chinese man during the early 19th century, opium was nothing more than a luxury that only those of higher power or influence could indulge themselves in. Yet by the middle of the 19th century opium had become a commodity that everyone could have and that at the same time they seemed to need. Even though it was now such a big part of the normal chinese culture, it did not benefit the people nor Chinese culture, it did not benefit the people or the government. The only benefit it did seem to have was towards the British. The British were flourishing from the new Chinese market for opium, where the Chinese were beginning to turn into addicts of a drug that was slowly poisoning their way of life. The people no longer were concerned about their advancement and safety of their family but about how and when they would be able to get more opium. The Chinese government was not pleased about this and decided to take a stand that would, in the long run, only damage the very people they were trying to protect. This stand came to be known as the First Opium War (1839-1842). By the end of the First Opium War China had begun to lose its sense of identity through the use of treaties and encroachment of foreign countries, starting with the British and their Treaty of Nanking.
The 1911 Revolution kicked out the Qing Dynasty and broke the barriers to different developments in China. However, the 1911 Revolution has only provided a framework of a republic and made changes in some particular aspects related to immediate problems and difficulties in society. Hence, the relationship between the revolution and the subsequent development of China was very weak. On one hand, I do not agree with the latter part of the statement that the 1911 Revolution brought new problems to China. The conflicts and problems that China suffered in the early/ mid 1910s were mainly due to the weakness of the military force, conflicting political organizations and disorder in society. On the other hand, I agree with the first part of the statement that the 1911 Revolution did not bring peace to China afterwards. In the following paragraphs, I am going to focus on explaining the reasons of emerging new problems in China and also illustrate my points on the factors of the 1911 Revolution which could not bring in peace to China related to the conditions of the country.