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England and China: The Opium Wars, 1839-60

Philip V. llinghamhttp://www.victorianweb.org/history/empire/opiumwars/opiumwars1.html(with bibliography)

The Opium Trade, Seventh through Nineteenth Centuries

The Anglo-Chinese Opium ars were the !irect result o" China#s isolationalist an! e$clusionary tra!epolicy with the est. Con"ucian China#s attempts to e$clu!e pernicious "oreign i!eas resulte! in highlyrestricte! tra!e. %rior to the 1&'s there was but one port open to estern merchants *uang+hou(Canton) an! but one commo!ity that the Chinese woul! accept in tra!e silver. ,ritish an! Americanmerchants an$ious to a!!ress what they perceive! as a tra!e imbalance !etermine! to import the one

pro!uct that the Chinese !i! not themselves have but which an ever-increasing number o" themwante!: opium. ,e"ore 1&& large uantities o" the panish silver coin the Carolus "lowe! into Chinain payment "or the e$otic commo!ities that 0uropeans crave! in contrast in the !eca!e o" the 1&'s!espite an imperial !ecree outlawing the e$port o" yellow gol! an! white silver 2only 34''&51worth o" silver was importe! whereas the silver e$porte! was estimate! at 3661& &17 in the "oreignsilver coin 3775&7 in sycee an! 3'616886 in gol!2 (9uo p. 71). although the Chinese imperialgoverne! ha! long prohibite! the !rug e$cept "or me!icinal use the 2,ritish ong2 (companies such as;ent n!ia Company

cheap opium "loo!e! the mar@et an! China#s net out"low o" silver amounte! to some '5 million=e$ican silver !ollars over the course o" the 1&'s.

As the habit o" smo@ing opium sprea!"rom the i!le rich to ninety per cent o" all Chinese males un!erthe age o" "orty in the country#s coastal regions business activity was much re!uce! the civil servicegroun! to a halt an! the stan!ar! o" living "ell. The 0mperor ;ao guang#s special anti-opiumcommissioner in Be-$u(14&7-1&7) mo!estly estimate! the number o" his countrymen a!!icte! tothe !rug to be 5 million but a ,ritish physician practising in Canton set the "igure at 1 million.0ually !isturbing "or the imperial government was the imbalance o" tra!e with the est: whereasprior to 1&1 estern nations ha! been spen!ing '7 million =e$ican silver !ollars on porcelaincotton sil@s broca!es an! various gra!es o" tea by 1&'4 opium represente! 74 per cent o" Chinese

imports an! "or "iscal 1&'7-'6 alone China e$porte! 5.7 million silver !ollars. The o""icial sent in1&'& by the 0mperor ;ao guang (1&1-1&7) o" the ing ;ynasty to con"iscate an! !estroy all importso" opium in Be-$u calculate! that in "iscal 1&'8 Chinese opium smo@ers consume! 1 million taels#worth o" the !rug while the entire spen!ing by the imperial government that year spent 5 million taels.e reporte!ly conclu!e! 2>" we continue to allow this tra!e to "lourish in a "ew !o+en years we will"in! ourselves not only with no sol!iers to resist the enemy but also with no money to euip the army2uote! by Chesneau$ et al. p. 77). ,y the late 1&'s "oreign merchant vessels notably those o",ritain an! the Dnite! tates were lan!ing over ' chests annually. =eantime corrupt o""icials inthe hoppo (customs o""ice) an! ruthless merchants in the port cities were accumulating wealth beyon!

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2all the tea in China2 by !e"ying imperial inter!ictions that ha! e$iste! in principle since 1486. Thestan!ar! rate "or an o""icial#s turning a blin! eye to the importation o" a single crate o" opium was &taels. ,etween 1&1 an! 1&'4 the illegal importation o" opium (theoretically a capital o""ence)

increase! "ive "ol!. A hotbe! o" vice bribery an! !isloyalty to the 0mperor#s authority the opium porto" Canton woul! be the "lashpoint "or the inevitable clash between the governments o" China an! *reat,ritain.

The Outbreak of the First Opium War

This war with China . . . really seems to me so wic@e! as to be a national sin o" the greatest possiblemagnitu!e an! it !istresses me very !eeply. Cannot any thing be !one by petition or otherwise toawa@en men#s min!s to the !rea!"ul guilt we are incurringE > really !o not remember in any history o"a war un!erta@en with such combine! in?ustice an! baseness. Or!inary wars o" conuest are to me "arless wic@e! than to go to war in or!er to maintain smuggling an! that smuggling consisting in the

intro!uction o" a !emorali+ing !rug which the government o" China wishes to @eep out an! which we"or the lucre o" gain want to intro!uce by "orce an! in this uarrel are going to burn an! slay in thepri!e o" our suppose! superiority. F Thomas Arnol!to . . ull =arch 1& 1&5

,ritish merchants were "rustrate! by Chinese tra!e laws an! re"use! to cooperate with Chinese legalo""icials because o" their routine use o" torture. Dpon his arrival in Canton in =arch 1&'8 the0mperor#s special emissary in Be-$u too@ swi"t action against the "oreign merchants an! theirChinese accomplices ma@ing some 16 arrests an! con"iscating 11 poun!s o" opium. ;espiteattempts by the ,ritish superinten!ent o" tra!e Charles 0lliot to negotiate a compromise in n!ia Companyuic@ly controlle! the river basins an! the %earl Hiver between ong 9ong an! Canton regar!less o"win!s or ti!es that limite! the e""ectiveness o" Chinese ?un@s. On lan! Chinese bows an! primitive"ireloc@s prove! no match "or ,ritish mus@ets an! artillery. Gor lea!ing the Hoyal =arines to victory*eneral Anthony ,la$lan! transham was @nighte! by ueen Jictoria. is "orces utterly !e"eate! onlan! an! sea in Be-$u in eptember 1&5 ha! been recalle! to %e@ing in !isgrace an! i-shan a=anchu aristocrat relate! to the 0mperor installe! in in#s place to !eal with the "oreign !evils whose!ecisive victories were un!ermining the authority o" the ing ;ynasty which gra!ually lost control o"a population o" ' million.

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The Cost of Peace

i-shan#s "irst ma?or concession was to ransom Canton in the spring o" 1&51 "rom the ,ritish "or si$

million silver !ollars rather than try to !e"en! it. ,y the mi!!le o" 1&5 the ,ritish controlle! themouth o" the Kangt+e an! hanghai an! "orce! the Chinese to sign the "irst o" a series o" 2uneual2treaties that turne! control o" much o" the coast over to the est. hile Chinese o""icials earnestlyentreate! ir enry %ottinger to cut the problem o"" at its source by recommen!ing that the ,ritishgovernment ban the cultivation o" the poppy in >n!ia ir enry argue! that as long as there remaine!substantial numbers o" opium-a!!icts an! corrupt customs o""icers in China prohibiting the cultivationo" opium in >n!ia 2woul! merely throw the mar@et into other han!s2 (cite! by su-Ku Teng p. 4).Dn!er the terms o" the Treaty o" Ian@ing (8 August 1&5) signe! as seems "itting now aboar! a,ritish warship at the mouth o" the Kangt+e an! a "urther 2supplementary2 treaty in 1&5' China ce!e!the islan! o" ong 9ong to *reat ,ritain opene! "ive 2Treaty2 ports (Canton Amoy Goochowhanghai an! Iingbo) to estern tra!e an! resi!ence grante! *reat ,ritain most-"avoure! nation

status "or tra!e an! pai! nine million !ollars in reparations to the merchants whose chests o"opium in Be-$u ha! !estroye!. China was compelle! to abolish tra!ing monopolies an! limit tari""s to"ive per cent. Ginally an! perhaps most important to China#s loss o" nationhoo! the =anchusignatories accepte! the principle o" 2e$traterritoriality2 whereby estern merchants were no longeraccountable to China#s laws but rather to those o" their mother countries. (>n 1&55 the Dnite! tatesan! Grance e$tracte! similar concessions "rom the imperial government an! the stage was set "or thepartition o" the worl!#s most populous nation by the numerically in"erior but technologically superiorestern powers.) Io sooner ha! peace been negotiate! than merchants began to haw@ opium at "ire-sale prices an! the conclusion o" the econ! Opium ar (1&76-7&) remove! all resi!ual restraints onthe tra""ic@ing o" the !rug as the Chinese themselves began poppy cultivation: by 1&& China was stillimporting 67 tons annually but by 18 it was pro!ucing some tons itsel".

The Second Opium War

The outbrea@ o" "resh hostilities un!er such circumstances was almost inevitable because Chineseo""icials were e$tremely reluctant to enact the terms o" the treaties o" 1&5-55. ince the Grench an!Americans ha! e$tracte! a!!itional concessions since the signing o" the Treaty o" Ian@ing inclu!ingclauses about renegotiation a"ter twelve years *reat ,ritain insiste! upon e$ercising its 2most-"avoure! nation status2 in 1&75. This time the ,ritish !eman!e! that China open all her ports to"oreign tra!e legalise the importation o" opium "rom ,ritish possessions in >n!ia an! ,urma e$empt,ritish goo!s "rom all import !uties an! permit the establishment o" a "ull embassy in %e@ing. Gor twoyears ing court o""icials stalle! trying to buy time. owever events ran out o" their control when on

& October 1&76 o""icials boar!e! the Chinese-registere! but ong 9ong-base! merchant vessel Arrowwhich they suspecte! o" involvement in both smuggling an! piracy. The ,ritish tra!e o""icials naturallyargue! that as a "oreign vessel the Arrow#s activities !i! not "all un!er Chinese legal ?uris!iction an!that there"ore the sailors who ha! been arreste! shoul! be release! un!er the e$traterritoriality clause o"the Treaty o" Ian@ing.

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aving !ealt with the temporary !istraction o" the epoy =utinyin >n!ia in 1&74 *reat ,ritain!ispatche! "orces to Canton in a coor!inate! operation with American warships. Grance seething overthe recent Chinese e$ecution o" a missionary Gather August Chap!elaine ?oine! Hussia the D. . A.

an! *reat ,ritain against China. owever a ?oint Anglo-Grench "orce without other militaryassistance un!er the comman! o" A!miral ir =ichael eymour or! 0lgin an! =arshall *ros sei+e!Canton late in 1&74 a"ter valiant but "utile resistance by the city#s citi+ens an! Chinese sol!iers. >n =ay1&7& the Anglo-Grench naval tas@"orce capture! the Ta@u "orts near Tiensin (Tian?in) e""ectivelyen!ing hostilities. Grance Hussia the Dnite! tates an! *reat ,ritain then "orce! China to agree toopen eleven more ma?or ports to estern tra!e un!er the terms o" the Treaty o" Tientsin (