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The Qing dynasty was the last imperial Chinese dynasty. It lasted from 1644 to 1912. In the 18th century, the Qing empire was the largest, and most successful empire in the world. This empire would be known for its great strides in the ceramic industry, and were responsible for the creation of great porcelain crafts. The Qing empire would eventually fall in 1911. They would be overthrown by a revolution led by Sun Zhongshan, who created the Revive China Society. Also in 1911, the Nationalist Party of China would declare independence form the empire, and the Qing court would create a republic meld by Yuan Shikai as president.

Links: https://www.history.com/topics/asian-history/qing-dynasty#fall-of-the-qing-dynasty

https://asia.si.edu/learn/for-educators/teaching-china-with-the-smithsonian/explore-by-dynasty/qing-dynasty/

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China was heavily dependent on the highly addictive drug opium. Opium was first used in China for therapeutic purposes, but subsequently, in the 17th century, it was more frequently combined with tobacco to be smoked, which is how it spread across Southeast Asia. In order to better manage the Chinese, the Brits needed more people addicted to opium. By outlawing opium in China in 1830, the Chinese government quickly took control of this. Between the two sides, the Opium War began. Foreigners may now roam freely across China as a result of the Chinese losing both times, and the majority of China's ports are now open.

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/opium-war-1839-1842

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Opium during the Imperialism - Sayee Deshpande

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Opium during the Imperialism - Sayee Deshpande

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the East India Company tried to smuggle opium from India into china, because China would never buy British goods. They were hoping the Opium would cause China to spend a lot of their silver.- Opium was used for medicinal purposes to help with severe pain, sleeping issues, and stress. - China wanted to stop the opium trade because there were millions of people addicted to the drug. The more people got addicted, the more opium they would buy, thus ruining China’s economy-  China was forced to sign the treaty of Nanking, which states that the British could carry on their trade with whoever they wanted, and committed Chinese to free trade (including opium)- The war ended August 17, 1842. https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/opium-war-1839-1842

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When the British started selling Opium to China, the Chinese government opposed it.  To quell these oppositions, the British used gunboat diplomacy.  Gunboat diplomacy is defined by using naval power to achieve one’s objective in foreign policy.  In this case the British’s objective was to trade with China.  With the threat of British ships China was forced to open up ports and allow trade with the British. However, the aggressive action taken by the British caused resentment to grow. This resentment eventually lead to the Opium Wars.

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This map shows the treaty ports that China had to open to the British as a result of losing both of the opium wars. 

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China’s Weakness to British Opium Exports - Gokul Krishnaswamy

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China’s Weakness to British Opium Exports - Gokul Krishnaswamy

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China was once benefitting from trade with Britain because they were getting a lot of silver for the products that they traded with the British. But, once the British began to export opium, the tides turned and the British were on top in the trade. The Chinese were so addicted to the drug that British exports of opium increased from 4,500 chests to 40,000 chests. As a result, the Chinese made the best decision that they felt was right, which was to ban the opium trade and to crack down opium sales as well. This led to the First Opium War, which was won by the British and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing by the Chinese officials, who were being held at gunpoint. In that treaty, China had to open five Chinese ports to British trade. Then, there was the Second Opium War, which the British also won against the Chinese. As a result, the Chinese had to sign the Treaty of Tientsin, which forced them to open 11 more ports to foreign trade and legalize the opium trade. These crushing defeats eventually led to the toppling of the Qing Dynasty.

https://asiapacificcurriculum.ca/learning-module/opium-wars-china

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This is a opium smoking salon as the picture indicates. 

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Opium use in China began with their trade with the British. The British had a big desire for Chinese tea and and silk. They thought the best way to get these items was to trade Bengal Opium for them. The Chinese accepted this trade and soon many citizens began getting hooked. The British practically pushed opium onto citizens that weren’t already addicted to it. The government was very conflicted as to what their next move was. In the end, they banned opium and took actions to stop opium use that led to a war between them and Britain. They lost those wars and the Nanking treaty; which was unfair, was forced onto them.
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1750_opium.htm

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How Opium affected Imperialism in China. - Abhi Adapala

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How Opium affected Imperialism in China. - Abhi Adapala

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The British started to trade with China by the British trading silver and China trading tea. Britain increased with China, but they were slowly running out of silver to trade with. They already had India as a colony and started to grow Opium there. With this new-found currency, the British started to trade opium with the Chinese hoping that they would get hooked on the drug. Unfortunately, they did and China would do anything or sell anything in order the get the drug. the Chinese government soon controlled this by banning opium in China in 1830. The Opium war started between the two parties. When the Chinese lost both times it made it so that foreigners can move freely around China, and most of the ports in China were available.

Link : Western colonialism - The race for colonies in sub-Saharan Africa | Britannica

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Gunboat diplomacy is when a country threatens another country with war if they refuse to keep on trading with them. When China had been imperialized and the British had started to take over, China had wanted to end the Opium Trade with the British. The British had threatened China with war if they didn’t continue trading, and the British continued to increase the trade of Opium. Gunboat diplomacy was a tactic that had been used by other imperialist powers to take control and gain power over other countries which had ended up working. This had made Britain more powerful and allowed them to continue to profit off of opium.

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The Effect of Opium on the Imperialism of China - Raj Vora

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The Effect of Opium on the Imperialism of China - Raj Vora

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Opium was a highly addictive drug that hooked a substantial portion of China's population. The British illegally imported opium into China, which grew dramatically starting in the 1820s. China trying to stop illegal trade and social and economic disruption led to the first opium war. This lasted from 1839 to 1842 and ended with Great Britain winning over Hong Kong, increasing the trade of opium. The British wanted more people hooked on opium because it would be easier for them to control the Chinese. The second opium war ended with the British winning again and the Treaty of Tientsin opening up ports, removing restrictions on Christian missionary activity, legalizing the use of opium, and granting foreigners permission to travel freely throughout China.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars

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The graph above shows the imports of Opium into China during the 1800s

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The Effect of Opium on the Imperialism of China - Saharsh Duddilla

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The Effect of Opium on the Imperialism of China - Saharsh Duddilla

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Opium is a drug that ruined the Chinese economy and society, ultimately causing two wars against the British regarding the ban of the consumption of this drug. Opium first came into the Chinese society as a drug to trade with the British. The British had Opium farms in their Indian colony, and took advantage of that to gain valuables from China. However, Opium began deteriorating the health of Chinese citizens due to their addictiveness and mass consumption. This ultimately led to the first opium war between 1839 and 1842, which China lost. The British continued to push the legalization of opium for a few more years where the treaty of Nanking is established. The treaty of Nanking states that more ports should opened for trade, and that there should be a payment for reprimands. The British grew more greedy and ended angering the Chinese resulting in the Second Opium War. China lost this one as well. The treaty of Tientsin was established creating more trade ports, more Christian missionary activity, and the legalization of Opium. Overall, China ended up losing in the war for opium, but this goes to show how China’s imperialized status results in a beneficial relationship for the British and a detrimental relationship for the Chinese.
Source: https://asiapacificcurriculum.ca/learning-module/opium-wars-china

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Opium and the Imperialism of China- By Riya Ramgopal

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Opium and the Imperialism of China- By Riya Ramgopal

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Britain traded Opium in China for silver. This caused a widespread addiction to Opium in China. The Chinese government tried to end the addiction by destroying around 20,000 imported chests of Opium. The British took this as an act of war, leading to the first Opium war that lasted from 1839-1842. When the Chinese lost the British forced China into the unfair treaty of Nanking. The treaty stated that they had to cede Hong Kong to the British and open up more ports. The British then tried to make Opium legal everywhere in China which caused the second Opium war(1856-1860). When the Chinese lost again they had to sign the treaty of Tientsin, the treaty opened additional ports, legalized Opium, and let foreigners move freely through China.

Links:https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars

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Gunboat Diplomacy and the effects of it on the Imperialism of China. - Shreyas Mishra

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Gunboat Diplomacy and the effects of it on the Imperialism of China. - Shreyas Mishra

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"Gunboat diplomacy" was a military strategy used by countries to assert their naval power and intimidate other nations into accepting their policies. An example of this is when Great Britain employed this tactic against China during the era of imperialism and the Opium Wars. The British aimed to establish free trade with China to expand their markets for goods like opium, spices, silk, and silver, but China was reluctant to engage in trade due to their isolationist policies. To achieve their goals, the British deployed their naval fleets to Chinese ports and used the threat of war to coerce China into submission. Unfortunately, this aggressive behavior by the British led to several wars and ultimately resulted in imperialist countries gaining free trade rights and territories in China, thus fueling the wave of imperialism in the region.

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A charge by French forces during the 1860 campaign, of the second Opium War

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China's Addiction to Opium - Allyson Escudero

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China's Addiction to Opium - Allyson Escudero

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China's addiction to opium started by trading with European powers. One of the European powers, Britain, wanted chinese products like tea, silk, porcelain, spices, and jain. In order for the British to gain those products, they discovered a highly addictive drug called opium. Opium is made from poppy plants, and the Chinese agreed to give their products for opium. China as a result got addicted to it and had to put a ban on opium. This is how the first Opium War started. In 1839, a war broke out between China and Great Britain because Britain wanted to keep opium legal for trade. The British beat China in 1842 because of their advanced military technology. Then again in 1856 a second Opium war happened because Britain wanted more ports open in China for trade. Britain won again, and forced the Chinese to a treaty that made them give up Hong Kong to British control open up 5 treaty ports for trade, and payment of reparations.

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The Qing Dynasty was the final imperial dynasty in China and it lasted from 1644 to 1912. Its era was wealthy and prosperous in the beginning, and turned quite rocky towards the end. Emperor Shunzhi was the first ruler of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty was known for its peak in ceramics. Many different types of porcelains were produced, they were used for popular consumption, and trade with foreign countries, China flourished. The Qing Dynasty’s power however started it’s slow decline in the 19th century. Britain started taking over instead, starting with trading opium with China. This leads to an addiction crisis in China which gets the British loads of money, and gives them easy control over the civilians. This eventually leads to the Opium Wars, and unfair treaties to follow afterwards. All these event in turn weaken The Qing Dynasty greatly. The boxer rebellion greatly aids in this process.

Links:
- https://www.history.com/topics/asian-history/qing-dynasty
- https://asia.si.edu/learn/for-educators/teaching-china-with-the-smithsonian/explore-by-dynasty/qing-dynasty/

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Opium is a very addictive drug that caused China to go to war with Britain twice during the 19th century. Traders (mostly British traders) exported illegal opium that was grown in British India to China. They did this because they didn’t want to trade the limited silver that they had.  All of this opium addiction caused many social and economic problems. To try to put an end to the opium trade, the Qing government destroyed more that 20,000 chests of opium. This angered the British, thus triggering the 1st opium war. This ended as a British victory, with the signing of the treaty if Nanjing. China had to give Hong Kong to the British, pay them reparations, and increase treaty ports. The British wanted opium to be fully legalized and all of China be available for trade. The Qing government disagreed on these matters, and this starting the 2nd opium war. This was also a British victory where the Treaty of Tientsin was signed, which legalized opium and opened more trade ports. The opium drug has devastated China during the 19th century, and people were highly addicted to it, leading to to the attempted banning of it, only to fail.

Sources - https://study.com/academy/lesson/european-imperialism-in-china-trades-battles-treaties.html

- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars

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The usage of opium, which was made in British India, would increase in China as more people have developed drug addictions. The drug was banned in China in 1796, but European dealers kept bringing it there illegally. The Chinese government increased trade taxes as a result of rebellion against the Qing Empire. The Qing government started a campaign against opium in 1839. Storehouses were brought to a stop, and opium stores were burned down. Chinese officials and British merchants got into fights. The first of two Opium Wars would thereafter begin as a result.

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Gunboat diplomacy is a tactic to gain trading rights or other rights in another country. This is when a country threatens and intimidates another country instead of resorting to war. This works especially well when a country has a powerful navy. This was used in modern history when Great Britain used this tactic to force China to trade even thought it was known for not being open to trade. This worked for the Britain's because they had one of the most powerful Navy's in the world.

Source:
https://medium.com/@hshearman45/gunboat-diplomacy-and-19th-century-western-imperialism-in-asia-bb25d1bd2583#:~:text=Gunboat%20diplomacy%20allowed%20the%20West,a%20dominion%20of%20Western%20power.

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The Effects of Opium and China's addiction to it - Anish Rachakonda

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The Effects of Opium and China's addiction to it - Anish Rachakonda

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Opium was known as a medicine that was used to ease pain, assist and reduce sleep. Opium was mainly produced in Great Britain, and China's addiction to it began when they decided to be an isolanist country and not trade with anyone. Their desired products include tea, silk, spices, and porcelain. Britain knew that if they trade away any of these resources, they would fall behind other countries. China eventually decided they wanted opium, for their resources. They got heavily addicted to it, but then banned the trade of opium. The first Opium war would begin, and it occurred because they believed that people can trade freely w/o the interruption of the government. The British ended up beating the Chinese in this war. Then a second war occurred, and Britain won again. This then lead to many treaties being signed between the US, France, Russia, China, and Great Britain. The Chinese government ended up losing a lot of money, and the downfall of the Chinese Government would begin.

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/opium-war-1839-1842#:~:text=Chinese%20resistance&text=Although%20opium%20was%20valued%20as,the%20trade%20were%20initially%20successful.

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Opium and tea

The roots of the Opium War (or First China War) lay in a trade dispute between the British and the Chinese Qing Dynasty. By the start of the 19th century, the trade in Chinese goods such as tea, silks and porcelain was extremely lucrative for British merchants. The problem was that the Chinese would not buy British products in return. They would only sell their goods in exchange for silver, and as a result large amounts of silver were leaving Britain.

In order to stop this, the East India Company and other British merchants began to smuggle Indian opium into China illegally, for which they demanded payment in silver. This was then used to buy tea and other goods. By 1839, opium sales to China paid for the entire tea trade.

Chinese resistance

The Chinese wanted to stop the trade. Although opium was valued as a medicine that could ease pain, assist sleep and reduce stress, by 1840 there were millions of addicts in the country. Illegal opium imports were also eroding what had once been a favourable balance of trade.

Chinese efforts to end the trade were initially successful. In May 1839 they forced the British Chief Superintendent of Trade in China, Charles Elliott, to hand over the stocks of opium at Canton for destruction. This outraged the British, and was the incident that sparked conflict.

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The roots of the Opium War (or First China War) lay in a trade dispute between the British and the Chinese Qing Dynasty. By the start of the 19th century, the trade in Chinese goods such as tea, silks and porcelain was extremely lucrative for British merchants.

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Opium is a highly addictive narcotic. It was majorly produced in India, and traded in Britain. Many people in china were addicted to it. The Chinese government tried to stop getting it, but the British government persisted because it was their only source of income. The Chinese destroyed 20 shipments of opium, in a attempt to stop the epidemic. This led to the first opium war fought from 1839-1842. The British defeated the Chinese and forced them to sign the treaty of nanking. This was a unequal treaty, doing things such as opening more trade ports. The second opium war was fought from 1859-1860 after opium is legalized again by the British  and led to another unequal treaty by the British after they won.

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Gunboat Diplomacies role in the Imperialism of China - Pratham Saxena

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Gunboat Diplomacies role in the Imperialism of China - Pratham Saxena

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Gunboat diplomacy was a military tactic where a country would show its naval power and threaten war in order to threaten another country into accepting the countries policy or  treaty. This method was used by Great Britain against China during the Imperialism of the region and the Opium Wars. Britain wanted free trade with China so they can sell opium and other goods. They also wanted the resources from China like spices, silk, and jade. China was isolationist and opposed to this so the British chose to send fleets of battleships to Chinese ports and threatened war to get China to concede. This led to Imperialism because aggression like this by the British escalated into war more than once and these wars led to imperialist countries gaining free trade and territories in China.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/world/asia/opium-war-book-china-britain.html

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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The Effects of Opium on China - Nitin Malli

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The Effects of Opium on China - Nitin Malli

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https://www.britannica.com/topic/Western-colonialism/The-Open-Door-Policy

Opium was a very addictive drug that was mass produced in Great Britain. Great Britain was in need of the valuable products that were made in China such as tea, silk, spices, and other wealthy products that show value. Great Britain would run short of products such as silver to trade for these valuable products, so they started to trade opium for these products. This would cause the people to get hooked on opium, and this caused opium to be imported into China frequently in exchange for the valuable products that they have. Since many people were getting hooked onto opium, the Chinese government would ban the trade of opium, but the British did not want this because they needed this trade to continue to gain their useful products. So, they would start the first Opium War because they supported that there should be free trade of any products because some may want them, and it is unfair that they don’t get any. The British were easily able to beat the Chinese and forced China to sign a treaty to open 5 free ports for trade, and to give benefits for the British people within China. This would lead to similar treaties signed between China and the US/France/Russia. This led to China’s downfall, and would lead to more addiction, the government to be in chaos, and losing money, which would cause the powers of China to decline.

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Gunboat Diplomacy has been a common technique used by countries throughout somewhat recent history, used to intimidate people into compliance. It gets it’s name from powerful countries going out to make treaties or trade deals with other countries, with a large naval fleet, showing off the threat of war, with the imbalance in power shown by the naval fleet. This has been done more modernly, however in very different ways. One of the most important examples of gunboat diplomacy, was when the British used it against China to get in on trade. China had a lot of materials and crafts that the rest of the world wanted, however China didn’t want to trade any of it. This lead to Britain coming in with their large naval fleet, to force China into temporary trade. This allowed Britain to get the Chinese addicted to Opium, which would further leverage their opening in China.

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Spheres of Influence in the Qing Empire by Europe and Japan

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The Qing Empire and Imperialism in China

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The Qing Empire and Imperialism in China

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The Qing Dynasty/Empire was the last imperial dynasty of China founded by people from northeastern China, or Manchuria, who called themselves Manchus. Their initial rule had brought stability to China, and led to developments in arts and porcelain production. When the nineteenth century came, gunboat diplomacy from the British Empire, opium addictions, and the movement of a trade surplus to a trade deficit weakened the Qing Empire, and caused the imperial government to be seen as weak. The carving of spheres of influence by European powers led to the Boxer rebellion the Qing had initially supported but then stopped supporting due to its futility against the Europeans. As China’s previous position as a trade empire diminished, discontent led to a revolution that toppled the Qing empire in 1911.

Source: https://asia.si.edu/learn/for-educators/teaching-china-with-the-smithsonian/explore-by-dynasty/qing-dynasty/ + Textbook

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An opium is a highly addictive narcotic that China was very addicted to. Opium began in China because they used it for medicinal purposes but later around the 17th century it became used more for tobacco in order to smoke and it spread across Southeast Asia. As time passed more and more Opium was ordered by China every year. It started with 200 chests per year in 1729 and went all the way up to 70,000 chests being imported every year by 1858. By the 19th century a problem arose between China and Britain and it was that China wouldn’t buy any British products and only trade them for silver. later the British smuggled opium into China for silver in return which then paid for the tea trade. Conflict sparked between British and China when China tried to end the Opium trade due to the amount of addicts and destroyed all of it which caused the opium war. In conclusion opium caused a lot of problems for China and Britain and it led to addictions, loss of money, and war.

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Opium and tea

The roots of the Opium War (or First China War) lay in a trade dispute between the British and the Chinese Qing Dynasty. By the start of the 19th century, the trade in Chinese goods such as tea, silks and porcelain was extremely lucrative for British merchants. The problem was that the Chinese would not buy British products in return. They would only sell their goods in exchange for silver, and as a result large amounts of silver were leaving Britain.

In order to stop this, the East India Company and other British merchants began to smuggle Indian opium into China illegally, for which they demanded payment in silver. This was then used to buy tea and other goods. By 1839, opium sales to China paid for the entire tea trade.

Chinese resistance

The Chinese wanted to stop the trade. Although opium was valued as a medicine that could ease pain, assist sleep and reduce stress, by 1840 there were millions of addicts in the country. Illegal opium imports were also eroding what had once been a favourable balance of trade.

Chinese efforts to end the trade were initially successful. In May 1839 they forced the British Chief Superintendent of Trade in China, Charles Elliott, to hand over the stocks of opium at Canton for destruction. This outraged the British, and was the incident that sparked conflict.

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The roots of the Opium War (or First China War) lay in a trade dispute between the British and the Chinese Qing Dynasty. By the start of the 19th century, the trade in Chinese goods such as tea, silks and porcelain was extremely lucrative for British merchants.

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During the Imperialism of China, The Opium crisis faced by the citizens was incredibly detrimental, and damaging. The British being the ones who supplied them with this, knew exactly that if they sold it to Chinese citizens they would eventually get addicted to the substance. Which would force them to buy more. Furthermore, the usage of Opium would cause the citizens to be very lethargic, passive and oblivious to the steps the British were going to take moving forward to exploit Chinese trade and recourses. The Chinese government quickly realized this and decided to destroy 20 shipments containing opium. This event is what results in the first Opium War.  The push for Opium on Chinese citizens becomes a reoccurring theme for the British from then on, as they see how helpful it is. After the forced Treaty of Nanjing, Opium is once more legalized by agreement with Britain. This again creates numerous issues and internal problems within the government. This eventually leads to the second Opium War.