China Loses Opium Wars
The Treaty of Nanjing is China's Downfall
By Pat Robinson
July 8, 1842
Along with the word treaty usually come agreement. In China's case it is disagreement. After four years of battling over
the shipment of opium into our country, the fighting has stopped as the two parties agreed to end the war. Although
they agreed to end the war, our government did not get a say in what the treaty mandates. The Treaty of Nanjing states
that the island of Hong Kong is to be ceded to Britain and five ports, which include Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo,
and Shanghai, are to be opened for trade and aliens settlement. Chinese courts in these trading areas were not allowed
and foreign traders followed the law of their own country. Finally, our country is now to be taxed to repay the British
for their war efforts in China. Nothing about opium is mentioned in the treaty (1).
Those inferior barbarians, the western traders, started this entire problem. In an attempt to keep the strangers out of our
civilized land, our government forced all trading to go through the Island of Canton. The British love our tea, silk, and
porcelain. We traded these items to the British in return for cotton. Cotton is a miserable commodity next to silk. The
Chinese traders told the British we did not want their low-grade material. They offered us silver, which we gladly
accepted. Only after awhile did those barbarians realize that money does not grow and there is not an unlimited supply.
They kept losing money out of this situation. They then offered the traders opium. Those greedy British traders would
do whatever it takes to get their hands on our precious items. Opium has been outlawed in China since 1729. The
imperial decree stated that if used carelessly, it could kill like a knife (2) The British brought in a very deadly drug and
knew it would kill people just to get our materials and make a profit. This trade was very lucrative, which is why
people still tdeal the drug although there are very strict punishments for involvement with opium (3).
In 1838, our government took a stand, which led to the war over opium. Opium was usually smoked and caused the
user to be in a state of oblivion for hours. Opium was so addictive that if one tried to quit, they would suffer from
terrible syptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, and excruciating pain in the head or limbs,. Some even died. Our government
had to do something to stop this drug. Emperor Daoguang sent his best man, Commissioner Lin to stop the Opium trade
permanently. Smugglers were punished, some were executed, and opium dens were raided. Lin gave the British two
choices, they could leave with their opium, or they could hand over their opium to the government to be destroyed. The
British barbarians said no. They took profit over lives of the Chinese. The last option for Lin was to beg (4).
He wrote a letter to Queen Victoria (SEE BELOW) begging her to stop her traders from trading opium. Lin said,
"Such persons who only care to profit themselves, and disregard their harm to others, are not tolerated by the laws of
heaven." He also says, "The fact is that the wicked barbarians beguile the Chinese people into a death trap. How then
can we grant life only to these barbarians?" (5) Lin's strong words had no affect on the Queen. This situation had no
solution but war. The British did not want to give up the opium so they started a series of naval attacks on our coastline.
Our out of date army was no match for their modern navy and army. We were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing
before more harm was done.
Those were the facts. These are the effects on you, the people of China. You, the people of China, are now subject to
taxes to pay the British barbarians for the harm they have done to us. Local rice patty farmer Zexu Dewong says, "We
are merely trying to defend ourselves from this deadly drug, and those greedy British people are making me pay for it. I
am outraged." The effects of this war are to be felt for a long time. With new ports opening, more interaction with these
barbarians will take place. Some will most likely settle and bring their western ideas into our country. More opium will
leak into our country. It is obvious that more people will become addicted and die because of this drug (6). We will lose
our ability to trade with other countries because the British will control our trade. If we want to trade with the Spice
Islands, they will have to go through England first. Overall, we have lost our seclusion. Westerners are here to stay, and
all of our lives will be changed from this day forward.
Sources
1. Loren Fessler, and the editors of Life Life World Library - China, (New York: Time Inc, 1963), 93-94.
2. Ibid., 92-93.
3. Ibid., 93.
4. Eileen H. Tamura, Linda K. Menton, Noren W. Lush, Francis K.C. Tsui, and Warren Conen, China - Understanding Its Past (Hawai'i: University of
Hawai'i Press, 1998), 97-98.
5. Ibid., 99.
6. "Chin'ing China/ The Opium Wars." [http://www.wsu.edu:8080/-dee/CHING/OPIUM.HTM]
Lin Zexu (LinTse-hsu) writing to Britain's Queen Victoria to Protest the Opium Trade, 1839
This selection is from Wallbank, et al, Civilizations Past And Present, 1992. Most scholars do not believe that the letter
ever reached the Queen.
[Wallbank introduction] Lin Tse-hsu saw that the opium trade, which gave Europe such huge profits, undermined his
country. He asked Queen Victoria to put a stop to the trade.
"After a long period of commercial intercourse, there appear among the crowd of barbarians both good persons and
bad, unevenly. Consequently there are those who smuggle opium to seduce the Chinese people and so cause the spread
of the poison to all provinces. Such persons who only care to profit themselves, and disregard their harm to others, are
not tolerated by the laws of heaven and are unanimously hated by human beings. His Majesty the Emperor, upon
hearing of this, is in a towering rage. He has especially sent me, his commissioner, to come to Kwangtung, and together
with the governor-general and governor jointly to investigate and settle this matter.
"All those people in China who sell opium or smoke opium should receive the death penalty. If we trace the crime of
those barbarians who through the years have been selling opium, then the deep harm they have wrought and the great
profit they have usurped should fundamentally justify their execution according to law. We take into consideration,
however, the fact that the various barbarians have still known how to repent their crimes and return to their allegiance
to us by taking the 20,183 chests of opium from their storeships and petitioning us, through their consular officer
[superintendent of trade], Elliot, to receive it. It has been entirely destroyed and this has been faithfully reported to the
Throne in several memorials by this commissioner and his colleagues.
"Fortunately we have received a specially extended favor from is Majesty the Emperor, who considers that for those
who voluntarily surrender there are still some circumstances to palliate their crime, and so for the time being he has
magnanimously excused them from punishment. But as for those who again violate the opium prohibition, it is difficult
for the law to pardon them repeatedly. Having established new regulations, we presume that the ruler of your honorable
country, who takes delight in our culture and whose disposition is inclined towards us, must be able to instruct the
various barbarians to observe the law with care. It is only necessary to explain to them the advantages and
disadvantages and then they will know that the legal code of the Celestial Court must be absolutely obeyed with awe.
"We find that your country is sixty or seventy thousand li [three li equal one mile] from China. Yet there are barbarian
ships that strive to come here for trade for the purpose of making a great profit. The wealth of China is used to profit
the barbarians. That is to say, the great profit made by barbarians is all taken from the rightful share of China. By what
right do they then in return use the poisonous drug to injure the Chinese people? Even though the barbarians may not
necessarily intend to do us harm, yet in coveting profit to an extreme, they have no regard for injuring others. Let us
ask, where is your conscience? I have heard that the smoking of opium is very strictly forbidden by your country; that
is because the harm caused by opium is clearly understood. Since it is not permitted to do harm to your own country,
then even less should you let it be passed on to the harm of other countries - how much less to China!"