Assess the Aftermath and Impact That the First Opium War Had on China

Question: Assess the aftermath and impact that the first Opium War had on China Essay: The First Opium War fought between Britain and China from 1839-1842 was a clash between two vastly different cultures, one struggling to control trade rights, and the other desperate to limit the impact of foreign trade upon the local population. The war changed the way China acted towards its foreign counterparts, exposed the weaknesses of the Chinese feudal system and forcefully opened-up China to the rest of the world. There were severe economic, social and political consequences that the war had on China. Prior to the war China had believed that the Chinese empire was the ‘Heavenly Middle Kingdom’ and superior to all other civilisations. China had very little contact with the West and foreigners were continually looked down upon. Despite strict government regulations, foreign trade with the West in China grew during the late 18th & early 19th century. The West became desperate in trying to balance their thirst of coveted Chinese goods for their own goods but China showed little interest in Western products until 1817 when Britain sold 240 tons of opium into China and when the West found a product which China did not have, opium. Opium smuggling developed rapidly and the trade literally produced a country filled with opium dens and drug addicts. Thus the government decided to do something about this problem and sent Commissioner Lin Zexu to sort things out. However it was Zexu’s actions that eventually started a war in which brought China into a humiliating defeat. The Treaty of Nanking is an official document that marks the conclusion of the First Opium war; it is also considered an unequal treaty by the Chinese. China was ordered to handover Hong Kong, open up five more ports for trade and pay 21 million ounces of silver to Britain. Britain also received fixed tariffs, the ‘most favoured nation’ status and imprisoned British nationals were not to be tried under Chinese law. This treaty caused many problems for China as no restrictions were placed on British merchants who were free trade in China, the opium trade more than doubled in the three decades. As Hong Kong was to be ceded to Britain, it gave the British a base for further military, political and economical penetrations of China. Import duties were lowered from 65% to 5%, effectively traumatizing China's home industries. The treaty also exempted British nationals and any Chinese person who had either dealt with the British, lived with them or were employed by them, from Chinese law. This provided a refuge for Chinese criminals. No sooner had the Chinese emperor made concessions to Britain, he was faced with similar demands from US, French, Belgium, Sweden, Norway and Russian governments. Greatly weakened by war he had no choice but to grant their requests. Seeing China’s weakness, the foreign powers sailed up to impose treaties similar to that of Nanking. By 1860, a massive amount of 6400 tons of opium was being annually imported into China. Western merchants mainly bought silk and tea from China and the export of tea from China increased to 42,000,000 kg in 1855 from only 7,500,000 kg in 1843. The export of silk rose to 56,000 bales in 1855 from a relatively small sum of 2000 bales in 1843. The tea and silk producing regions around the treaty ports expanded and benefited from the foreign trade and resulted in more and more farmers who abandoned the production of food stuffs to produce silk and tea. When Shanghai opened up to foreign trade, the occupation shift for the coolies and boatmen who would transport tea and silk throughout the regions in Canton were now unemployed since the majority of trade moved from Canton to Shanghai. This caused a food price hike and the unemployment rise. As Canton wasn’t the only port open for trade, the inland boatmen who transported goods to Canton from other areas before the war, lost their business. The amount of European goods and opium that flooded china severely strained the economy and provoked an economic crisis which resulted in the shortage of the Spanish silver dollar. The Spanish dollar appreciated so much that Canton abolished it and introduced the Mexican dollar. The monetary disturbances in China was enhanced by the internal monetary crises in China were the Chinese copper cash continued to devalue due to poor management and insufficient supply of copper. The monetary crises devastated the Chinese financial system and caused the loss of morale. With the rush of cheaper Western machine-made products, the home textile industry in China was almost destroyed. For many centuries, clothes were made by hand so this business was heavily impacted by foreign trade. In order to survive, this industry had to decrease the price of their products but, because the production methods remained basically untouched, the cost of production was also unchanged. Therefore the lower price came at the cost of the lower of the living standards of the textile workers. The Opium War almost entirely collapsed China's economy. However, it also forced China's economy to quickly adapt and evolve. The war rushed China's development of capitalism. Even before the war, a market economy was already developing in China's urban areas. The â€Å"invasion† of foreign capitalistic powers enhanced this change. However, the coming of outside influences did not result in the independent development of capitalism in China; rather it turned China into a semi-colonial semi-feudal state. This happened because Chinese industries were exposed too soon to the outside world, being insufficiently prepared and poorly equipped to compete in international or even domestic markets. Western capitalism greatly changed and influenced the Chinese economy as on one hand, the opening of China damaged the basis of China's self-sufficient economy, the urban handicraft and rural homestead industries. But on the other hand, it greatly enhanced the development of China's urban market economy. After China's disastrous defeat in the Opium War, the Chinese realized that they were no longer the â€Å"Heavenly Middle Kingdom†. Having lost at the hands of the â€Å"barbarians†, Chinese intellectuals recognized that in order to deal with the strangers from the West, they must understand the Westerners and the place they came from. Before the Opium War, the Chinese concept of European countries was very vague and in some cases, even ridiculous. After the Opium War, China intellectually discovered the West as Western political ideas, social structures, and in some areas, new technologies were introduced. Western ideas of parliamentary democracy and capitalism were vaguely made known and international alliances became a concept. One of the writers, Wei Yuan, first proposed that in order to fight the West, China must learn from the West. Wei's proposal received many positive responses as it was after all that China lost to the Westerner's â€Å"strong ships and sharp weapons†. So, China for the first time established something on the equivalent of a foreign ministry which was mainly occupied with the study of Western technology, modernization of the Chinese army and the open of modern factories. The first factories opened were for the military, and specialized in the production of modern weapons and ships. The running of these factories did not depend on the profit it made, nor the demands of the market so money making was not a concern. This meant that administration techniques of managing a large commercial enterprise were not yet developed. Even so, seeing that Western enterprises made a profit, the Chinese government began to establish commercial enterprises. Immediately after the Opium War, Western merchants had not yet fully entered the Chinese market. The Manchu government, although short in profits, could still find enough funds to start new industries. The private sector also was quite wealthy. With the collapse of the feudalistic economy and the stimulations by Western capitalism, it was willing to invest in modern enterprises. At the same time, Western companies absorbed some Chinese capital. It could be said that shortly after the Opium War, Chinese capitalism had a good chance to develop. The Opium War exposed the weaknesses of the Chinese feudal system. The cost of the war and later the compensation all fell onto the shoulders of the farmers and civilians. The Manchu government could no longer protect, and govern its people and as China's economy collapsed, poverty was wide spread, and insurrection sprang up all over the country. The Manchu government showed its weaknesses when it signed the Treaty of Nanjing without using all possible methods of resistance. The Opium War helped to discredit the Manchu government and encouraged popular movements. For many Chinese, the Treaty of Nanking was a signal that the Manchu dynasty was at its end – humiliated, weak and corrupt. A republican movement ran across the political landscape, stimulating nearly fifteen years of civil war. Seeing the social chaos and the weakening of the Manchu dynasty, Chinese intellectuals sought to make China strong. Unlike the government, the intellectuals believed that adapting Western technologies and industries was not enough and that China must undergo political changes as well. Chinese intellectuals began to study Western countries and at the same time, the Chinese government imported Western technologies and industries. They, like the officials, believed that the government should allow and protect the growth of capitalism and that the army must be modernized to fight Westerners on the battlefields. But most importantly, private enterprises should be formed without government interventions and companies must be created to compete in the market place. The intellectuals also proposed a parliamentary system as a new, more democratic political system. This proposal was the first attempt of private citizens to get involved in the government. The Opium war created an entire new level of crime and disorder in Southeast China. The British navy drove away the pirates along the coast and up into the Kwangtung-Kwangsi highlands. There, the pirates would periodically raid plentiful villages up the river. To add to this, former militiamen used their weapons for banditry. The Opium War had led the people of China to witness the destruction of their military and navy by the strongest military force at the time. It led to a greater understanding and appreciation for West, despite their hatred for it. This led many people to consider and try to understand Western doctrines and beliefs. Also some British missionaries, who had knowledge of China and the language, played in the embarrassment of the country to which they had come perceived with no object other than to preach Christianity. Thus for the first time instances of foreign religion was seen. The Opium War was also one of the many factors that led on the famous Taiping Rebellion. Directly after the war feuds between the Punti and Hakkas clans rose. The Hakka people were Chinese that came from the north and had immigrated to southern China. They were treated as ethnic minorities by the Punti’s who were the Cantonese natives. This led to competition between the two in farming and economy. In the 1850’s the feuds and wars between these two clans resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. The dislike towards the Hakkas eventually led them into following the Taiping Rebellion’s leader Hung Hsiu-chuan. Hung Hisu-chuan was the revolutionary leader who incorporated the Western ideals and beliefs of Christianity with classical Chinese themes. He believed himself to be the younger brother of Christ, and was sent on a mission to return Christianity to China. This belief was soon adopted by thousands of Hakkas alike, because of the loss of faith in the Ch’ing dynasty partially due to the defeat in the Opium War, it’s social and economic effects afterwards and the silver & copper crisis. The movement to change and restore China with Christianity finally resulted in the Taiping rebellion against the Ch’ing dynasty. The Taiping rebellion lasted from 1851 to 1864, causing the loss of millions of lives. The Ch’ing dynasty’s power was questionable during this time because the rebellion lasted so many years. Finally, the Ch’ing dynasty managed to organize an new army to overthrow the Taipings. This new army and organizations was aided by Western countries who wanted the Ch’ing dynasty to continue. If the Ch’ing dynasty was overthrown it would end the unequal treaties with between China and the West. The Opium War resulted in the dramatic changes in China economically, socially and politically. It no doubt opened China's doors to the outside world while changing China’s view and relationship with the Western world incredibly. The war shattered the idea that China was the ‘Heavenly Middle Kingdom’ as well as breaking China’s false sense of superiority over other nations. It resulted in a major change in the economy and the social relationship between the people of China and because of the Opium War, China was left with internal struggles and warfare, increased crime, an economy downfall in Canton and people without work or money. The Opium War led to the major influence of the Western cultures and belief in China, and the loss of power and control China had over Western nations. The unfair treaties that were created left China in weak position to the West, and opened China to Western influence which is still observed to this date. Bibliography: China, Opium Wars to Revolution by Michael Gibson. Wayland publishers, 1975 From Opium War to Liberation by Israel Epstein. New World Press, Beijing, 1956 The Chinese Opium Wars. by Jack Beeching. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975 The Inner Opium War by James Polachek M. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1992 The Opium War Through Chinese Eyes by Arthur Waley. George Allen and Unwin Ltd. , 1958 The Treaty of Nanking, signed on the 29th of August, 1842