By
this time, most Chinese trade with the outside world was handled
by the British through their base at Canton. While there was
a demand for many Chinese goods, the Chinese themselves had
no use for almost anything the British had for sale--except
the narcotic opium. Possibly introduced by the Dutch in the
17th century, the habit of smoking opium grew slowly in China,
but by the early 1800s, it was seen as a major problem. The
able bureaucrat, Lin Tse-hsu, convinced the weak Qing emperor,
Tao-kuang, to bring in a total ban on opium in 1838. This threatened
the whole British trade network in China. The following year,
Lin had British opium supplies in Canton confiscated. Then in
November, British warships attacked a fleet of Chinese warships
on the Pearl River. The First Opium War had started. The Manchu
army could put up little effective resistance, outclassed in
both equipment and tactics.
By August 1842, peace was signed, called the Nanking Treaty.
This was the first of the so-called "unequal treaties"
because China was forced to give away so much with little or
nothing in return. Britain forced the Manchu government to reduce
restrictions on trade and was given Hong Kong. As well as Canton,
the ports of Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo and Shanghai were opened
to British merchants. Soon, the Manchu government was forced
to sign similar treaties with the Americans and the French,
once these other powers realized how weak China had become.
The so-called Second Opium War, also known as the Arrow War,
is fought from 1856 to 1860.
This pitted China against Great Britain and France, but Manchu
forces again suffered a humiliating defeat and led to increased
European control of the Chinese economy.
The Opium Wars disrupted the old life and economy of southern
China. A number of peasant revolts occurred in the 1840s, coming
to a head in the Taiping Rebellion, the biggest rebellion in
Chinese history and one of the bloodiest wars ever fought.
The leader of the Taipings was Hung Hsiu-ch'uan, from a village
near Canton. Believing that God had chosen him to save the world,
he professed a new religion combining elements of traditional
Chinese phil osophy with Christianity. In 1852, with some 30,000
followers, the T'ai-p'ing T'ienkuo (Heavenly Kingdom of Great
Peace) was proclaimed. In 1853 the rebels took the city of Nanjing
and made it their capital. The Manchus created regional armies
manned entirely by Chinese and commanded by Chinese leader of
the traditional noble class. Against European guns and leadrership,
the Taipings were crushed by 1864. It is estimated some 20 million
people died during the revolt.
Shogun Japan had successfully avoided European invasion for
more than 200 years, but in 1854, an American expedition led
by Commodore Perry convinced the Japanese government to peacefully
open up the country to foreign trade. This proved to be the
last blow for the shogun system, and in 1867, the last shogun,
Keiti, abdicated. The emperor again becomes the real leader
of the Japanese state. First emperor of the what is called the
Meiji period is Mutsuhito, who rules to 1912.
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