Anglo Chinese Opium War Essay

The First Anglo-Chinese War as an Opium War

The Chinese customarily calls the Anglo-Chinese War 1839-1842 the Opium War because from their point of view, the opium trade was the main cause of the war. From the British standpoint, the motive for the war was not opium prohibition but rather the repeated insults and humiliation; the British had received from the Chinese government. They claimed that the conflict between China and Britain had been brewing for many decades. Even without opium, it would still have been erupted as a result of their differing conceptions of international relations, trade and jurisdiction. According to their view, the opium prohibition was merely its precipitating, immediate

However, the difficulties could not be overcome unless the opium traffic stopped. Furthermore, the poor Chinese people created disorder – the political instability threatened the rule of the Manchus. Taking economic as well as moral consideration the Manchu Emperor prohibited the sale and smoking of opium. Later, when Emperor Tao-Kuang convinced by the deleterious effect of opium on the morality and health of the people and caused such a drain of silver from China. He accepted Lin Tze Hsu’s suggestion. And because of the radical programs launched by Lin, the Sino-British relationship further strained.

For the British, they took over the lead in opium importation from the Portuguese. Opium trade was so lucrative and profitable that through it, the Indian economy was financed. The East India Company established a monopoly of opium cultivation in India by 1733. From then onwards, 1/7 of the total revenue of India came from opium trade, the British need not to spend revenue upon the administration of India. And as opium cultivation was so profitable, this led to the rise in land value and employment for thousands of Indian. Furthermore,

The British became more and more discontent as time went on. They were discontented with the fact that trade was restricted to only one port in Canton, which was far away from the producing areas. So additional cost had t be added to transport and the great number of intermediary personnel concerned with the trade. Besides, the trade was limited only to the Co-hong merchants who alone had the right to deal with and trade with the foreigners.

Besides, the Canton System also imposed humiliating restrictions on personal freedom, as the Canton System was an outgrowth of the tributary mentality of China, the Canton authority governed aliens under the notion that trade was a privilege and not a right of foreigners. Imperial favor was contingent with good behavior and so violation of these rules would end up in the stoppage of trade. Foreign merchants could only station in the 13 factories in Canton during the trading season and immediately afterwards, they had to depart for Macao or go home. From Macao, they had to come accompanied by linguists and compradors and pilots who were Chinese. All the