In the early 1800s, the British were losing money because they were highly dependent upon imported tea, silk and porcelain from China, but China did not find value in anything the British offered for trade. So, for them to solve this trade imbalance, Britain imported opium, processed from poppy plants, into China. Causing the British to undermine the Chinese culture. What does “European Imperialism” mean? How did the Europeans have a negative impact on China? What was the Qing Dynasty and what happened? What did the Chinese have that the Europeans didn’t? What happened during the Opium war? What was the boxer rebellion? These questions will be answered throughout this essay.
Imperialism is the building of Empires, where in one country acquires
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many others and adds these to their Empire thereby gaining access to their armies, their exports and their finances (Wingman, 2016). “European” imperialism then refers to those European countries that tried to expand their rule to other territories, and in many well-known cases of European imperialism this was very successful. Imperialism is also defined as, by the Dictionary of Human Geography, an unequal human and territorial relationship, usually in the form of an empire, based on ideas of superiority and practices of dominance, and involving the extension of authority and control of on state or people over another. A sizable portion of Chinas population became addicted opium, foreign merchants conducted unregulated trade and controlled local economies and the lifting of former restrictions regarding foreign missionaries from spreading Christianity (Meshra, 2018).
These were some of the effects of Imperialism that China had experienced. The Qing dynasty lacked the support, military strength and political will to resist foreign influence and found its administration riddled with corrupt officials whose faithfulness favoured the European interests operating within the country. So, after China had suffered being defeated by the British and the Indian forces in the Opium wars, they were forced to approve opium. Opium was obtained from the latex of the poppy plant by scoring the seed pods by hand and allowing the latex to leak out and dry up (Klower, 2018). This provided British merchants with a profitable market for the drug, along with a bunch of other goods and products. China had to submit to something that was known as a long-term European presence within its borders and was forced to agree to what were referred to as “unequal treaties” (Meshra,2018). These treaties strongly favoured the objectives of European interests over those of the Chinese. Some of these unfair treaties that China was forced into signing included them having to open five foreign trade ports when they were ruled by the …show more content…
British. The Qing Dynasty, which was also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was a dynasty that was found by the Manchus.
It was first established in 1636 by them to designate their regime in Manchuria (Brittanica,2018), which is now the Northeast region of China. The Manchus took advantage of the opportunity to seize the capital and establish their own dynasty in China by adopting the Ming form of Government and continuing to employ Ming officials, the Manchus pacified the Chinese population. This occurred in 1644 when the Chinese capital at Beijing was captured by the rebel leader and when the officials of the Ming dynasty called on the Manchus for aid. The Qing dynasty was the last Imperial dynasty of China (Joel,2018). The military power of the Qing dynasty weakened during the 1800s and faced with international pressure from the European powers who were extending their imperial influence into China, massive rebellions and defeats in wars, including the Opium wars with Great Britain (Joel,2018). The downfall of the Qing dynasty was not something that happened overnight. It was weakened over several decades through protests from the people, major rebellions, and conflicts and wars with other nations, including major powers like Britain and France. This showed other countries that China was no longer the superpower that it once was and had now become vulnerable and weak. So, once other nations saw China as weak, China began to lose a grip on its
power.
In the Qing empire the leaders were not able to resolve the problem caused by increased population pressure and concentration of land ownership. The Qing Dynasty was the last imperial dynasty in China. The dynasty was founded by the non-chinese people of the Manchus who originally lived in the northeast which was later called Manchuria. The Manchus used the disintegration of the central government of the Ming Empire that
At the end of the eighteenth century, China’s goods were much desired by Britain. However, the Chinese saw Europeans as savages and did not want to trade with them. During trade, there was an imbalance in China’s favor, because the Europeans were forced to buy Chinese goods using silver. The Western Imperialists began to grow opium poppies from in India, and then smuggle them into China. China soon became addicted to the drug and spent most of it’s money on the purchase of it from the Europeans and Americans. This shifted the balance of power to be in Europe’s favor.
Immigration, the act of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. Throughout the United States’ history, immigrants faced various challenges and especially after 1880. Most immigrants moved to achieve the American dream of having a better life and pursuing their dreams. But, this experience as they moved, was different for every immigrant. Some lives improved while others did not. Immigrants such as Catholics, Italians, and the Chinese were not welcomed into America in the late 19th century and early 20th century because of their differences in beliefs and cultures.
Although the First Opium War proves that this letter was unsuccessful, this letter has significance because unlike most countries and disputes, the Chinese did whatever they could to ensure that this matter had a peaceful resolution. This letter shows that the Chinese practice of Confucianism has helped them evolve as an already self sufficient country into a favored and sanctioned country for their reasonable ways.
The Chinese empire had once been one of the greatest and most powerful empires in the world. Before the 19th century, China had a large population and was ruled by families or dynasties. It was considered technologically advanced as China had a history of many miraculous inventions, such as: writing, magnetic compasses, movable sails, porcelain, abacus and paper money. Although China was isolated from the rest of the world, it coped well on its own, and saw no need to begin trading with the west, (as Lord McCartney proposed in 1793), since it was a self-sufficient nation. At that particular time, the Chinese empire was still able to exclude the ‘barbarians’, thus forcing them to only trade at one port. However, China soon took a turn for the worst as important ...
British Imperialism in China and Africa The treatment of the Chinese by the British, during the takeover of their country, was just like that of the Africans. The British took over the land and the government, took advantage of the people and exploited them for their resources. The English accomplished these things differently in each situation, but each time, the results were the same. One of the most important aspects of imperialism is the takeover of government.
China was once the center of the world. Any other country in the world could not match China’s political prowess and economic strength. However, as time progressed China stagnated while other powers, especially those in Europe, were going through their industrial revolution were growing more powerful and were eager to break into the Chinese market. Great Britain was one European power that was eager to break into the Chinese market since China was one of the few if not only country that had a trade surplus with Great Britain. Great Britain then decided to sell non-textile products to China and started selling them opium. China was not pleased that their people were being exposed to addictive drugs that rendered their working class unable
The Indian Mutiny (1857-1858) and Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) were a result of Britain’s desire for a global empire. This desire is called globalization and is defined by John Darwin in his work as, “The growth of global connectedness.” With the help of new technologies and appealing goods, Britain was successful in connecting their world to the Asian world during the 19th Century. For a long time, the British wanted to move deeper into the India and China to improve their global influence. Merchants disliked restraints on trade, missionaries wanted to convert more people to Christianity, and sailors demanded more ports for docking. Once India and China were influenced by the British Empire, they reacted to the globalization in two specifically different ways that also had many similarities. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the Indian Mutiny and Chinese Taiping Rebellion as indigenous reactions to globalization in the following areas: British influence, religion and education, economics and socio-politics. Both the Taiping rebellion and the Indian Mutiny were reactions against globalization in the form of British imperialism, but the Taiping rebellion took its inspiration from Western ideas and attacked Chinese traditions, while the Indian Mutiny was an assault on British invasion and an attempt to preserve their traditional culture.
In the 17th century, China implemented the Canton system. At first, foreigners were allowed to trade both in Canton (otherwise known as Guangzhou) and other ports. This was under the condition that the would have a security merchant to vouch for their behavior (Wills 2006). However, when the English decided to trade in Ningbo to get around having to have a security merchant, the Chinese government closed all ports except for Canton and implemented what is now known as the Cohong system, the system most closely associated with the Canton system (Wills 2006). This system maintained that trade could only be done with those merchants licensed by the government. Therefore, in this period, the Cohong had a monopoly over foreign trade. Although foreigners wanted China to open its ports, the truth was that China really didn't need foreign trade. As quoted by Michael Greenburg in British Trade and the Opening of China, “Had the entire foreign trade of China suddenly ceased in 1877, the economic life of the country would have been affected but very little.” This was due to China's self sufficient economy based on agriculture. The British found this lack of concern for international trade vexing, and according to Greenburg, “[attributed] the obnoxious restrictive ...
Therefore, imperialism affected 18th and 19th century East Asia by the system’s inherent exploitation of the country’s resources and worldly ignorance but also managed to give rise to a stronger Modern East Asia. The imperial realms of East Asia before the 19th century were largely based on the theory that Asian countries were far better than their neighbors in the West. The nonchalant manner portrayed by East Asian countries towards western technology and culture led China to become unknowledgeable of the Western empires. As a result, China was astonishingly impacted by imperialism from Great Britain during the 1800’s. During the 18th century, Great Britain had set up trade off the coast of the Chinese borders to trade British silver for China’s soft silks, fine porcelain, and strong teas.
Then in the 1800's , Europe thrust its way into the heart of the Middle
The geography of China was something like a fence. This isolation made the people of China feel like their country was prestigious and secluded from the rest of the world. With deserts and the Himalayas running along most of the border, it was extremely difficult to cross over one of the most dangerous mountain ranges in the world and a few other scorching deserts with the little transport they had during that time. The only way merchants could come into the country was the southeastern coast of China where most of the prosper cities resided. What led China to become conceited was because they had an abundant of goods that most of the world wanted. In 1760-1830s, China was famous for its porcelain (rich Europeans loved it), silk, and of course, tea. Since this Eastern Powerhouse’s goods were so popular, therefore, there were only a few things that interested them to trade with. It seemed as if tea was a drug for the Europeans because for them it was just so addicting, to the point they would do anything just to get more and more. The only things that were worthy for trading with the Chinese were gingko (type of plant), shark fin, a soft type of wood (used for incense) and silver. As the demand for tea rose, Britain gradually ran out of silver to trade with, and was desperate to find what China wanted. Then, the British resorted to trading opium. China was very picky of their opium. There was a certain kind of make they wanted, it was a compact ball wr...
Ancient China was one of the earliest places of human civilization. The country’s history could be described as a series of dynasties each ruled by emperors. The Han dynasty set the pattern for Chinese history by causing growth in the economy and the promotion of Confucianism as the state philosophy. The Qing dynasty was ruled by Empress Wu, but a rebellion during this dynasty ended the dynasty reign. This led to China in the 20th century which includes the Treaty of Versailles, the People’s Republic of China, and, most importantly, Communism. Sun Yat-Sen, who created the Republic of China in 1912, entered alliance with the new Comm...
Many societies who viewed Western culture as parasitic were forced to adapt to Western culture for survival. For China, the Americans made the Chinese dependant on them for supplying Opium. When the Chinese fought against the sale of Opium, the America's superior military defeated them and forced them into an unfair treaty. This created a Western presence in China, pushing Western laws, values, religion, and language on the Chinese.
To the normal Chinese man during the early 19th century, opium was nothing more than a luxury that only those of higher power or influence could indulge themselves in. Yet by the middle of the 19th century opium had become a commodity that everyone could have and that at the same time they seemed to need. Even though it was now such a big part of the normal chinese culture, it did not benefit the people nor Chinese culture, it did not benefit the people or the government. The only benefit it did seem to have was towards the British. The British were flourishing from the new Chinese market for opium, where the Chinese were beginning to turn into addicts of a drug that was slowly poisoning their way of life. The people no longer were concerned about their advancement and safety of their family but about how and when they would be able to get more opium. The Chinese government was not pleased about this and decided to take a stand that would, in the long run, only damage the very people they were trying to protect. This stand came to be known as the First Opium War (1839-1842). By the end of the First Opium War China had begun to lose its sense of identity through the use of treaties and encroachment of foreign countries, starting with the British and their Treaty of Nanking.