First Opium War

First Opium War
Part of the Opium Wars
The HEIC Nemesis destroying Chinese war junks during the Second Battle of Chuenpee, 7 January 1841
Date 18 March 1839 – 29 August 1842[1] Location China Result British victory; Treaty of Nanking Territorial changes Hong Kong Island ceded to the United Kingdom
Belligerents
United Kingdom East India Company	Qing Dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Charles Elliot, George Elliot, James Bremer, Hugh Gough, Henry Pottinger, William Parker	Daoguang Emperor, Lin Zexu, Qishan, Kuan T'ien-p'ei (KIA), Yishan, Yijing
Strength
19,000 troops[nb 1]	Unknown total
Casualties and losses
69 killed, 451 wounded	18,000–20,000 casualties
Casualties source:[2]

View of the European Factories in Canton

Opium ships in Lintin, 1824

The First Anglo-Chinese War (1839–42), known popularly as the First Opium War,^{[nb 2]} was fought between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Qing Dynasty of China, with the aim of securing economic benefits from trade in China.^[3] In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking—the first of what the Chinese called the unequal treaties—granted an indemnity to Britain, the opening of five treaty ports, and the cession of Hong Kong Island, ending the monopoly of trading in the Canton System. The war marked the end of China's isolation and the beginning of modern Chinese history.^[4][5]

Background

During the 19th century, trading in goods from China was extremely lucrative for Europeans and Chinese merchants alike. Due to the Qing Dynasty's trade restrictions, whereby maritime trade was only allowed to take place in Canton (Guangzhou) conducted by imperially sanctioned monopolies, it became uneconomical to trade in low-value manufactured consumer products that the average Chinese could buy from the British like the Indians did.

Instead, the Sino-British trade became dominated by high-value luxury items such as tea (from China to Britain) and silver (from Britain to China), to the extent that European specie metals became widely used in China. Britain had been on the gold standard since the 18th century, so it had to purchase silver from continental Europe and Mexico to supply the Chinese appetite for silver, which was a costly process at a time before demonetisation of silver by Germany in the 1870s. In casting about for other possible commodities to reverse the flow of silver out of the country and into China, the British decided on opium. Opium as a medicinal ingredient was documented in texts as early as the Ming dynasty but its recreational use was limited and there were laws in place against its abuse. It was with the mass quantities introduced by the British motivated by the equalisation of trade that the drug became prevalent. British sales of opium in large amounts began in 1781 and between 1821 and 1837 sales increased fivefold. The drug was produced in traditionally cotton-growing regions of India under British government monopoly (Bengal) and in the Princely states (Malwa) and was sold on the condition that it be shipped by British traders to China. The Qing government had largely ignored the problem until abuse of the drug had spread widely in Chinese society.

Alarmed by the reverse in silver flow and the epidemic of addiction (an estimated 2 million Chinese were habitual users^[6]), the Qing government attempted to end the opium trade, but its efforts were complicated by corrupt local officials (including the Viceroy of Canton). In one isolated incident, in 1818, the Laurel carried word to Sydney of a US ship laden with opium and treasure which was attacked by Chinese pirates. The crew of the US vessel had all been killed, but for the escaping first mate, who later identified the pirates to the authorities. In 1839, the Qing Emperor appointed Lin Zexu as the governor of Canton with the goal of reducing and eliminating the opium trade. On his arrival, Lin Zexu banned the sale of opium, asked that all opium be surrendered to the Chinese authorities, and asked that all foreign traders sign a 'no opium trade' bond the breaking of which was punishable by death. He also forced the British hand by closing the channel to Canton, effectively holding British traders hostage in Canton. The British Chief Superintendent of Trade in China, Charles Elliot, got the British traders to agree to hand over their opium stock with the promise of eventual compensation for their loss from the British government. (This promise, and the inability of the British government to pay it without causing a political storm, was an important cause for the subsequent British offensive).^[7] Overall 20,000 chests^[8] (each holding about 55 kg^[9]) were handed over and destroyed beginning 3 June 1839.^[10] Following the collection and destruction of the opium, Lin Zexu wrote a "memorial" (摺奏)^[11] to Queen Victoria in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the trade of the drug, as it had poisoned thousands of Chinese civilians (the memorial never reached the Queen).

Kowloon incident (July 1839)

After the chest seizure in April the atmosphere grew tense and at the end of June the Chinese coast guard in Kowloon arrested the commodore of the Carnatic, a British clipper.^[12] On Sunday, 7 July 1839, a large group of British and American sailors, including crew from the Carnatic, was ashore at Kowloon, a provisioning point, and found a supply of samshu, a rice liquor, in the village of Chien-sha-tsui (Tsimshatsui). In the ensuing riot the sailors vandalised a temple and killed a man named Lin Weixi.^[12] Because China did not have a jury trial system or evidentiary process (the magistrate was the prosecutor, judge, jury and would-be executioner), the British government and community in China wanted "extraterritoriality", which meant that British subjects would only be tried by British judges. When the Qing authorities demanded the men be handed over for trial, the British refused. Six sailors were tried by the British authorities in Canton (Guangzhou), but they were immediately released after they reached England. Charles Elliot's authority was in dispute; the British government later claimed that without authority from the Qing government he had no legal right to try anyone, although according to the British Act of Parliament that gave him authority over British merchants and sailors, 'he was expressly appointed to preside over ' Court of Justice, with Criminal and Admiralty Jurisdiction, for the trial of offences committed by His Majesty's subjects in the said Dominions or on the high seas within one hundred miles of the coast of China'".^[13]

The Qing authorities also insisted that British merchants not be allowed to trade unless they signed a bond, under penalty of death, promising not to smuggle opium, agreeing to follow Chinese laws, and acknowledging Qing legal jurisdiction. Refusing to hand over any suspects or agree to the bonds, Charles Elliot ordered the British community to withdraw from Canton and prohibited trade with the Chinese. Some merchants who didn't deal in opium were willing to sign the bond, thereby weakening the British trading position.

War

British troops capture Chin-Kiang-Foo, 21 July 1842

In late October the Thomas Coutts arrived in China and sailed to Guangdong. This ship was owned by Quakers who refused to deal in opium, and its captain, Smith, believed Elliot had exceeded his legal authority by banning trade. The captain negotiated with the governor of Canton and hoped that all British ships could unload their goods at Chuenpee, an island near Humen. In order to prevent other British ships from following the Thomas Coutts, Elliot ordered a blockade of the Pearl River. Fighting began on 3 November 1839, when a second British ship, the Royal Saxon, attempted to sail to Guangdong. Then the British Royal Navy ships HMS Volage and HMS Hyacinth fired a warning shot at the Royal Saxon. The official Qing navy's report claimed that the navy attempted to protect the British merchant vessel and also reported a great victory for that day. In reality, they were out-classed by the Royal Naval vessels and many Chinese ships were sunk. Elliot reported that they were protecting their 29 ships in Chuenpee between the Qing batteries. Elliot knew that the Chinese would reject any contacts with British and there would be an attack with fire boats. Elliot ordered all ships to leave Chuenpee and head for Tung Lo Wan, 20 miles (30 km) from Macau, but the merchants liked to harbour in Hong Kong. In 1840, Elliot asked the Portuguese governor in Macau to let British ships load and unload their goods at Macau and they would pay rents and any duties. The governor refused for fear that the Qing Government would discontinue to supply food and other necessities to Macau. On 14 January 1840, the Qing Emperor asked all foreigners in China to halt material assistance to the British in China.

Lord Palmerston, the British Foreign Secretary, initiated the Opium War in order to obtain full compensation for the destroyed opium. China lost the war and was forced to open its five ports to foreign merchants and to permit a territorial concession of Hong Kong.

The war was denounced in Parliament as unjust and iniquitous by young William Ewart Gladstone, who criticised Lord Palmerston's willingness to protect an infamous contraband traffic. Outrage was expressed by the public and the press in the United States and United Kingdom as there was a perception that British interests may well have been simply supporting the drugs trade.

In retaliation, the British Government and British East India Company decided that they would attack Guangdong. The military cost would be paid by the British Government. In June 1840, an expeditionary force of 15 barracks ships, 4 steam-powered gunboats and 25 smaller boats with 4000 marines reached Guangdong from Singapore. The marines were headed by James Bremer. Bremer demanded the Qing Government compensate the British for losses suffered from interrupted trade. Following the orders of Lord Palmerston, the British expedition blockaded the Mouth of Pearl River and moved north to take Chusan.

The next year, 1841, the British captured the Bogue forts which guarded the mouth of the Pearl River — the waterway between Hong Kong and Canton. By January 1841, British forces commanded the high ground around Canton and defeated the Chinese at Ningbo and at the military post of Dinghai.

By the middle of 1842, the British had defeated the Chinese at the mouth of their other great riverine trade route, the Yangtze, and were occupying Shanghai. The war finally ended in August 1842, with the signing of China's first Unequal Treaty, the Treaty of Nanking.

Legacy

The ease with which the British forces had defeated the numerically superior Chinese armies seriously affected the Qing Dynasty's prestige. This almost certainly contributed to the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864). The success of the First Opium War allowed the British to resume the drug trafficking within China. It also paved the way for the opening of the lucrative Chinese market and Chinese society to missionary endeavors.

Among the most notable figures in the events leading up to military action in the Opium War was the man that Daoguang Emperor assigned to suppress the opium trade;^[14] Lin Zexu, known for his superlative service under the Qing Dynasty as "Lin the Clear Sky".^[15] Although he had some initial success, with the arrest of 1,700 opium dealers and the destruction of 2.6 million pounds of opium, he was made a scapegoat for the actions leading to British retaliation, and was blamed for ultimately failing to stem the tide of opium import and use in China.^[16] Nevertheless, Lin Zexu is popularly viewed as a hero of 19th century China, and his likeness has been immortalised at various locations around the world.^{[17][18][19][20]}

See also

• Second Opium War
• David Sassoon
• Anglo-Chinese relations
• William Jardine (surgeon)
• William John Napier, 9th Lord Napier
• History of China
• British military history
• Forbes family

Notes

References