Imperialism in 19th-c. China

HI 168: Lecture 2Dr. Howard Chiang

Partitioning of China- Queen Victoria

- William II (Germany)- Nicholas II (Russia)- French Marianne

- Meiji Emperor

The Grand Canal

The Opium Problem

• Opium had been used since the Tang• Renders its users inert and dormant• Most serious implications: affected

the military and government offices• 1800-1813: opium importation

became opium smuggling• 4-5,000 in 1820 to 40,000 in 1839• EIC abolished in 1834• Destablized China’s bimetallic

economic system; taxes skyrocketed

Lin Zexu(1785-1850)

The 1st Opium War

• Two Stages (1839-1842):1. June 1840 – Jan 1841: Qishan (琦善 ) succeeded Lin Zexu; Convention of Chuenpi on January 20, 18412. Sir Henry Pottinger’s Yangtze campaign (May 7 to Aug 20, 1842): Qiying (耆英 ) signed the Treaty of Nanking on August 29, 1842 – indemnity of $21 million; 5 ports; cession of HK; abolition of Cohong

Qiying(1787-1858)

Unequal Treaty System

• Approved the permanent residence of foreign consuls and their families

• Foreign concessions – preferential tax treatments

• Extraterritoriality• Imperial Maritime Customs –

established in Shanghai in 1853• Periodization: 1840s-1850s; 1860s-

1890s; 1890s-1920s; 1920s-1950s

The 2nd Opium War

• Also known as the Arrow War• Treaty of Tianjin (1858) and

Convention of Beijing (1860): 10 more treaty ports; freedom of movement for missionaries; treaty powers establish embassies in Beijing

• Main Outcomes:- opium trade expansion; new military technologies; translation projects; European notion of soverignty

Prince Gong(1833-1898)

Cultural Imperialism

• As opposed to ‘hard’ imperialism• Christianity could be openly taught

and practiced after the 2nd Opium War

• But Christianity was very unpopular• Anti-Catholic rioting in Tianjin in 1870• Boxer Uprising circa 1900• ‘knowledge production’ – Sir Thomas

F. Wade: Wade-Giles Chinese transliteration system