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Y317: China and Its Rulers 1839–1989

Depth study: The First Opium War and its impact — China and the Western powers by 1839

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 3

Overview

Recall questions on China and the Western powers by 1839, long and short-term causes of the First Opium War, the influence of Commissioner Lin and the British reaction.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Who and when

How did the Qing court regard Western states before 1839?

Numbers

How did the British respond to Lin's actions?

Key term

What was the outcome of the Macartney mission of 1793?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did the Qing court regard Western states before 1839?

    Model answer

    As tributary barbarians rather than equals, permitted to trade at Canton by imperial favour through the Cohong, with no resident diplomats and no relations between sovereign states.

  2. 2

    What was the outcome of the Macartney mission of 1793?

    Model answer

    Britain's request for wider trade and a resident ambassador was refused by the Qianlong Emperor, who replied that China had no need of foreign manufactures.

  3. 3

    Why was Britain so anxious to sell opium in China?

    Model answer

    British demand for tea, silk and porcelain drained silver eastwards, and opium grown in British India was the one commodity that reversed the flow and balanced the trade.

  4. 4

    How serious had the opium problem become by the 1830s?

    Model answer

    Imports had risen to tens of thousands of chests a year, addiction had spread among officials, soldiers and merchants, and the outflow of silver raised the real tax burden on peasants.

  5. 5

    Why did the ending of the East India Company's monopoly in 1834 raise tensions?

    Model answer

    Private British traders flooded into Canton and the Crown sent a superintendent, Lord Napier, whom the Chinese authorities refused to deal with directly, exposing the clash between two systems of diplomacy.

  6. 6

    What was Commissioner Lin sent to Canton to do?

    Model answer

    The Daoguang Emperor appointed Lin Zexu imperial commissioner at the end of 1838 with orders to suppress the opium traffic completely.

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