L8 & L9: Imperialism in China

AgendaObjective:To understand…1. The history of

European intervention in China.

2. The troubled relationship between Britain and China.

3. How China attempted to resist European intervention.

Schedule: 1. Opening activity2. Lecture, Group Work,

and Discussion

Homework:1. Consult Unit Schedule

for Background Reading on Japan.

1. Reading on Chinese Resistance to Imperialism: Due Lesson 9 (Tues 12/4)A. Be able to describe: Taiping Rebellion, the Self-Strengthening Movement, and the Boxer RebellionB. Note any themes/trends.

3. Prewriting Check-in Due: Friday 12/7

China under the Manchu (Qing) Dynasty

• China was ruled by the Manchu (Qing) Dynasty since 1644

• What do you remember about China under the Manchu (Qing) Dynasty?

Early Trade Between China and Britain

• China was largely isolationist• Looked down on Europe and didn’t want to

interact with them• Chinese restricted European trade to a single port city: Canton• British hoped to trade manufactured goods for tea, porcelain, and silk

from China• However, the Chinese were not interested in

European goods. They only wanted silver or gold

Chinese Emperor Qianlong’s Letter to England’s King George III (1792)

• In 1792 the King of England sent an envoy to China to convince the Chinese Emperor to open up northern port cities to British trade• In response, the Emperor wrote this letter to the King• Task

– Read the letter– In your small group answer the questions based on your reading.– Whole class discussion

The British Have a Problem…

• They want to trade with China, but China doesn’t want to trade with them

• If you were a British merchant, what might you do about this? How can you get the Chinese to trade with you?– Talk with your group and brainstorm

possible ways you could get the Chinese to trade with you…

Britain’s Solution: Sell the Chinese Opium!

• Opium– Highly addictive drug

derived from the poppy plant

• British grew opium in colonial India

• Use and sale of opium was illegal in China (and in Britain!)

The Opium Trade• British began to forge

links with Chinese opium dealers

• Started to illegally trade opium for Chinese goods

• By 1820, 80% of all people living in Canton were addicted to opium

• Britain essentially was a huge international drug dealer

The Opium Trade Discussion

• What is your reaction to British actions?• We see the British encounter a similar

problem in China to that which they have encountered in Africa and India: How do we get the goods/resources we want from this region? How did they deal with this problems in (1) Africa, (2) India?

• Why did they choose the particular methods that they did in (1) Africa, (2) India, (3) China?

The Opium Trade: Discussion

• How is the opium trade a form of control? What is being controlled?

• Is this an act of chemical warfare?• Is this an act of cultural warfare? • Is this an act of economic warfare?• Is it terrorism more so than warfare?

Letter from Lin Zexu to Queen Victoria (1839)

• Alarmed by the epidemic of addiction, the Chinese government attempted to end the opium trade

• Lin Zexu (ambassador for the Chinese government) wrote a letter to Queen Victoria, the Queen of England demanding an end to the opium trade

• It is unknown whether the letter ever reached the Queen

• Task– Read the letter– In your small group, answer the questions based

on your reading– Whole class discussion

The Opium Wars• Chinese government ordered British merchants to

surrender all opium cargo to government officials• Britain agreed, but rather than hand it over directly

to the Chinese government, the merchants gave their opium to British naval officers in Canton harbor– This made the opium the property of the British government

• When Chinese officials seized it and drowned 20,000 chests of opium, Britain said they had committed an act of war

The Opium Wars• War between Britain

and China 1839-1842– British called it the

“Trade War”– Chinese called it the

“Opium War”• Chinese were no

match for the British navy and were defeated, despite much fighting

Treaty of Nanjing (or Nanking)• Treaty which ended the First Opium War• Fundamental purpose of the treaty was

to change the trade relationship between China and England

• Task– Read the letter– In your group answer the questions based on the reading– Whole class discussion

China: Now What?

• Following the Treaty of Nanjing, what problems is China facing?

• If you were a Chinese government official, what would you advise China to do?

• In short, how can China resist imperialism?

Resistance

• Last night you read about three acts of resistance by the Chinese people and/or government: The Taiping Rebellion, the Self-Strengthening Movement, and the Boxer Rebellion.

• Today we will discuss these actions and their efficacy and what they mean for imperialism more broadly.