Presented by Daniel Lu and Ian Huang
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Our Thesis:
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An Overview of this Project
Drugs, a Man, and Two Wars that Changed China
THE MAN
Lin Zexu was a Chinese official who was employed by the emperor in the 1830s to quell the rise of illegal opium imports from Britain. His role in British–Chinese relations acted as a catalyst for the Opium Wars – which eventually led to the Self-Strengthening Movement of 1861-1895.
(Hayford 1-2)
THE WARS
The Opium Wars were a set of wars fought between China and Britain over the opium trade in China and other conflicts that resulted in British-Chinese Tensions. They were an important moment in Chinese History, having major impacts on Chinese Culture.
(Purdue 1)
THE DRUGS
Opium:
As the British trade empire continued to expand, they began to see China as a great target that would provide them with easy profits, trading cheap drugs(opium) from India for silks, spices, and tea. As more opium went into China, people like soldiers, the common folk, and even government officials began to become addicted and therefore being unable to work or fight. The drug, highly addictive and used by a significant part of the population, was threatening to undermine Chinese society. This was the starting point of the Opium Wars and future Western-Chinese Cultures.
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Opium- "A highly addictive drug that consists of the dried milky juice from the seed capsules of the opium poppy obtained from incisions made in the unripe capsules of the plant, that has a brownish yellow color, a faint smell, and a bitter and acrid taste, that is a stimulant narcotic usually producing a feeling of well-being, hallucinations, and drowsiness terminating in coma or death if the dose is excessive, that was formerly used in medicine to soothe pain but is now often replaced by derivative alkaloids (as morphine or codeine) or synthetic substitutes, and that is smoked illicitly as an intoxicant with harmful effects"(Merriam-Webster) |
First, We'll Be Exploring Lin ZeXu's Early Life. |