CONFLICT WITH BRITISH OPIUM TRADERS In the 1830's to the 1840's, China was nearly in a state of societal dysfunction, as opium had penetrated through nearly all layers of Chinese society. The poor used it, causing farms to be abandoned; the wealthy used it also, threatening powerful families' economic state because of opium's expenses. In a higher economical level, opium had caused a major disbalance between silver and copper currencies, undermining the Chinese economy. In this kind of society, Lin started creating many strict governmental policies banning opium trade. These laws were effective at first, and British traders had reluctantly accepted these laws. Yet not before long, opium smuggling and the selling of opium in the black market rose, and thus creating a problem once again. The emperor at the time, having seen and being impressed by Lin's effectiveness in government, decided to raise Lin to the
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position of imperial commissioner on the eradication of opium trade. He was sent to Canton, where the opium trade was mostly conducted. He took his first steps telling the traders that trading opium was punishable by death, and collecting 1036 chests full of opium. Yet even this was not enough to stop the trade. (Zanella 1)
INSPIRING PATRIOTISM
"Of all countries China alone has for these fifty years proved herself almost irreclaimably stupid and not awake. Many of the officials and people are proud and indolent. They contentedly rest in the belief that the old order of things will suffice for those dangerous times, and in the end become the easy prey of outsiders. . . " |
Lin's inspiration for Chinese Patriotism came in two parts: once in his lifetime, once in modern China. His influence in modern China is talked about in the tab Influence: Chinese Development. His main influence was on Spurring Patriotism was the instigation of the Chinese Self-Strengthening Movement. As described by Chang Chih-tung, in China’s Only Hope: An Appeal, China's weakness was that it failed to realize its faults in that it could not progress forward. His observations of how western powers came to be was because they were "surrounded by strong neighbors,
they were always in circumstances of desperate competition, stripped for a fight and ever
striving to escape destruction"(Chih-tung 3). China, in its peaceful state, was unwilling to move forward, leading to the situation Lin found himself in, where the Chinese could not defend themselves against Western Influences. By the 18th century, the Self-Strengthening movement took hold, and though it was a relatively weak movement, it set China on the path to modernization.
(Synder Antony West 1) |
THE DESTRUCTION OF OPIUM AT HUMEN: A CLIMAX
How much smoke could burning 21,306 chests of opium make? Well. Lin Zexu found out about this during his famous opium-destruction campaign at Humen. As tensions continued to increase on both the Chinese and British sides, Lin had decided that one final act of mass destruction would tell the British that they were not welcome to sell opium in China. As a result, nearly all the opium in Canton was taken to Humen, destroyed, and the British traders humiliated, punished, and taken in as criminals. The event marked a turning point in events leading up to the Opium Wars; the British, feeling that they had their free trade rights violated, economy in danger, and unknowing of the horrible situation opium trade/addiction had caused in China, began to turn towards war to resolve this problem.
(JianXiong 1)
(JianXiong 1)