Background of the Qing Dynasty

Ø Last feudal dynasty in Chinese history.

Ø Manchus📍the northeast of China → (now Liaoning and Shenyang) and established the
Qing Dynasty
Ø broke the Great Wall and ended the Ming Dynasty

Why did the Manchus want to eliminate the Ming Dynasty?

Ø Grab the wealth of the Ming Dynasty
Ø Expand their territory
Ø Move to a warmer and humid place where is better for agriculture in order to make sure
stable food supply
The First Opium War
Background of First Opium War
Ø Industrial Revolution: United Kingdom & France → advanced industrial countries
Ø need to expand the market for the industrial goods
Ø China → target to trade

Ø Qing government: China was the Celestial Empire and is rich in products and did not
need to import goods from foreign countries → limited the foreign merchants
Ø only allowed the foreign merchants to trade in Guangzhou
Ø the UK hoped that China can open more treaty ports

The causes of First Opium War

1. Trade deficit
Ø lack of demand in China for the goods sold by the UK, such as woolen products and
cotton.
Ø the UK’s demand for China’s tea, silk and pottery continuously increased.
Ø the UK sent envoy to China to negotiate for a few times but all were unsuccessful

2. Opium destructed at Humen

Ø English merchants found that selling opium is profitable → smuggled the opium
produced in India to China to sell
Ø -ve impact: endangered people’s health and the finance of China
Ø Daoguang Emperor send Lin Zexu to Guangzhou to suppress opium
Ø Charles Elliot, the Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China refused
Ø Lin Zexu blockaded the English factories
Ø The UK was forced to hand over their opium which were mainly destructed at Humen
3. The incident of Lin Weixi
Ø Lin Weixi (Kowloon villager) being beaten to death 💀 by the English soldiers
Ø Lin Zexu demanded the English to hand over the murderer, but the English refused
Ø Lin Zexu ordered to expel the English and terminated the trading with the UK
Ø UK claimed that their people’s lives faced great threats and there was a need to protect
the United Kingdom’s interests → send soldiers to attack China → the first Opium War
officially broke (1840 AD)
Ø UK: powerful navy + strong weapons → China was defeated
Ø 1842, China was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking with UK
Treaty of Nanking
1. To cede the Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom.
2. To compensate the United Kingdom with 21,000,000 silver dollars.
3. To open treaty 5 ports: Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai, allowing the
English to live and assign consuls at the abovementioned ports.
4. Tariff of goods importing from and exporting to China to be agreed upon by both China
and the United Kingdom.
5. The United Kingdom, through subsequent treaty supplements, obtained consular
jurisdiction and the most favoured-nation clause.

Impacts of The First Opium War

Political Ø ceding the Hong Kong Island & signing of the consular jurisdiction →
harmed the completeness of China’s sovereignty such as the territory and
jurisdiction
Ø opened 5 treaty ports + tariff was agreed by both China and the UK →
this harmed the autonomy of China towards trading with foreign
countries.
Diplomatic Ø exposed China’s weakness → US and France asked the Qing government
for rights
Ø UK → the most favoured nation → the UK enjoys the benefits China gave
other countries → China’s international status drop
Economic Ø increased taxes to pay the indemnity → made the people’s live hard →
riots in the future
Ø 5 treaty ports were opened for trading → increase in the goods imported
from foreign countries + ❌ tarrif as protection → affect the industrial
and commercial sectors in China
The Second Opium War
The background of The Second Opium War

Ø After the 1st Opium War, Britain was discontented with the fact that the people in
Guangzhou blocked the British from entering the city + no significant increase in the
sales volume of their exports

∴ France, UK demanded treaty revision and asked for opening more trading ports and
further relaxing trading restrictions → Qing refused

∴ France + UK decided to raise the Second Opium War

The causes of Second Opium War

1. The incident of vessel Arrow
Ø 1856, Guangdong naval officers boarded the vessel Arrow in Guangzhou and torn down
the British Flag

2. A French missionary was killed

∴ France + UK used it as an excuse → start the Second Opium War
1858, the allied force threatened Tianjin → forced China to sign the Treaty of Tianjin
1859, military conflicts between Qing and UK & France → China was defeated
1860, China was forced to sign the Treaty of Beijing
Treaty of Tianjin
1. Further opening of 10 treaty ports.
2. Tariff had to be mutually agreed with Britain and France.
3. Indemnity of 4 million silver dollars and 2 million of silver dollars to Britain and France
respectively.
4. Foreign ships could navigate China’s rivers.
5. Foreigners could travel, trade and preach in China.
6. Foreign countries could station diplomatic legations in Beijing.
7. Opium, which renamed as foreign medicine, was allowed to trade in China.

Treaty of Beijing
1. The Treaty of Tianjin should be ratified.
2. Tianjin was opened as a treaty port.
3. China ceded Kowloon Peninsula to Britain.
4. China paid an indemnity of 8 million silver dollars to Britain and France respectively.

Impacts of The Second Opium War

political Ø Treaty of Tianjin: open more treaty ports, and China’s tariff
had to be negotiated with Britain and France
Ø Treaty of Beijing: cede Kowloon Peninsula
Ø Russia also took advantage to annex northeast of China
Ø → lost a vast amount of territory
national Ø Beijing was occupied → looted and destroyed (eg: burning
defense down of Yuanming Yuan)
Ø foreign countries could set up legations in Beijing → foreigners
could navigate China’s rivers, enabling foreign power penetrating
deeply in interior China
Ø → China’s national defense existing in name only
economic Ø increase of indemnities + foreign goods + affect the local
economy
Ø legalization of opium → rapid flow of silver out of China
Ø huge indemnities → levied heavy tax → making people’s
lives even harder
Background of the 1911 Revolution/ Xinhai Revolution (辛亥革命)
Life of the “Founding Father of Modern China” （國父）Sun Yatsen （孫逸仙或孫中山）

he studied Hawaii and Hong

Kong

1894
established the Revive China
Society （興中會）（the first
Chinese revolutionary
organization）in Hawaii the Revive China Society merged
with other revolutionary groups →
Tongmenghui (同盟會)

Tongmenghui → >10 military revolutions →

all failed

1911
the army of the Hubei Province
(湖北省) was sent to suppress
rebellions in the Sichuan
Province (四川省)

1911 Oct 10
revolution army attacked
Wuchang (武昌) → capital of
the Hubei Province most provinces responded
→ formed a military → declared independence
government → overthrow the corrupted Qing
dynasty

January 1, 1912
the Republic of China (中華民國)
was established
Sun Yatsen → President