Modern Chinese History

Modern Chinese History

The First Opium War 1839-42 was the beginning of the modern Chinese history , the concept of which has been defined by several historians Whether in China or in Western regions , scholars have taken the history of the first Opium War as the starting point in the study of modern China . From historical perspective , Opium War is an opening chapter as the first confrontation between the two cultures and two institutions The culture of China was static while that of British dynamic . But both these countries were proud of their

cultures but the war that followed was won by Britain and this was the beginning of new era in the commercial , diplomatic , cultural , and economical contacts between the two Western and Asian world

The old system of tributary-suzerain diplomatic relationship and her own system of relationship with the world was changed and there was a beginning of equal nation-to-nation relationship . Though China made efforts to oppose this trend but had to succumb to the change owing to the technological and military powers of the West . It had to open the doors for foreign imperialistic powers that led to the destruction of the Confucian in China . Initially China reacted violently towards this trend and was quite aware about the opium issues-the biggest factor that had led to the change , which China witnessed . Over and above the Nanking Treaty , that China signed was the beginning of many treaties unfortunately not in favor of China

Though , efforts were made to conserve the age-old traditions but China was never the same . The

unity of Chinese and Western history brought an end to the Chinese seclusion and beginning of

its involvement in the worldly affairs

As said by Immaneul Chung Yueh-Hsu , the interplay of foreign and domestic elements gave rise to revolutionary changes in the Chinese political system , economic situations , social structure , and intellectual attitudes ' 2 Change therefore became a new feature in the social , political and economic life of the people Chinese . Westerners and Manchus created a sense of mixed racial and national consciousness among the people of Chinese and so different this period was from the previous period that it could be treated as a separate entreaty for historical investigations .3

The Opium war was the result of the resistance on the part of the Qing Government to prohibit opium trade in 1839 . In the eighteenth century there was a good market for tea in Europe and America and subsequently the demand of the Chinese silk too increased but it was pre industrial stage in China and was not prepared to accept anything offered by Westerners and as a consequence Britain had to follow imbalance of trade . To remedy this situation , foreigners developed third party trade whereby they would exchange their merchandise in India and thus Britain adopted a third party trade for exchanging merchandise in India and South East Asia for raw materials and semi-processed goods , which could find ready market in Guangzhou . By the beginning of the nineteenth...