Tea, Canton & the Road to the First Opium War

When the Dutch first brought a small amount of Chinese black tea into Europe in 1640, it was 150 years before the trade peaked in Britain, averaging 26 million pounds of tea annually with an import duty tax of 100%. The wealth established by the East India Trading company under Major-General Robert Clive, was dependent on participation with the Qing. A disaster ensued hence after the Macartney Mission to China failed to attain a free trade agreement in 1793, and following the Amherst Mission in 1816 the British representatives to the Monarch of England succeeded to greatly offend the Chinese. The wanton demand for silk, porcelain, and tea from China throughout the Indian-British-Chinese trade-exchange would be the cause for war between East and West, thereafter manifest over the legalization of Opium. Where the Chinese tributary system was in authority respected under the divinity of rulers, and the honor based system of exchange maintained a cultural prerogative, the division over oriental east and west was beset in Canton's bed of nails. With evidence of China's stockpiling of currency at the time and charges of counterfeit currency production en mass, the single Canton trading port system executed by the Cohong remains a contentious topic and distinct moral wedge between western market-liberalism and mercantilism.

The power struggle continued, fueled by the pursuit of liberalization, when John Bowring was appointed British consul at Canton (today's Guangzhou). Bowring had an impressive array of credentials: honorary diplomas from universities in Holland and Italy, fellowships of the Linnaean Society of London and Paris, the Historical Institute of the Scandinavian and Icelandic Societies, the Royal Institute of the Netherlands, the Royal Society of Hungary, the Royal Society of Copenhagen, and of the Frisian and Athenian Societies. As superintendent of trade in China, he would see to the full implementation of the Nanking Treaty across another flare up of the Opium War for which he was largely blamed. Bowring would pay dearly for his administration, all occurring amid one of the bloodiest wars in human history, the undisputed bloodiest civil war and the largest conflict of the 1800's, with casualties estimated conservatively between 20–70 million and peaking at 100 million, with millions more displaced.

The Taiping Rebellion — 20 to 100 Million Dead

Hostilities had began on January 1, 1851, when the Qing Green Standard Army (ethnic Han soldiers operating concurrently with the Manchu-Mongol-Han Eight Banner armies) launched an attack against the God Worshipping Society at the town of Jintian, Guangxi. Their leader Hong, had declared himself the Heavenly King of the Heavenly Kingdom of Peace (or Taiping Heavenly Kingdom "Taipings"). The Taipings escaped by marching north in September 1851 and on March 19, 1853, they captured the city of Nanjing where Hong declared his capital. A local irregular army called the Xiang Army, under the personal leadership of Zeng Guofan, became the main armed force fighting for the Qing against the Taiping. In 1856 the Taipings were weakened after infighting following an attempted coup led by the East King, Yang Xiuqing. During this time the Xiang Army managed to gradually retake much of Hubei and Jiangxi province. In May 1860 the Taiping defeated the imperial forces that had been besieging Nanjing since 1853, eliminating them from the region and opening the way for a successful invasion of southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, the wealthiest region of the Qing Empire. The Taiping rebels attempted to capture Shanghai in 1860, but the Qing's government forces were aided by Western officers. Whilst the Taiping were preoccupied in Jiangsu, Zeng's forces followed the Yangzi River to capture Anqing on September 5, 1861.

After the prolonged siege and cut supply chain Hong died on June 1, 1864, with Nanjing falling 18 days later. Afterwards a small remainder of loyal Taiping forces continued to fight in northern Zhejiang, rallying behind Hong's teenage son Tianguifu, but after Tianguifu's capture on October 25, 1864, Taiping resistance was gradually pushed into the highlands of Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian and finally Guangdong, where the last Taiping loyalist, Wang Haiyang, was defeated on January 29, 1866.

Hong had originally struggled with the Imperial examination, and whilst in a delirious state dreamt that he visited Heaven discovering his celestial family was distinct from his earthly family, and included a heavenly father, mother, elder brother, sister-in-law, wife, and son. Although of difference to the Confucian order of benign juxtaposition which he attempted to purge, his standard was to accept the certain measure of parallax, in heaven and earthly domains. In tradition to Taoism which has often been the Chinese state religion, itself was based on the indigenous religion of Bon shamanism and the authoritarian standard to application of medical process according metaphysical sense (Astrology, Feng Shui, and Martial Arts all incorporate this divinatory process).

Sir John Bowring — Governor of Hong Kong & the Arrow Incident

Sir John Bowring became Governor of Hong Kong and was instrumental to the formation in 1855 of the Board of Inspectors established under the Qing Customs House, operated by the British to gather statistics on trade on behalf of the Qing government and, later, as the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service, to collect all customs duties. This vital reform brought an end to the corruption of government officials leading to the modernization of China's international trade. Having concerns for the welfare of Chinese laborers 'coolies', who were being exported to Australia, California, Cuba and the West Indies, and in witness to the coolie revolt in Amoy, May 1852; Bowring tightened enforcement of the Passenger Act so as to improve coolie transportation conditions and ensure their voluntarism. He legislated for Chinese citizens in Hong Kong to serve as jurors in trials and become lawyers additionally. Among several further reformations to the city he succeeded to abolish monopolies and established the first ever bilingual English-Chinese law, "An Ordinance for licensing and regulating the sale of prepared opium" (Ordinance No. 2 of 1858).

In October 1856, a dispute broke out with the Canton vice-consul Ye over the Chinese crew of a small British-flagged trading vessel, the Arrow. Bowring saw the argument as an opportunity to wring from the Chinese the free access to Canton which had been promised in the Treaty of Nanking but so far denied. With the French joining the fight, 80 treaty ports were soon established in China, involving many foreign powers, who were granted rights to travel within China.

Written by Jason Steven Jowett. Sourced from historical fact. This blog may not be reproduced in whole without the author's express permission. Copyright © 2024. greatbrittania.blogspot.com