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• 1 2022-03-05T19:36:37-08:00 The First Opium War 9 1-2-1 plain 2022-03-06T17:39:01-08:00 According to Kenneth Pletcher in Britannica's Opium Wars, the origin of the First Opium War was China's attempt to restrict the opium trade. Since the 18th century, foreign traders, mainly British, have illegally exported opium from India to China. According to Pletcher, this trade increased dramatically from around 1820. The epidemic of opium led to severe social and economic chaos in China. According to Sohu News in China, there is an interview with opium users in Chinese Historical Records. In this interview, opium users spoke of tears in their eyes, weakness in their hands and feet, and inability to move after taking opium. He is like a sick man. Sohu News also published photos of how the Chinese smoked opium in the 18th century. At that time, the Chinese government (Qing) realized that the opium epidemic was seriously affecting the physical and mental health of the Chinese people. So, according to Pletcher, in the spring of 1839, the Chinese government destroyed 1,400 tons of opium in Guangzhou. However, the British government used the event as a pretext to invade China. According to Pletcher, later in 1839, British warships went into Hong Kong and destroyed the Pearl River Estuary in China. Then, the British government attacked and captured Guangzhou in May 1841 and Nanjing in late August. Finally, on August 29, China and Britain signed the Treaty of Nanking. China ceded Hong Kong to Britain and paid Britain a huge compensation. According to The First Opium War and its Impacts on China by Cornelia Andree on page 12, Britain also forced China to increase the number of ports from one to five (Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai) (12).
  
  The picture, coming from United States' Office of the Historian, at the bottom is the signing scene of Treaty of Nanking. 
  
  
  
  This picture on the left side is coming from Historic UK. Historic UK also explain this picture: "French satire showing an Englishman ordering the Emperor of China to buy opium. A Chinese man lies dead on floor with troops in background. The text says: 'You must buy this poison immediately. We want you to poison yourself completely, because we need a lot of tea in order to digest our beefsteaks.'"
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