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114-510: The channel was named after HMS Sulphur , a bomb vessel commanded by Edward Belcher who took the first British survey to Hong Kong harbour on 25 January 1841. Captain Belcher left HMS Sulphur with a landing party on 26 January 1841, disembarked on the northern foreshore, and raised the Union Jack over Hong Kong at Possession Point (what is today Hollywood Road Park ). After raising a toast to

228-704: A blockade of foreign ships on the Pearl River was ordered. Tensions escalated in July 1839 after drunk British sailors killed a Chinese villager named Lin Weixi; the British official in charge, Admiral Charles Elliot , refused to hand over those accused to Chinese authorities in an attempt to avoid their being killed on the spot, as had happened with British citizens in the Lady Hughes Affair of 1784. Later, fighting broke out, with

342-512: A consignment and shipping business in Guangzhou and Macau, with associates such as Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy , who became their principal supplier in India. While all three dealt in legal goods, they also profited greatly from selling opium. Jardine in particular was effective in navigating the political environment of Guangzhou to allow for more narcotics to be smuggled into China. He was also contemptuous of

456-534: A detailed description of the voyage. Sulphur Channel on the north shore of Hong Kong Island was named after the ship. First Opium War 19,000+ troops: 37 ships: 222,212 total troops The First Opium War ( Chinese : 第一次鴉片戰爭 ; pinyin : Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng ), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War , was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and

570-403: A form of conspicuous consumption, even they knew that they should not indulge in it to the greatest extreme. Later, people of all social strata—from government officials and members of the gentry to craftsmen, merchants, entertainers, and servants, and even women, Buddhist monks and nuns, and Taoist priests—took up the habit and openly bought and equipped themselves with smoking instruments. Even in

684-685: A huge trade deficit during the Sino-British trade. Meanwhile, the high tariff made the British government very dissatisfied with the Qing government. The Chinese only allowed silver in exchange for the products they were offering so a significant amount of this commodity was leaving the British Empire. As its merchants gained increasing influence in China, Great Britain bolstered its military strength in Southern China. Britain began sending warships to combat piracy on

798-535: A land attack on Kowloon fort the next day, but Elliot decided against it, stating that such an action would cause "great injury and irritation" to the town's inhabitants. After the skirmish, Elliot circulated a paper in Kowloon, reading; The men of the English nation desire nothing but peace; but they cannot submit to be poisoned and starved. The Imperial cruisers they have no wish to molest or impede; but they must not prevent

912-539: A lucrative replacement, and was soon being auctioned in ever larger amounts in Calcutta. Private merchants who possessed a company charter (to comply with the British royal charter for Asiatic trade) bid on and acquired goods at the Calcutta auction before sailing to Southern China. British ships brought their cargoes to islands off the coast, especially Lintin Island , where Chinese traders with fast and well-armed small boats took

1026-493: A policy in line with the credo of Smithian economics . This stance on trade was intended to open foreign markets to the resources of Britain's colonies, as well as provide the British public with greater access to consumer goods such as tea. In Great Britain, the adoption of the gold standard in 1821 resulted in the empire minting standardised silver shillings, further reducing the availability of silver for trade in Asia and spurring

1140-449: A portion of their cargo onto these floating warehouses, where the narcotic was eventually purchased by Chinese opium dealers. By implementing this system of smuggling, foreign merchants could avoid inspection by Chinese officials and prevent retaliation against the trade in legal goods, in which many smugglers also participated. In the early 19th century, American merchants joined the trade and began to introduce opium from Turkey into

1254-511: A profit by selling valuable Chinese goods to consumers in Europe). This gradual effect was greatly exacerbated by a series of large-scale colonial wars between Great Britain and Spain in the mid 18th century; these conflicts disrupted the international silver market and eventually resulted in the independence of powerful new nations, namely the United States and Mexico. Without cheap silver from

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1368-426: A punishing addiction: many people who stopped ingesting opium suffered chills, nausea, and cramps, and sometimes died from withdrawal. Once addicted, people would often do almost anything to continue to get access to the drug. These serious social issues eventually led to the Qing government issuing an edict against the drug in 1780, followed by an outright ban in 1796, and an order from the governor of Guangzhou to stop

1482-457: A second British ship, Royal Saxon , attempted to sail to Guangzhou. The Royal Navy ships HMS Volage and HMS Hyacinth fired warning shots at Royal Saxon . In response to this commotion, a fleet of Chinese war junks under the command of Guan Tianpei sailed out to protect Royal Saxon . The ensuing Battle of Chuenpi resulted in the destruction of 4 Chinese war junks and the withdrawal of both fleets. The Qing navy's official report on

1596-537: A strict prohibition on opium within Great Britain, Lin questioned how Britain could declare itself moral while its merchants profited from the legal sale in China of a drug that was banned in Britain. He wrote: "Your Majesty has not before been thus officially notified, and you may plead ignorance of the severity of our laws, but I now give my assurance that we mean to cut this harmful drug forever." The letter never reached

1710-492: A warship at sea, with himself serving as the judge and merchant captains serving as jurors. He invited the Qing authorities to observe and comment on the proceedings, but the offer was declined. The naval court convicted 5 sailors of assault and rioting, and sentenced them to fines along with hard labour in Britain (a verdict later overturned in British courts). Angered by the violation of China's sovereignty, Lin recalled Chinese labourers from Macau and issued an edict preventing

1824-581: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . HMS Sulphur (1826) HMS Sulphur was a 10-gun Hecla -class bomb vessel of the British Royal Navy , famous as one of the ships in which Edward Belcher explored the Pacific coast of the Americas . Sulphur was launched in 1826, and in 1829 carried Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Irwin , officers, passengers and a detachment of troops from

1938-557: Is prohibited by law. Now the commoner, Yang, dares to bring it into the Forbidden City . Indeed, he flouts the law! However, recently the purchasers, eaters, and consumers of opium have become numerous. Deceitful merchants buy and sell it to gain profit. The customs house at the Ch'ung-wen Gate was originally set up to supervise the collection of imports (it had no responsibility with regard to opium smuggling). If we confine our search for opium to

2052-681: The 63rd Regiment of Foot to the Swan River Colony . On 23 July 1830 boats and men from HMS  Cruizer and Sulphur pulled Medina off the Parmelia Reef near the Swan River . Medina had grounded while delivering immigrants. Sulphur was converted into a survey ship in 1835 together with HMS  Starling sailed to the Pacific Ocean. Captain Frederick Beechey commanded

2166-625: The Canton System , which confined incoming foreign trade to the southern port city of Guangzhou. To counter this imbalance, the British East India Company began to grow opium in Bengal and allowed private British merchants to sell opium to Chinese smugglers for illegal sale in China. The influx of narcotics reversed the Chinese trade surplus and increased the numbers of opium addicts inside

2280-548: The Pearl River Channel , trapping British traders in Guangzhou. As well as seizing opium stockpiles in warehouses and the thirteen factories, Chinese troops boarded British ships in the Pearl River and South China Sea before destroying the opium on board. The British Superintendent of Trade in China, Charles Elliot , protested the decision to forcibly seize the opium stockpiles. He ordered all ships carrying opium to flee and prepare for battle. Lin responded by besieging

2394-470: The Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of their ban on the opium trade by seizing private opium stocks from mainly British merchants at Guangzhou (then named Canton) and threatening to impose the death penalty for future offenders. Despite the opium ban, the British government supported the merchants' demand for compensation for seized goods, and insisted on

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2508-447: The Tang dynasty (617–907), but the recreational usage of the narcotic was limited. As with India, opium (then limited by distance to a dried powder, often drunk with tea or water) was introduced to China and Southeast Asia by Arab merchants. The Ming dynasty banned tobacco as a decadent good in 1640, and opium was seen as a similarly minor issue. The first restrictions on opium were passed by

2622-413: The 1680s. Formosa ( Taiwan ) came under Qing control in 1683 and rhetoric regarding the tributary status of Europeans was muted. Guangzhou became the port of preference for incoming foreign trade. Ships did try to call at other ports, but these locations could not match the benefits of Guangzhou's geographic position at the mouth of the Pearl River, nor did they have the city's long experience in balancing

2736-519: The Battle of Chuenpi claimed that the navy had protected the British merchant vessel and reported a great victory for the day. In reality, the Chinese had been out-classed by the British vessels and several Chinese ships were disabled. Elliot reported that his squadron was protecting the 29 British ships in Chuenpi, and began to prepare for the Qing reprisal. Fearing that the Chinese would reject any contacts with

2850-726: The British Empire. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade and diplomatic relations led to the Second Opium War (1856–1860). The resulting social unrest was the background for the Taiping Rebellion , which further weakened the Qing regime. Direct maritime trade between Europe and China began in 1557 when the Portuguese Empire leased an outpost from the Ming dynasty in Macau . Other European nations soon followed

2964-483: The British and eventually attack with fire rafts, he ordered all ships to leave Chuenpi and head for Causeway Bay , 20 miles (30 km) from Macau, hoping that offshore anchorages would be out of range of Lin. Elliot asked Adrião Acácio da Silveira Pinto , the Portuguese governor of Macau, to let British ships load and unload their goods there in exchange for paying rents and any duties. The governor refused for fear that

3078-564: The British government and foreign merchants. Other nationalities, such as the Americans, prospered through their continued peaceful trade with China, but the British were told to leave Guangzhou for either Whampoa or Macau. Lord Napier was forced to return to Macau in September, where he died of typhus a month later, on 11 October. After Lord Napier's death, Captain Charles Elliot received

3192-612: The British government on their part issued a monopoly charter for trade only to the British East India Company . This arrangement was not challenged until the 19th century when the idea of free trade was popularised in the West. Fueled by the Industrial Revolution , Britain began to use its growing naval power to spread a broadly liberal economic model, encompassing open markets and relatively barrier free international trade,

3306-465: The British government to press for more trading rights in China. In contrast to this new economic model, the Qing dynasty continued to employ a Confucian -Modernist, highly organised economic philosophy that called for strict government intervention in industry for the sake of preserving societal stability. While the Qing government was not explicitly anti-trade, a lack of need for imports and increasingly heavy taxes on luxury goods limited pressure on

3420-414: The British government, which they could either force China to pay or pay for it from the British treasury. As the government had no funds to pay such indemnities, they favoured forcing China to pay since Elliot had provided them with plausible justification for a China Expedition. Many British citizens sympathised with the Chinese and wanted to halt the sale of opium, while others wanted to contain or regulate

3534-499: The British had been unable to acquire supplies, and his reports severely understated the strength of the Royal Navy. In late October 1839, the merchant ship Thomas Coutts arrived in China and sailed to Guangzhou. Thomas Coutts ' s Quaker owners refused on religious grounds to deal in opium, a fact that the Chinese authorities were aware of. The ship's captain, Warner, believed Elliot had exceeded his legal authority by banning

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3648-636: The British navy destroying the Chinese naval blockade, and launching an offensive. In the ensuing conflict, the Royal Navy used its superior naval and gunnery power to inflict a series of decisive defeats on the Chinese Empire. In 1842, the Qing dynasty was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking —the first of what the Chinese later called the unequal treaties —which granted an indemnity and extraterritoriality to British subjects in China, opened five treaty ports to British merchants, and ceded Hong Kong Island to

3762-413: The British that it had been Chinese soldiers who had attacked the ship, and Elliot ordered all British ships to leave the coast of China by 24 August. That same day Macau barred British ships from its harbour at the request of Lin. The commissioner travelled in person to the city, where he was welcomed by some of the inhabitants as a hero who had restored law and order. The flight from Macau ensured that by

3876-669: The British vessel then went to the mouth of the Columbia River . Bad weather prevented the ship from visited from Fort Vancouver and instead sailed south for Yerba Buena in Alta California . Sulphur returned to the Columbia River on 28 July 1839. After visiting Fort Vancouver the expedition went south, reaching San Blas on 24 November, where it remained until December. Sailing for the Marquesas Islands , Sulphur reached

3990-479: The British. Consequently, the opium trade continued in China. Twentieth-century nationalists considered 1839 the start of a century of humiliation , and many historians consider it the beginning of modern Chinese history. In the 18th century, the European demand for Chinese luxury goods (particularly silk, porcelain, and tea) created a trade imbalance between China and Britain. European silver flowed into China through

4104-511: The Chinese government into action. Historian Jonathan D. Spence lists these factors that led to war: In 1839, the Daoguang Emperor appointed scholar-official Lin Zexu to the post of Special Imperial Commissioner with the task of eradicating the opium trade. Lin's famous open " Letter To Queen Victoria " appealed to Queen Victoria 's moral reasoning. Citing what he mistakenly understood to be

4218-493: The Chinese interior) began to seek out more suppliers of the drug. The resulting shortage in supply drew more European merchants into the increasingly lucrative opium trade to meet the Chinese demand. In the words of one trading house agent, "[Opium] it is like gold. I can sell it anytime." From 1804 to 1820, a period when the Qing treasury needed to finance the suppression of the White Lotus Rebellion and other conflicts,

4332-481: The Chinese legal system, and often used his economic influence to subvert Chinese authorities. This included his (with Matheson's support) petitioning for the British government to attempt to gain trading rights and political recognition from Imperial China, by force if necessary. In addition to trade, some western missionaries arrived and began to proselytise Christianity to the Chinese. While some officials tolerated this (Macau-based Jesuits had been active in China since

4446-758: The Chinese market were all vetoed by successive Qing Emperors. Upon his meeting the Jiaqing Emperor in 1816, Amherst refused to perform the traditional kowtow , an act that the Qing saw as a severe breach of etiquette. Amherst and his party were expelled from China, a diplomatic rebuke that angered the British government. One major reason was that British consumers had developed a strong liking for Chinese tea, as well as other goods like porcelain and silk. But Chinese consumers had no similar preference for any goods produced in Britain. Because of this trade imbalance, Britain increasingly had to use silver to pay for its expanding purchases of Chinese goods. Britain suffered from

4560-409: The Chinese market—this supply was of lesser quality but cheaper, and the resulting competition among British and American merchants drove down the price of opium, leading to an increase in the availability of the drug for Chinese consumers. The demand for opium rose rapidly and was so profitable in China that Chinese opium dealers (who, unlike European merchants, could legally travel to and sell goods in

4674-477: The Chinese refused to allow the British to purchase supplies, they would be fired upon. A 3:00 pm deadline set by Elliot passed and the British ships opened fire on the Chinese vessels. The junks returned fire, and Chinese gunners on land began to fire at the British ships. Nightfall ended the battle, and the Chinese junks withdrew, ending what would be known as the Battle of Kowloon . Many British officers wanted to launch

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4788-400: The Chinese would discontinue supplying food and other necessities to Macau, and on 14 January 1840 the Daoguang Emperor asked all foreign merchants in China to halt material assistance to the British. Following the Chinese crackdown on the opium trade, discussion arose as to how Britain would respond, as the public in the United States and Britain had previously expressed outrage that Britain

4902-506: The Cohong, who profited greatly from the bribes and taxes involved in the narcotics trade. Efforts by Qing officials to curb opium imports through regulations on consumption resulted in an increase in drug smuggling by European and Chinese traders, and corruption was rampant. In 1810, the Daoguang Emperor issued an edict concerning the opium crisis, declaring, Opium has a harm. Opium is a poison, undermining our good customs and morality. Its use

5016-562: The East India Company solidified its control over India. The British opium was produced in Bengal and the Ganges River Plain , where the British inherited an existing opium industry from the declining Mughal Empire and saw the product as a potentially valuable export. The East India Company commissioned and managed hundreds of thousands of poppy plantations. It took care of the painstaking lancing of individual pods to obtain

5130-547: The European situation, Qing China sustained a trade surplus. Foreign silver flooded into China in exchange for Chinese goods, expanding the Chinese economy but also causing inflation and forming a Chinese reliance on European silver. The continued economic expansion of European economies in 17th and 18th centuries gradually increased the European demand for precious metals, which were used to mint new coins; this increasing need for hard currency to remain in circulation in Europe reduced

5244-572: The King's Commission as Superintendent of Trade in 1836 to continue Napier's work of conciliating the Chinese. By 1838, the British were selling roughly 1,400 long tons (1,400,000 kg) of opium per year to China. Legalization of the opium trade was the subject of ongoing debate within the Chinese administration, but a proposal to legalise the narcotic was repeatedly rejected, and in 1838 the government began to actively sentence Chinese drug traffickers to death. There were also long-term factors that pushed

5358-522: The Pearl River, and in 1808 established a permanent garrison of British troops in Macau to defend against French attacks. As the opium-fuelled China Trade increased in scope and value, the foreign presence in Guangzhou and Macau grew in size and influence. The Thirteen Factories district of Guangzhou continued to expand, and was labelled the "foreign quarter". A small population of merchants began to stay in Guangzhou year round (most merchants lived in Macau for

5472-679: The Portuguese lead, inserting themselves into the existing Asian maritime trade network to compete with Arab, Chinese, Indian, and Japanese merchants in intraregional commerce. After the Spanish conquest of the Philippines , the exchange of goods between China and Europe accelerated dramatically. From 1565, the Manila Galleons brought silver into the Asian trade network from mines in South America . China

5586-833: The Qing in 1729 when Madak (a substance made from powdered opium blended with tobacco) was banned. At the time, Madak production used up most of the opium being imported into China, as pure opium was difficult to preserve. Consumption of Javanese opium rose in the 18th century, and after the Napoleonic Wars resulted in the British occupying Java , British merchants became the primary traders in opium. The British realised they could reduce their trade deficit with Chinese manufactories by counter-trading in narcotic opium, and therefore efforts were made to produce more opium in Company-controlled India . Limited British sales of Indian opium began in 1781, with exports to China increasing as

5700-506: The Qing monopoly on tea exports held by the imperial treasury and its agents in Guangzhou. However, opium usage continued to grow in China, adversely affecting societal stability. From Guangzhou, the habit spread outwards to the North and West, affecting members from every class of Chinese society. By the early 19th century, more and more Chinese were smoking British opium as a recreational drug. But for many, what started as recreation soon became

5814-567: The Queen with his companions, he officially declared the island the property of Her Majesty Queen Victoria and a Colony of the British Empire. In the 1990s, the Hong Kong Government had planned to reclaim the channel but withdrew later due to opposition from environmental concern groups. 22°16′56″N 114°7′0″E  /  22.28222°N 114.11667°E  / 22.28222; 114.11667 This Hong Kong Island location article

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5928-431: The Queen, with one source suggesting that it was lost in transit. Lin pledged that nothing would divert him from his mission, "If the traffic in opium were not stopped a few decades from now we shall not only be without soldiers to resist the enemy, but also in want of silver to provide an army." Lin banned the sale of opium and demanded that all supplies of the drug be surrendered to the Chinese authorities. He also closed

6042-514: The United States. In addition to the start of the opium trade, economic and social innovations led to a change in the parameters of the wider Sino-European trade. The formulation of classical economics by Adam Smith and other economic theorists caused academic belief in mercantilism to decline in Britain. Under the prior system, the Qianlong Emperor restricted trade with foreigners on Chinese soil only for licensed Chinese merchants, while

6156-510: The archipelago in January 1840. She participated in the First Opium War between 1840 and 1841. On 21 July 1841, HMS Sulphur was damaged in the 1841 Hong Kong typhoon resulting in her total dismasting. The ship was used to survey the harbour of Hong Kong in 1841 and returned to England in 1842. She was used for harbour service from 1843, and was broken up by 20 November 1859, by then

6270-417: The arrest of the two men, and paid compensation to Lin's family and village. However, he refused a request to turn the sailors over to Chinese authorities, fearing they would be killed in accordance with the Chinese legal code. Commissioner Lin saw this as an obstruction of justice and Chinese sovereignty, therefore he ordered the sailors to be handed over. Elliot instead held a trial for the accused men aboard

6384-406: The center of our dynasty—the nation's capital and its surrounding areas—some of the inhabitants have also been contaminated by this dreadful poison. In late 1834, to accommodate the revocation of the East India Company's monopoly, the British sent William John Napier to Macau along with John Francis Davis and Sir George Robinson, 2nd Baronet , as British superintendents of trade in China. Napier

6498-726: The close of the decade. Bengal and India, under the British Raj , experienced mixed effects from the Britain-China opium trade. On one hand, millions died in Bengal during the famine of 1770 after agricultural land was forcibly converted to poppy cultivation. Small farmers in India's Bihar Province were compelled to grow poppies without profit. On the other hand, opium became the main driver of capital accumulation for merchants and bankers in western India. The Indian government's revenue from opium trade rose from less than five percent of its total in

6612-449: The colonies to sustain their trade, European merchants who traded with China began to take silver directly out of circulation in the already-weakened economies of Europe to pay for goods in China. This angered governments, who saw their economies shrink as a result, and fostered a great deal of animosity towards the Chinese for their restriction of European trade. The Chinese economy was unaffected by fluctuations in silver prices, as China

6726-528: The colonisation and conquest of the Americas resulted in European nations (namely Spain, Great Britain, and France) gaining access to a cheap supply of silver, resulting in European economies remaining relatively stable despite the trade deficit with China. This silver was also shipped across the Pacific Ocean to China directly, notably through the Spanish-controlled Philippines. In stark contrast to

6840-504: The company's board issued licences to the independent princely states of Malwa , where significant quantities of poppies were grown. By the late 18th century, company and Malwan farmlands (which were traditionally dependent on cotton growing) had been hard hit by the introduction of factory-produced cotton cloth, which used cotton grown in Egypt or the American South. Opium was considered

6954-458: The company's permission, and the company banned private businesses from refining opium. All opium in India was sold to the company at a fixed rate, and the company hosted a series of public opium auctions every year. The difference of the company-set price of raw opium and the sale price of refined opium at auction (minus expenses) was profit made by the East India Company. In addition to securing poppies cultivated on lands under its direct control,

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7068-568: The country, outcomes that seriously worried Chinese officials. Senior government officials within the country had been shown to be colluding against the imperial ban due to stocks of opium in European warehouses in clear view being ignored. In 1839, the Daoguang Emperor , rejecting proposals to legalise and tax opium, appointed Viceroy of Huguang Lin Zexu to go to Guangzhou to halt the opium trade completely. Lin wrote an open letter to Queen Victoria appealing to her moral responsibility to stop

7182-401: The declining value of China's domestic currency resulted in many people in Guangzhou using foreign silver coins (Spanish coins were the most valued, followed by American coins) as they contained higher amounts of silver. Using western coins allowed Cantonese coiners to make many Chinese coins from melted-down western coins, greatly increasing the city's wealth, and tax revenue while tying much of

7296-448: The demands of Beijing with those of Chinese and foreign merchants. From 1700 onward Guangzhou was the centre of maritime trade with China, and this market process was gradually formulated by Qing authorities into the " Canton System ". From the system's inception in 1757, trading in China was extremely lucrative for European and Chinese merchants alike as goods such as tea, porcelain, and silk were valued highly enough in Europe to justify

7410-476: The destroyed opium should be considered property, not contraband, and as such reparations had to be made for its destruction. He justified military action by saying that no one could "say that he honestly believed the motive of the Chinese Government to have been the promotion of moral habits" and that the war was being fought to stem China's balance of payments deficit. After consulting with William Jardine,

7524-457: The early 17th century), some officials clashed with Chinese Christians, raising tensions between western merchants and Qing officials. While the foreign community in Guangzhou grew in influence, the local government began to suffer from civil discord inside China. The White Lotus Rebellion (1796–1804) drained the Qing dynasty's treasury of silver, forcing the government to levy increasingly heavy taxes on merchants. These taxes did not abate after

7638-548: The early 1800s to nearly 17 percent in 1890. The income helped British rule and the East India Company expand further in the region. The opium profits of the Royal Dutch Trading Company in the Dutch East Indies financed several enterprises, such as Royal Dutch Shell . A few American merchants also made a fortune from the opium trade and invested their proceeds in railroads, hotel chains, and manufacturing in

7752-535: The economy of the city to the foreign merchants. A significant development came in 1834 when reformers (some of whom were financially backed by Jardine) in Britain, advocating for free trade, succeeded in ending the monopoly of the British East India Company under the Charter Act of the previous year. This shift in trade policy ended the need for merchants to comply with the royal charter for trade in

7866-425: The empire's implementation of the gold standard forced it to purchase silver and gold from continental Europe and Mexico to further fuel its rapidly industrialising economy. Attempts by a British embassy (led by Macartney in 1793), a Dutch mission (under Jacob Pieter van Braam in 1794), Russia (headed by Yury Golovkin in 1805), and the British again ( Earl William Amherst in 1816) to negotiate increased access to

7980-503: The end of August over 60 British ships and over 2000 people were idling off of the Chinese coast, fast running out of provisions. On 30 August HMS Volage arrived to defend the fleet from a potential Chinese attack, and Elliot warned Qing authorities in Kowloon that the embargo on food and water must be ended soon. Early on 4 September Elliot dispatched an armed schooner and a cutter to Kowloon to buy provisions from Chinese peasants. The two ships approached three Chinese war junks in

8094-417: The expedition under orders to survey the Pacific coast "from Valparaíso to 63°30' N." By the time the ship reached Valparaíso on 9 June 1836 however, Beechey became too ill to continue leading the vessel and departed for the United Kingdom . Henry Kellett replaced Beechey and sailed for Panama City where the expedition waited for a replacement officer. Edward Belcher arrived at the port in March 1837 as

8208-535: The expenses of travelling to Asia. The system was highly regulated by the Qing government. Foreign traders were only permitted to do business through a body of Chinese merchants known as the Cohong and were forbidden to learn Chinese. Foreigners could only live in one of the Thirteen Factories and were not allowed to enter or trade in any other part of China. Only low-level government officials could be dealt with, and

8322-467: The far east; with this centuries-old restriction lifted, the British China trade was opened to private entrepreneurs, many of whom joined the highly profitable opium trade. On the eve of the Qing government's crackdown on opium, a Chinese official described the changes in society caused by the drug; At the beginning, opium smoking was confined to the fops of wealthy families who took up the habit as

8436-466: The flow of money gradually reversed, and Chinese merchants were soon exporting silver to pay for opium rather than Europeans paying for Chinese goods with the precious metal. European and American ships were able to arrive in Guangzhou with their holds filled with opium, sell their cargo, use the proceeds to buy Chinese goods, and turn a profit in the form of silver bullion. This silver would then be used to acquire more Chinese goods. While opium remained

8550-437: The foreign dealers in the foreign quarter of Guangzhou, and kept them from communicating with their ships in port. To defuse the situation, Elliot convinced the British traders to cooperate with Chinese authorities and hand over their opium stockpiles with the promise of eventual compensation for their losses by the British government. While this amounted to a tacit acknowledgment that the British government did not disapprove of

8664-420: The foreign secretary drafted a letter to Prime Minister William Melbourne calling for a military response. Other merchants called for an opening of free trade with China, and it was commonly cited that the Chinese consumers were the driving factor of the opium trade. The periodic expulsion of British merchants from Guangzhou and the refusal of the Qing government to treat Britain as a diplomatic equal were seen as

8778-481: The goods inland for distribution, paying for the opium with silver. The Qing administration initially tolerated opium importation because it created an indirect tax on Chinese subjects, as increasing the silver supply available to foreign merchants through the sale of opium encouraged Europeans to spend more money on Chinese goods. This policy provided the funds British merchants needed to then greatly increase tea exports from China to England, delivering further profits to

8892-400: The government to open further ports to international trade. China's rigid merchant hierarchy also blocked efforts to open ports to foreign ships and businesses. Chinese merchants operating in inland China wanted to avoid market fluctuations caused by importing foreign goods that would compete with domestic production, while the Cohong families of Guangzhou profited greatly by keeping their city

9006-443: The harbour and requested permission to land men in order to procure supplies. The British were allowed through and basic necessities were provided to the British by Chinese sailors, but the Chinese commander inside Kowloon fort refused to allow the locals to trade with the British and confined the townspeople inside the settlement. The situation grew more intense as the day went on, and in the afternoon Elliot issued an ultimatum that, if

9120-498: The impending war with China. The Queen's Annual Address to the House of Lords on 16 January 1840 expressed the concern that "Events have happened in China which have occasioned an interruption of the commercial intercourse of my subjects with that country. I have given, and shall continue to give, the most serious attention to a matter so deeply affecting the interests of my subjects and the dignity of my Crown." The Whig Melbourne Government

9234-592: The imperial court could not be lobbied for any reason excepting official diplomatic missions. The Imperial laws that upheld the system were collectively known as the Prevention Barbarian Ordinances ( 防範外夷規條 ). The Cohong were particularly powerful in the Old China Trade , as they were tasked with appraising the value of foreign products, purchasing or rebuffing said imports and charged with selling Chinese exports at an appropriate price. The Cohong

9348-544: The international narcotics trade. However, a great deal of anger was expressed over the treatment of British diplomats and towards the protectionist trading policies of Qing China. The Whig controlled government in particular advocated war with China, and the pro-Whig press printed stories about Chinese "despotism and cruelty". This line of reasoning was primary defence for war with China. Since August 1839, reports had been published in London newspapers about troubles at Guangzhou and

9462-505: The last bomb vessel on the Navy List . Richard Brinsley Hinds (1811-1846) served as surgeon on Sulphur 1835-42. He was a naturalist , and collected numerous samples of plants and marine animals for study. He edited The Botany of the Voyage of H.M.S. Sulphur  [ es ] and The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Sulphur (1844). The introduction to Zoology, Volume 1 provides

9576-507: The maritime customs to conduct a thorough search for opium, and cut off its supply. They should in no ways consider this order a dead letter and allow opium to be smuggled out! Nonetheless, by 1831, the annual opium traffic neared 20,000 chests, each with a net weight of around 140 pounds, compared with just about 4,000 chests per year between 1800 and 1818. After the East India Company's monopoly on tea ended in 1833 and private merchants began to join in, this quantity would go on to double before

9690-445: The mid-17th century onward around 28 million kilograms/61.6 million pounds of silver were received by China, principally from European powers, in exchange for Chinese products. A brisk trade between China and European powers continued for over a century. While this trading heavily favoured the Chinese and resulted in European nations sustaining large trade deficits , the demand for Chinese goods continued to drive commerce. In addition,

9804-442: The most profitable good to trade with China, foreign merchants began to export other cargoes, such as machine-spun cotton cloth, rattan , ginseng , fur, clocks, and steel tools. However, these goods never reached the same level of importance as narcotics, nor were they as lucrative. The Qing imperial court debated whether or how to end the opium trade, but their efforts to curtail opium abuse were complicated by local officials and

9918-500: The new officer and the expedition continued its operations, sailing for the Federal Republic of Central America . Sulphur reached the capital of Russian America New Archangel , on 11 September where Governor Ivan Kupreyanov greeted the British with a colonial ball. After departing south, Sulphur reached the site of the first Nootka Convention , Yuquot , on 3 October. After meeting with local Nuu-chah-nulth dignitaries,

10032-544: The only entry point for foreign products. At the turn of the 19th century, countries such as Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Russia, and the United States began to seek additional trading rights in China. Foremost among the concerns of the western nations was the end of the Canton System and the opening of China's vast consumer markets to trade. Britain in particular was keenly increasing its exports to China, as

10146-525: The opium trade, although she never received it. Lin then resorted to using force in the western merchants' enclave. He arrived in Guangzhou at the end of January 1839 and organized a coastal defence. In March 1839, British opium dealers were forced to hand over 2.37 million pounds of opium. On 3 June 1839, Lin ordered the opium to be destroyed in public on Humen Beach to show the Government's determination to ban smoking. All other supplies were confiscated and

10260-490: The opium trade. This was a deliberate move of the Tories to avoid the sensitive issues of war and opium trade and to obtain maximum support for the motion within the party. Calls for military action were met with mixed responses when the matter went before Parliament. Foreign Secretary Palmerston , a politician known for his aggressive foreign policy and advocacy for free trade, led the pro war camp. Palmerston strongly believed that

10374-423: The opium was surrendered, trade was restarted on the strict condition that no more opium be shipped into China. Looking for a way to effectively police foreign trade and purge corruption, Lin and his advisers decided to reform the existing bond system. Under this system, a foreign captain and the Cohong merchant who had purchased the goods off of his ship swore that the vessel carried no illegal goods. Upon examining

10488-493: The people from selling. To deprive men of food is the act only of the unfriendly and hostile. Having driven off the Chinese ships, the British fleet began to purchase provisions from the local villagers, often with the aid of bribed Chinese officials in Kowloon. Lai Enjue , the local commander at Kowloon, declared that a victory had been won against the British. He claimed that a two masted British warship had been sunk, and that 40–50 British had been killed. He also reported that

10602-553: The ports of Zhoushan , Xiamen (or Amoy), and Guangzhou. Official British trade was conducted through the auspices of the British East India Company , which held a royal charter for trade with the Far East. The East India Company gradually came to dominate Sino-European trade from its position in India and due to the strength of the Royal Navy . Trade benefited after the newly risen Qing dynasty relaxed maritime trade restrictions in

10716-554: The principles of free trade and equal diplomatic recognition with China. Opium was Britain's single most profitable commodity trade of the 19th century. After months of tensions between the two states, the Royal Navy launched an expedition in June 1840, which ultimately defeated the Chinese using technologically superior ships and weapons by August 1842. The British then imposed the Treaty of Nanking , which forced China to increase foreign trade, give compensation, and cede Hong Kong Island to

10830-416: The raw gum, drying and forming it into cakes, before coating and packaging them for auction in Calcutta. The company tightly controlled the opium industry, and all opium was considered company property until it was sold. From Kolkata , the company's Board of Customs, Salt, and Opium concerned itself with quality control by managing the way opium was packaged and shipped. No poppies could be cultivated without

10944-490: The rebellion was crushed, as the Chinese government began a massive project to repair state-owned properties on the Yellow River , referred to as the "Yellow River Conservancy". The merchants of Guangzhou were further expected to make contributions to fight banditry. These taxes weighed heavily on the profits made by the Cohong merchants; by the 1830s, the once-prosperous Cohong had seen their wealth greatly reduced. In addition,

11058-586: The records of the port, Lin was infuriated to find that in the 20 years since opium had been declared illegal, not a single infraction had been reported. As a consequence, Lin demanded that all foreign merchants and Qing officials sign a new bond promising not to deal in opium under penalty of death. The British government opposed their signing of the bond, feeling that it violated the principle of free trade, but some merchants who did not trade in opium (such as Olyphant & Co. ) were willing to sign against Elliot's orders. Trade in regular goods continued unabated, and

11172-411: The sale of food to the British. War Junks were deployed to the mouth of the Pearl River, while signs were placed and rumours spread by the Qing that they had poisoned the freshwater springs traditionally used to restock foreign merchant ships. On 23 August a ship belonging to a prominent opium merchant was attacked by lascar pirates while travelling downriver from Guangzhou to Macau. Rumors spread among

11286-521: The scarcity of opium caused by the seizure of the foreign warehouses caused the black market to flourish. Some newly arrived merchant ships were able to learn of the ban on opium before they entered the Pearl River estuary, and so they unloaded their cargoes at Lintin Island. The opportunity caused by the sharp rise in the price of opium was seized upon by some of the Cohong trading houses and smugglers, who were able to evade commissioner Lin's efforts and smuggled more opium into China. Superintendent Elliot

11400-466: The seaports, we fear the search will not be sufficiently thorough. We should also order the general commandant of the police and police—censors at the five gates to prohibit opium and to search for it at all gates. If they capture any violators, they should immediately punish them and should destroy the opium at once. As to Kwangtung [Guangdong] and Fukien [Fujian], the provinces from which opium comes, we order their viceroys, governors, and superintendents of

11514-472: The signing of the "no opium trade" bond, and negotiated with the governor of Guangzhou. Warner hoped that all British ships not carrying opium could negotiate to legally unload their goods at Chuenpi, an island near Humen . To prevent other British ships from following Thomas Coutts ' s precedent, Elliot ordered a blockade of British shipping in the Pearl River . Fighting began on 3 November 1839, when

11628-476: The summer months, then moved to Guangzhou in the winter), and a local chamber of commerce was formed. In the first two decades of the 19th century, the increasingly sophisticated (and profitable) trade between Europe and China allowed for a clique of European merchants to rise to positions of great importance in China. The most notable of these figures were William Jardine and James Matheson (who went on to found Jardine Matheson ), British merchants who operated

11742-413: The supply of bullion available for trade in China, driving up costs and leading to competition between merchants in Europe and European merchants who traded with the Chinese. This market force resulted in a chronic trade deficit for European governments, who were forced to risk silver shortages in their domestic economies to supply the needs of their merchants in Asia (who as private enterprises still turned

11856-426: The trade in 1799. To circumnavigate the increasingly stringent regulations in Guangzhou, foreign merchants bought older ships and converted them into floating warehouses. These ships were anchored off of the Chinese coast at the mouth of the Pearl River in case the Chinese authorities moved against the opium trade, as the ships of the Chinese navy had difficulty operating in open water. Inbound opium ships would unload

11970-426: The trade, it also placed a huge liability on the exchequer. This promise, and the inability of the British government to pay it without causing a political storm, was used as an important casus belli for the subsequent British attack. During April and May 1839, British and American dealers surrendered 20,283 chests and 200 sacks of opium. The stockpile was publicly destroyed on the beach outside Guangzhou. After

12084-441: Was a primary destination for the precious metal, as the imperial government mandated that Chinese goods could only be exported in exchange for silver bullion . British ships began to appear sporadically around the coasts of China from 1635 on. Without establishing formal relations through the Chinese tributary system , by which most Asian nations were able to negotiate with China, British merchants were only allowed to trade at

12198-423: Was able to import Japanese silver to stabilise its money supply. European goods remained in low demand in China, ensuring the longstanding trade surplus with the European nations continued. Despite these tensions, trade between China and Europe grew by an estimated 4% annually in the years leading up to the start of the opium trade. Opium as a medicinal ingredient was documented in Chinese texts as early as

12312-480: Was aware of the smugglers' activities on Lintin and was under orders to stop them, but feared that any action by the Royal Navy could spark a war and withheld his ships. In early July 1839 a group of British merchant sailors in Kowloon became intoxicated after consuming rice liqueur. Two of the sailors became agitated with and beat to death Lin Weixi, a villager from nearby Tsim Sha Tsui . Superintendent Elliot ordered

12426-531: Was instructed to obey Chinese regulations, communicate directly with Chinese authorities, superintend trade pertaining to the contraband trade of opium, and to survey China's coastline. Upon his arrival in China, Napier tried to circumvent the restrictive system that forbade direct contact with Chinese officials by sending a letter directly to the Viceroy of Liangguang , Lu Kun , requesting a meeting. The Viceroy refused to accept it, and on 2 September of that year an edict

12540-460: Was issued that temporarily closed British trade. In response, Napier ordered two Royal Navy vessels to bombard Chinese forts on the Pearl River straight, the Bocca Tigris , in a show of force. This command was followed through, but war was avoided due to Napier falling ill with typhus and ordering a retreat. The brief gunnery duel drew condemnation by the Chinese government, as well as criticism from

12654-399: Was made up of between (depending on the politics of Guangzhou) 6 to 20 merchant families. Most of the merchant houses these families ruled had been established by low-ranking mandarins , but several were Cantonese or Han in origin. Another key function of the Cohong was the traditional bond signed between a Cohong member and a foreign merchant. This bond stated that the receiving Cohong member

12768-399: Was responsible for the foreign merchant's behavior and cargo while in China. In addition to dealing with the Cohong, European merchants were required to pay customs fees, measurement duties, provide gifts, and hire navigators. Despite restrictions, silk and porcelain continued to drive trade through their popularity in Europe, and an insatiable demand for Chinese tea existed in Britain. From

12882-417: Was supporting the opium trade. The East India and China Association of London argued that the opium trade was directly or indirectly sanctioned by the government, and as such they should compensate them for their losses. Elliot signed certificates guaranteeing payment for the surrendered opium with the assumption that China would pay for it. This provided legal basis for the merchants to demand an indemnity from

12996-498: Was then in a weak political situation. It barely survived a motion of non-confidence on 31 January 1840 by a majority of 21. The Tories saw the China Question as an opportunity to beat the Government, and James Graham moved a motion on 7 April 1840 in the House of Commons, censuring the Government's "want of foresight and precaution" and "their neglect to furnish the superintendent at Guangzhou with powers and instructions" to deal with

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