How The Opium Trade Destroyed China’s Greatest Empire | Empires Of Silver | Absolute History

foreign [Music] settlement high in the Andes mountain range of South America trade and that's because of what is discovered deep inside this mountain purist silver the world has ever seen it's 1581 and a buyer appears for this silver eleven thousand miles away the Emperor of China the most powerful man on Earth has decided that his people must now pay their tax in silver this Sparks a huge demand for silver and China to the point where silver was worth more than gold this series explores how the world is transformed when the king of Spain's silver meets the tax demands of the emperor of China it's a remarkable story that Witnesses how China came to dominate at the dawn of World Trade over 400 years ago the first time the whole world was linked into one Global Network and the most important element of this and so on Silva allows China's Emperors to become the most powerful men on Earth and silver makes this businessman the richest man in the world a lot of America's Industrial Revolution was funded by this Chinese Merchant Chinese Craftsmen go on to create silverware of unparalleled skill and beauty that are coveted across the world already in the 18th century people were admiring this fantastic world because the wire is so thin it's like hair China's silver trade drives the growth of world cities from Boston to Hong Kong Shanghai to Seville but it also sows the seeds of China's near destruction and leads to with Western Powers the British were determined to get a war they got the war time when China enters what's become nicknamed Century of humiliation the period when China was not in control of its own external Affairs but China Won't Let Go its obsession with this precious metal only trust silver it is almost like a religion in Chinese history silver is our gold in Chinese history this series reveals how silver changes China's history and the history of the world Isla holding a piece of history on your hand the skyline of Shanghai is one of the defining views of modern China it is Testament to the last 40 years in which China has undergone a meteoric rise to become the second largest economy on the planet soon it will be number one but to have China at the very center of World Trade is nothing new 250 years ago in the 18th century China is the greatest economic and cultural Empire in the world ruled over by one of its most celebrated Emperors Chen Lu [Music] displayed his Welsh he he built palaces uh ten laws no doubt fully convinced he was one of the wealthiest men living on Earth at his time [Music] China occupies this position of dominance in global trade because all the world loves China's porcelain and silks and it pays handsomely for these luxury goods in the only commodity that China wants silver China has been deeply dependent on Silva ever since the 16th century when the emperor decides to tax his people in silver but China has little silver of its own so must import it this appears to be the perfect combination of supply and demand for particularly at the end of the 18th century because of a unique commodity China controls and one that the rest of the world demands Above All Else China had tea nowhere else in the world as it was known at the time produced tea takes hold quite rapidly it's an addictive drug Britain Imports more tea from China than any other European country eighty percent of all tea exports from the port of Canton are shipped to Britain and the right to import all this tea is held by one remarkable organization the British East India Company they were much more than the name suggests not just a company but actually a whole semi-governmental organization in their in their own right by the end of the 18th century the East India Company boasts a private Army of almost 90 000 men as well as a fleet of heavily gun warships it has taken control over a large part of India at the expense of the Mogul emperors but despite the Colossal business in tea there is a big problem at the heart of all Britain's trade with China British merchants needed to try and find Goods which would sell they had Cottons they had walls they tried everything they could but it was very difficult to find a good which would significantly take in a Chinese market the demand for tea is so great that the British have no choice but to comply with China silver was being essentially bleached leaked out of the coffers of the East India Company as it sought to find products that it could trade successfully with China so the advantage was essentially with China at that stage the East India Company convinces the British government to act in 1792 Britain launches an enormous trade mission to China it's a massive undertaking at its head is the Statesman and Diplomat Lord George McCartney McCartney is expected to hammer out better terms of trade with the most powerful Nation on Earth the British Library holds the letter from the Home Secretary that spells out the main problem McCartney has to solve you should fairly state after repeating the general assurances of his Majesty's friendly and Pacific inclinations towards the emperor and his mutual benefits to be derived from a trade between the two nations in the course of which we receive besides other articles to the amount of 20 million of pounds weight of a Chinese herb so instead of paying for all this tea with silver bullion the British must persuade Emperor Cheng loong to buy British goods in return [Music] British Ambitions extend Way Beyond increased sales McCartney is told he must convince the emperor to provide the British with a trading base a piece of china itself we wish to obtain a grunt of a small tract of ground or detached Islands we desire neither fortification nor defense but only the protection of the Chinese government for our merchants and or their agents in trading or traveling through the country they were quite optimistic when they sent this Embassy off that they might achieve something of the sort there is good reason for British optimism it is the first nation in the world to industrialize and as a result its military and economic power is growing Britain considers itself an equal to any nation in the world even China in September 1792 Lord McCartney along with 700 soldiers and servants departs for China on a flotilla of three ships they sail with interpreters musicians they say with the band they have a large number of very ornate present sing-songs musical clocks all sorts of things for the emperor but they have a clear Target in terms of their requests and at the heart of it they want the British state to be recognized by the Chinese a permanent Embassy to be allowed to reside at the court in Beijing when Lord McCartney arrives in China in July 1793 he's expecting to meet the emperor but the emperor is nowhere to be seen at the Forbidden City [Music] has moved his court 200 miles north Beyond China's Great Wall to his summer Residence at Chengdu after almost a year since he set sail from England McCartney still must wait before being allowed to meet with the most powerful man on Earth Chen long Emperor has at this point been on the throne for nearly 50 years he's in his 80s he is one of the greatest Emperors in Chinese history from start to finish he's been expanding China into Central Asia tremendously successful Wars so he is extremely proud of his own achievements [Music] um [Music] McCartney is asked to join the queue of ambassadors from the distant borders of Cheng loon's vast Empire Zhang loon receives tribute from each Ambassador in turn not in a palace but in a tent um [Music] all ambassadors are expected to kneel and press their head nine times to the floor McCartney however refuses so instead of Performing the traditional cow towel he drops on one knee before presenting his gifts so this is one of a large set of sketches by William Alexander who was the junior artist for the embassy and one of the things he drew was this planetarium which was the grandest and most spectacular gift because they had thought from reading the Jesuit missionary accounts of China that the Chinese Court was exceptionally interested in astronomy about the most significant gift is a solid gold box encrusted with diamonds containing a letter from the British King George III laying out his hopes for the trade mission dance [Music] um [Music] indulges in some polite conversation that throws the spotlight on the precocious young son of the British Vice Envoy who on the long voyage has learned Mandarin images [Music] but this charming code of the embassy has little bearing on the outcome the letter from George III to Jin noong is translated and the Chinese Emperor's reply is extremely dismissive and there's a sentence which is tremendously famous the Productions of our Empire are manifold and in great abundance nor do we stand in the least need of the produce of other countries the embassy is a complete and utter failure the chinga not ready to [Music] Accord these Britain's status of of equals the channel Emperor is not just emperor of the Qing Empire he is the Son Of Heaven uh this King George III who McCartney represents is in fact within Chen Long's vision of the world a subordinate King unfortunately Emperors of Qing Dynasty later on became too confident Channel thought you know as many great Emperors in Chinese history that he was the king he was the emperor of the whole world rejects all the British requests worse still he issues a stop warning to George III that he will use Force if British ships try and trade anywhere other than Canton the one port in China opened to them it goes back back over land and Chen long issues instructions that all the way south Ching military units are to assemble in view of the embassy to impress upon the British that the Qing has great military strength and could deal with them realizes that the chenlong emperor and his senior advisors these people were not stupid they had a very limited knowledge of what was going on in European politics at this time but they were canny political operators and that they were aware that the British had a heavily armed warship on the coast and that they wanted to refuse the unacceptable requests of the British and get rid of them without causing trouble [Music] has maintained the status quo his show of strength is designed to deter British aggression and for now he's come out on top McCartney returns home empty-handed and belittled back in Britain the public now viewed China as despotic and backward and its ruler disparaged and mocked in popular cartoons there's a big shift from enthusiastic synophilia one might say intellectually a a Love or an interest in China an appreciation of what seems to be and idealized China to first-hand reports from Britain's have been there who say ah it's nothing like that at all in fact as McCartney put it it's a an old first-rate man of war it's heading for the breakers yard and if we can help it along um that will change things despite being stung by chiangling's rebuttal Britain has no option but to accept the terms of trade laid down by China and at the dawn of the 19th century there are still vast fortunes to be made from China in the most vital trade Hub on the planet Canton all the tea in China along with its silks and porcelains are shipped out of Canton and into Canton flows the world's silver to pay for these Goods trade with the West makes Cantor this small and remote part of China's massive Empire one of the wealthiest and most Cosmopolitan cities in the world this is the Golden Age of Canton it was the Nexus of global trade you have people wearing different costumes speaking different languages dealing with goods from all over the world of course some of them are more prominent than others Tea Silver but it was actually quite a quite a vibrant City that people will flocked to because there was where they could pursue their business Canada is not only where goods are exchanged but where they are made this city becomes a workshop of the world where thousands of low-paid but highly skilled Craftsmen are producing Chinese Goods adapted for lucrative foreign markets [Music] we have to bear in mind that for late 18th century Europe could not produce its own very fine Apostles and they have to rely on China being the only Port which could conduct China trade also enjoy the advantage of setting up various manufacturers and uh and and workshops for painting these kind of possums I think they will find it very surprised why the foreigners need such a large bow we use both to eat rice right and soup and and they will be told that oh this is punchbow well in terms of shape and function it must sound very exotic to the Chinese that in terms of the pictures and also the design and motives it must also look very exotic to the westerners [Music] Canton is also home to a developing craft that but also take deep root abroad thousands of workshops are mass-producing silverware for foreign markets and for foreign tastes [Music] unfortunately no one had a clear sense of what China looked like and there was tremendous interest Fascination in in Cafe in this this land that almost no one had seen [Music] these are not depictions of China per se they're they're mythical Landscapes with mythical beasts there are quite a lot of pagodas boats beautiful flowers prunus this Fantastical Dragon handle something that would never be on a piece of London or Philadelphia silver and that really is proclaiming this as something that was made in China by Chinese silversmiths those Cantonese silversmiths are mass producing highly crafted silverware but they're also imitating and undercutting Western slobber Smiths foreign you could have a Chinese silversmith make a spoon that was virtually identical to your familiar 19th century flatware for a fraction of the cost you can see that these are are virtually indistinguishable both spoons made in the 1830s and one made in Scotland in Edinburgh and one made in Guangzhou but virtually indistinguishable the silver itself would would have presumably been the same price but the labor was infinitely less expensive we think about um the mass production of goods in the 21st century and the fact that so many of these things are easily are so inexpensive and indeed to some extent the same thing is happening in the 21st century as was in the 19th is dynamic it's a hive of industry and commerce and it's one of the vital crucibles where modern international trade is born but it presents challenges to Western merchants finding the right Commodities to trade figuring what language to speak figuring out what currency to trade in uh that's all quite uh and quite quite credit no small fees for for the early part of the 19th century when there's no language schools there was no business school that would tell you how to to surmount any cultural barriers uh that was the world that I think is even more in many ways more fascinating than the world we live in today historic Canton is now buried deep under an immense skyline of concrete and steel in the heart of London this gallery has a series of remarkable paintings that capture how strictly controlled life was in Canton for Western merchants so they were restricted to this very small strip of Riverside only about 300 meters long there wasn't much they could do for exercise you can see if you look carefully in this picture there's four little westerners rowing along but apart from that there were the occasional trips to the flower gardens or the temples across the river otherwise they were they were stuck here this small section outside the city walls of Cantor becomes known as the 13 factories the buildings don't look particularly Chinese because the westerners were allowed to adapt certainly the facades and to some extent the Interiors to suit themselves [Music] you'll look at the Garden on the right hand side in front of the British Factory and the Cantonese authorities were very suspicious of this Garden because it suggested to them that the British were here to stay a garden means a settlement possibly the first step towards a colony so there was a lot of aggravation over that there are also heavy restrictions on the social life of the merchants they are forbidden to learn Chinese discouraged from mixing with Chinese people and all women even wives are banned um foreign Merchants can make their fortune in China so the heavy restrictions are worth enduring they make the best of their sometimes tedious lives in what becomes known as the golden ghetto we know that they drank well and ate well that insofar as they could they sampled and enjoyed all the the light all of the joys of of a Chinese Leisure Life whether it's brothel boats high-class brothel boats they were invited by their merchant friends and collaborators to parties so in one sense the the merchants had very little to complain about writing of his time in Canton in the 1830s an American Diplomat Gideon Nye describes a party that includes one of canton's most prominent British merchants then was seen what had never been seen at Canton before Mr Jordan himself and Mr Wetmore attempting a waltz to a simple negro Melody but by far the most serious restriction is the emperor's ruling that these foreign merchants in Cantor must conduct their business through a small select group of powerful Chinese Merchants known as the Kohan if you were a foreign Trader in Canton you couldn't just trade with anybody you were required by the Qing Dynasty to work with one of oh eight to twelve men the Hong Merchants who were charged with this amazing task of handling the entire international trade of the Chinese Empire well of those 10 or 12 Merchants really one separated himself from all the others this Merchant is one of the most remarkable men in Chinese history born in the same year as Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington this Chinese Merchant prospers during a time of great Global change and increasing trade to become it said the richest man in the world his name is hawkwa small frame this is a guy who doesn't look as rich as he really was he was an enterprising and daring business person at the Port of Canton in the early part of the 19th century when you have linguistic barriers he maneuver the turbulent Waters of of global finance and global trade in a very um uh careful yet bold manner establishes himself from selling vast quantities of tea to the British allowing him to a massive fortune in silver that will be valued at more than a billion dollars today said to be greater than the Rothschild family in Europe at that time well how did air Massachusetts a huge Fortune there was through years of business primarily with the East India Company because the return profit was just enormous and it was reliable it was annual where did the silver go well howqua had of course his vault where he would hold his silver there's a funny story that during the 1822 fire as Canton burned down Witnesses identified rivers of silver flowing out of these vaults as all the silver was melting into liquid so instead of letting his money sit idle in a vault starts lending money 10 million pounds to the British East India Company and then to his fellow Canton merchants he didn't feel secure with all his silver sitting in a vault in Canton he was afraid that at any time a avaricious official might find a way to take it from him so he wished to invest his money elsewhere to keep it safe he made money with money So Not only was he a success story in the international trade of tea he was also an instrumental player in the global business of Finance as well Aqua is also a businessman blessed with foresight he is aware of the pitfalls of relying too heavily on his one major client the East India Company he sees gold an opportunity in partnering with Merchants from a country that is about to embark on a remarkable rise to power America well he looked at the American Partners as a way for him to get into the global Network Beyond his connections with the British and a recently independent America is equally Keen to forge trade links with China here was a new country the United States which measured its length in years uh contemplating a the oldest country in the world that had multiple dynasties and measured its duration in centuries even Millennia and so when they journeyed to China they understood that they were tapping into a vast economic Powerhouse this is Cape Cod a wealthy and exclusive Enclave on the east coast of America [Music] and in this house there's a portrait of halcual which helps illustrate how some of America's greatest dynasties were founded on the back of a China trade he's here because this is a painting that was brought back from Canton by my great great grandfather [Music] warrant l102 was a prominent American China Trader he makes a fortune in China we don't really know the amount but certainly it would have been at least a hundred thousand Spanish dollars probably more that's over 20 million dollars in today's money and it's the money that establishes one of the most significant families in American history Warren Delano's grandson is Franklin Delano Roosevelt America's longest-serving president whose family fortunes are tied to hawkwa he was held in extremely high regard he was an incredibly honorable he was punctual in his dealings he he delivered as he wanted he was Nobody's Fool he enjoyed exceptionally close relations with bostonians period [Music] occasionally in Canton his American Partners got a privileged Glimpse inside hawkwa's spectacular residence when invited for a rare banquet Fred Grant's great great grandfather Warren and Warren's brother Edward record an astonishing level of hospitality today we dined luxuriously at about four o'clock our dinner set out by halqua the senior hung Merchant Chinese style about 15 courses bird's nest soup shark fins pigeons eggs we were three hours getting through it it is many years since halqua has given a Chinese dinner at his own house and perhaps never before did he give to a friend the like of this with Banquets like this I'll call further strengthens his American bonds his tires run so deep that he entrusts part of his fortune to be invested on his behalf by his closest business partners in America his money is invested at a turning point in American history [Music] You could argue that haqua helped build America he invests his money in American railroads and American factories in American coal mines thus leading to the development of the United States and so a lot of America's Industrial Revolution was funded by this Chinese Merchant who lived in Canton in the early part of the 19th century uh today there is much fear about Chinese investment uh many Americans wonder if the if Chinese economic power has too much influence over American companies well what they don't know is that this was happening uh in in a pretty substantial way over a hundred years ago thanks to the China trade despite the wealth it's creating the Americans encounter the same problem with the China trade as all Western Merchants before them they struggle to find anything the Chinese want to buy [Music] American traders reluctantly brought silver to China they would far prefer to have brought Commodities when one brought silver silver is essentially a currency and that meant that they weren't really Traders so much as wholesalers initially they tried ginseng that was good for a season or two then efforts were made to bring Furs from the Pacific Northwest that lasted a few more seasons but what they found over time was that silver was the magic ingredient more than ever before at the beginning of the 19th century Western Merchants desperately need a product to sell to China instead of silver they do find a product that they are confident will take hold like tea it's plant-based but what western Merchants are preparing to flood the Chinese market with is a powerfully addictive and illegal drug opium it's a shocking decision then and now and one that alters the history of the world the opium trade has a profound impact on the Chinese economy are on the Chinese government at China society and Chinese individuals it's a winner for foreign Traders it has a devastating impact on on Ching China [Music] smoking opium has been banned in China since 1813 but the trade not only continues it increases dramatically in 1767 one thousand chests of opium are imported from India by 1838 it's 40 000. might find officials the highest officials at court who took a bit of opium to basically relax you would find middle class Scholars whirling away their time by smoking opium pipes perhaps in a dedicated opium parlor or indeed men working in back-breaking labor who would take opium to try and ease the pain in their muscles principal players in this illegal trade are the British who are cultivating huge amounts of opium in Bengal in India the jewel in the crown of their growing Empire at last Britain has a product other than silver that the Chinese crave but this is not good for China's vital silver Reserves by the mid 19th century silver was being drained from China to pay for this incoming opium and the British were doing very well out of it too ambitious Scotsman make a killing from selling opium their names still well known for the company they begin in 1832 that grows to become a massive multinational with an annual turnover in excess of 40 billion dollars William Jardin and James Matheson who proceed to have a massive impact on this illegal trade in China they are influential because of their systematic innovation so whereas other Traders are content to sell in the Pearl River Estuary out of sight of King officials jarding's commission ships to be built which will sell the drug along the coast they commission new clipper ships fast sailing vessels which will bring the Opium as quickly as possible to the China Coast Jordan and Matheson biopium in British control Bengal and more their ships off the Chinese Coast the Opium is offloaded and delivered by Chinese middlemen to Chinese customers what's most important about Jarina Matheson is the fact that they do not consider themselves to be Smugglers they're not Smugglers they are gentlemen they're Traders they are licensed Traders the Chinese who come to buy the opium from their ships in discrete anchorages off the coast of fujian Province they are Smugglers but their business invites considerable disdain back in Britain William Jardin is described by Benjamin Disraeli the British prime minister as a dreadful man a Scotchman richer than crisis one mcdruggie fresh from Canton with a million of opium in each pocket but in the minds of Jordan and Matheson their company is merely supplying a commodity that Chinese crave and it's a trade that is eyed enviously from the other side of the Atlantic by The Americans particularly the China Trader Thomas and acid Perkins one of the most respectable names in Boston Society who resents being frozen out of the lucrative opium trade by the British that fact had always bothered Thomas Perkins who enjoyed a healthy rivalry with his British competitors if Thomas Perkins could exchange opium for tea he knew he could become a much much richer Trader than if he were exchanging silver for tea the Americans joined this illegal trade when they Source their own opium through turkey the number of opium chests now being smuggled into China grows at an astonishing rate there was of course a growing social crisis the use of opium was being noticed by the officials of the Qing Dynasty who are increasingly worried about what they saw as the harmful effects of smoking or chewing opium on large proportions of society by the 1830s the number of opium addicts is counted in millions the drug is taking a terrible toll on the health of the nation in Beijing Emperor Dal Guan must confront a huge dilemma he must stem his people's growing addiction to Opium and stop precious silver flowing out of his Empire in March 1839 he reaches a decision he dispatches his most Incorruptible official to Cantor commissioner Ling cersu commissioner Lin is appointed to Crackdown on the illegal opium trade he moves fairly swiftly and he moves fairly ruthlessly first of all he would descend on the scene and demand that all opium addicts and all opium dealers immediately surrender their stores of the drug that was number one number two he was lenient as long as you complied with his wishes and gave up your opium he would not penalize you at all he might even help you get some assistance however if you did not Surrender Your opium he would put you to death commissioner Lynn arrests over 1500 Chinese dealers and confiscates seventy thousand opium pipes he then demands that the British surrender their chests of opium when they refuse he blocks the Pearl River and confines All Foreign Merchants to their residences he holds them under house arrest their servants are taken away from them some of them have to learn to cook this is a great shock lindsayashu's focus is not confined to foreign merchants he holds canton's Chief Merchant to account for the rampant opium smuggling hawkwa in particular being the chief Hall Merchant for a long time was under heavier scrutiny by the chain Court so there there are various rounds of assessment financially and otherwise that caused Hopewell and his family dearly Aqua lives under threat of beheading during this tense standoff at the same time one of his American business partners in Canton Robert Bennett Forbes reflects candidly on the lucrative nature and the morality of the opium trade in a letter to his wife the import of opium has gradually increased under the Kana sauce of the local authorities until the quantity is amounted to 50 000 chests worth nearly 15 million dollars it has generally sold readily for cash down 15 millions of dollars is a great deal of money and all at once the government determined to cut off this trade which has been demoralizing the minds and destroying the bodies and draining the country of money there has been no moral feeling of indignation connected with the business I would mention that I made my first Fortune by the same to bring this impasse to an end and return to business the British surrender their opium to linger shoe in March 1839 he orders their 20 000 chests of opium to be publicly destroyed [Music] um foreign mixed with water and poured into the sea millions and millions of pounds worth in today's money of this precious drug is flushed into the Pearl River shoe was in a way a a kind Humane man he realized that vast amounts of Narcotics were heading into the water system he gave a little prayer for the fish in the Aquatic Life so that they could they could survive the sudden influx of drugs into their environment Then followed up with a letter to Queen Victoria basically admonishing her for allowing her traders to come to China and sell this particular drug so long as you attempt the people of China to buy it you will be showing yourselves careless of the lives of others indifferent in your Greed for gain to the harm you do to others your majesty must never again allow such a poison to exist in heaven or on Earth and he had thought very much in the traditional Confucian way that having been admonished this foreign Monarch would learn the error of her ways and the Opium Traders from Britain would stop it turned out that was not at all the case instead after the destruction of their opium the British demand compensation when it's refused it's taken as an insult to the British state canton's two biggest opium Traders William Jardin and James Matheson spearhead a furious response they published pamphlets going around the country speaking to people who could then Lobby Parliament there was a strong belief that a short sharp shock would solve the China problem and force the Qing to accept the new reality of a world of British power and uh a world in which the British had to be taken seriously treated with respect and allowed to to trade the British foreign minister Lord Palmerston needs little persuasion his rallying cry let us give China a good thrashing and explain ourselves afterwards they were determined to get a war they got the war [Music] by June 1840 a British flotilla reaches the Pearl River China is competent it has all its defenses in place it was a major operation to get the entire China Coast ready for an attack but they did not realize how Fierce the attack would be okay foreign foreign but what China has not realized is that Britain in the early 19th century has transformed no longer the nation that had to kneel before the Chinese emperor to bear gifts it has emerged triumphant from the Napoleonic Wars and now has Imperial ambitions despite Britain's population being 30 times smaller than China's the British government can now raise the same amount of Revenue each year as the Chinese emperor first of all it was fueled literally you might say because of coal by the new capacity of the Industrial Revolution the gunboats that came off the coast of China were a different from the old sorts of sailing vessels you might have had even a hundred years earlier along with the guns themselves this was high level very high Precision technology in other words the British had taken a Quantum Leap in terms of the amount of violence they were able to inflict on those who ran up against them the key Battleship the Nemesis almost won the Opium War single-handed could obviously travel Against the Wind being steam powered could do all the things that the Chinese War junks couldn't do it was really a technological mismatch as far as the Chinese were concerned China's ports come under Relentless attack its ships are hopelessly outgunned and outmaneuvered the British enjoy as much of a technical Advantage When The War reaches land is foreign but to negotiate a peace treaty in 1842 they signed the Treaty of Nanking it's a document which reflects how much China's world has changed the British copy is here in the national archives in London foreign Ty Her Majesty the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and His Majesty the Emperor of China being desirous of putting an end to the misunderstandings and consequent hostilities which have Arisen between the two countries have resolved to conclude a treaty for that purpose so although the language of this treaty is warm and friendly it's in fact a statement that from this point onwards China is going to have to do what the British say the treaty achieves all and more of the British requests of the McCartney Embassy of 1793 that had been so swiftly denied by the Chinese emperor his majesty the Emperor of China agrees that British subjects with their families and establishments shall be allowed to reside for the purpose of carrying on their Mercantile Pursuits without molestation or restraint at the cities and towns of Canton Amoy fujofu Ningbo and Shanghai but there is an even greater demand from the British his majesty the Emperor of China seeds to her majesty the queen of Great Britain the island of Hong Kong to be possessed in perpetuity by herbertronic Majesty to be governed by such laws and regulations as her majesty the queen of Great Britain shall see fit to direct the Emperor of China who until this point perhaps never really had to cede anything to anyone is being told that under the influence of gunships he is going to have to let the queen of Great Britain you know this far off country essentially take over colonize part of his territory this rather obscure little bit of southern China an island called Hong Kong action the reverse of this that a Chinese set of Warships were had turned up in the late 19th century off the solent maybe deciding that they wanted the Isle of Wight and you have to reverse that thinking to understand how outrageous this would have seemed in China [Music] I think the treaty of Nanjing is one of the most important documents in Chinese history because it marks the beginning of a period that shapes Chinese thinking even today in the early 21st century it's the time when China enters what's become nicknamed the century of humiliation being forced to sign this treaty and they were forced was essentially a sign that China could no longer decide on its own Foreign Relations instead it could be ordered it could be told how to relate to the outside world and the memory of that humiliation has never gone away in China China's fall is spectacular the loss of the war is felt nationally and personally it brings to an end the Golden Age of Canton and the rapid demise of its Chief Merchant and one-time richest man in the world he dies in 1843 one year after the end of the Opium War his son continues the business but the vast Fortune dwindles and today only the family name survives foreign see it's Japanese only rare photographs allow a glimpse of Hawk was once magnificent residence and ornamental Gardens today almost nothing remains [Music] this is [Music] foreign foreign [Music] for the victors the Opium War is transformative Hong Kong begins its spectacular rise from what is dismissed at the time as a Barren lump of rock on the Chinese Coast to become an integral part of the British Empire and at the heart of Hong Kong the business Empire of Jordan and Matheson founded on opium dominates in less than 50 years the Silva that helped China dictate World Trade has played a profound role in China losing its place as the world's leading economic power China is now experiencing a harsh new reality opium triggers another disastrous War for China and the Country Must witness the deliberate destruction of a masterpiece of Chinese civilization the destruction of the Summer Palace was very much an act of punishment it was designed absolutely to humiliate and lower the standing of the Qing Court China is then overwhelmed not just by Western Powers but also Japan you see the Gathering Together of different Imperial Powers all seeking a slice of China but worse is to come when China's bury existence is threatened many Chinese officials and observers think that in fact China faces National Extinction we talk about this the threat of Extinction [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Absolute History

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Keywords: history documentaries, absolute history, world history, ridiculous history, quirky history

Id: 62BABCgJSO8

Length: 58min 33sec (3513 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 22 2023