[video=youtube;4lpL-6u9uoM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lpL-6u9uoM"[/video] I saw this movie a while ago. I was so shocked to learn about the Opium War. Do you think the Chinese would have had the audacity to impose drug smuggling to another country like the British? Do you think this movie is a propaganda and is historically inaccurate? I want to hear your opinions.
Sad as it is, the insulting comment by the "foreigner" in the opening of the film is rather accurate; that is, "...if he's Chinese, he can be bribed." Opium could have only existed to the extent that it did with the pervasive official corruption endemic to China of those times (and throughout most of history). This is not unlike the effect of Narco money that has countries like Colombia, Mexico, Myanmar, Afghanistan under the thumb of present day drug dealers. Further, though Opium was mostly imported, people (especially Chinese) tend to sidestep the unpleasant historic fact that Opium was also being cultivated right in China itself (sometimes even under official government sanction) by Chinese themselves. In 1895, George Ernest Morrison (an Australian medical doctor turned photographer journalist), observed: "Edicts are still issued against the use of opium. They are drawn up by Chinese philanthropists over a quiet pipe of opium, signed by opium-smoking officials, whose revenues are derived from the poppy, and posted near fields of poppy by the opium-smoking magistrates who own them." Source Cultivation of Opium Poppies in China [c1900] The Chinese military losses during the Opium Wars and subsequent political concessions to foreign powers for years afterward (including extensive indemnity payments) was the culmination of decades of weakening Qing dynastic influence. At the time, the declining imperial government remained arrogant and thought that it could withstand foreign incursions when it was already at a point where it was woefully ill prepared to do anything of the sort. Though massively superior in numbers over the British (and other foreign troops), Chinese forces were so technically inferior that small groups of English troops typically routed much larger Chinese forces. This was what ultimately fed into the notion of humiliating defeats, where literally thousands of Chinese could not stand against a few hundred well armed foreigners. People often remember and attribute the whole affair of the Opium trade as a foreigner imposed ill upon the Chinese people, when it cannot be looked upon simply as one act in a vacuum. Rather, the whole affair took place in the context of a failing imperial government, predicated upon the fact that many Chinese themselves eagerly awaited the fall of their Manchu leaders (some Chinese of the times didn't recognize the foreign Qing but wanted restoration of the Han led Ming). This itself fed into violent internal conflict (ie Taiping Rebellion, which killed roughly 20 million Chinese) and was, at the time, a much greater threat and concern to the Chinese Kingdom than the foreign or domestic drug trade. Additionally, successful and uninterrupted commerce was looked upon by the British monarchy as something of vital importance. The fact that some of that trade involved illegal or contraband items was downplayed by English merchants, to the point that many historians question if the Queen actually knew of or was fully informed as to the extent of such trade. There also existed evangelical crusades against the import of Opium to China by foreign missionaries; all opposed and actively sought to stop or curtail such activity. Foreign missionaries were the first to organized Opium Refuges, to help individuals rid themselves of their addictions. This was similar to the contemporary drug detox centers which supports an addict as he or she undergoes withdrawal. Historically, the first systematic collection of medical evidence on the ravages of drug addiction were begun by medical missionaries working in China. Their data was then brought to England, where their fellow churchmen publicized and denounced the British protected trade. However, powerful trade and commerce interests of the day held more political sway and the practice nonetheless continued. Foreign opium storage ships sits in Chinese waters. These well guarded fortress like boats received goods from their ocean going cousins and held opium awaiting off loading by Chinese "businessmen" The opium trade in China existed much like the drug trade of today. There are plenty of drug traffickers willing to smuggle their wares into countries filled with willing consumers. In this regard, the Chinese themselves then, like their drug addicted counterparts today, were their own worst enemies. Sadly, despite the historic scourge of the opiate yoke, heroin addiction and the spread of needle borne HIV remains epidemic in regions like Yunnan and Guangxi.
Yes, it is true that the Chinese cultivated opium, but it was sold in China and perhaps elsewhere as a medicinal product and was not sold in mass. Moreover, although corruption was a problem, it was not solely a Chinese problem. Corrupt officials existed in every country and throughout history, and is an element that every colonial power exploited. The Opium war turned, China, which was the world wealthiest nation and perhaps the only benign non-belligerent empire in history, into a third-world country. You must have a very poor understanding of history, my friend. Did you copy and paste this from some obscure site? This video is for those who can't read and really have no idea what happened. [video=youtube;AgqbInNM-8k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgqbInNM-8k&feature=related"[/video]
Here's your first mistake; I am not your friend. Second, you can read your history and interpret it anyway you wish. But as for China historically being a benign non-belligerent Empire? LOL... that alone tells me that your depth of understanding of Chinese history is so shallow that you wouldn't know it if it slapped you in the face; go on with your "China is Perfect" delusion.
Hes got a point. Western colonial powers are responsible for the fall, extinction and exploitation of some of the oldest cultures in existence.
Chinese empire expansion and contraction was already ongoing whilst most Europeans were barely out of caves; 5000 years of Chinese history and yet somehow, those upstart Europeans were able to surpassed and then put the spank on China with the Opium wars? I find that to be simply amazing. Fact remains, China should have seen it coming a long mile away. Instead, China (in its various forms) as a nation failed many times throughout its history. The worst was when it was utterly defeated by the Mongols (or do people really think that the Yuan dynasty was a home grown Chinese phenom?) and then again, had its head handed back on a plate to it by the Manchurians. Had Europeans genuinely been a problem to the same degree, we would be talking about an Elizabethan dynasty with a white man sitting in the Forbidden City right now. The brits, faced with an import export imbalance, did the sleazy thing of pumping up the available supply of opium. The Chinese middle man may have felt very bad about it, but sold the drugs to his own countrymen nonetheless. When China was shown by the Opium Wars to be the weak, defenseless and foundering nation that it really was at the time, blood was in the water and eight nations worth of sharks began to circle the dying victim, taking a bite whenever one felt the need. Europeans have been responsible for the fall, extinction and exploitation of some of the oldest cultures in existence, but the Chinese have a lot more experience doing the same. Back when the first emperor "unified" China, did the Chu, Han, Zhao (et al), all decide to fall in line with Qin reasoning to form a united China; what of their cultures and ways of life? They were all mercilessly defeated by a blood thirsty power hungry tyrant who cared little about unification. It was purely an act of domination; conquer your neighbors and those that didn't submit were put to the knife (heck, even those that submitted were often put to the knife anyway) was as far as Qin charity went. Little had changed since that unification. Thus, Chinese had been killing Chinese long before Europeans even knew of the existence of a Middle Kingdom. Hence, it really makes little sense to me to keep blaming Europeans and the "west" for China's ills, past or present. The bulk of our history is of our own doing; or shall we now blame Shang dynasty human sacrifices to foreigners too? Chinese history is chock full of ugly events that were purely and uniquely of Chinese making. If you really wanted to be honest about it, you'll accept that no one, not even us Chinese, were perfect about anything, and at the worst of times, were often our own worst enemies. Qing China at the time of the Opium Wars failed miserably in terms of governance. We got fat and lazy, arrogant and sloppy. Had the Qing been better prepared, it may have led China to set up "foreign" concessions in Manchester and Southampton, and Ireland may have been ceded to the Chinese "...in perpetuity" instead of Hong Kong to the British. The Chinese would have probably been selling opium to drug addicted Englishmen instead. The English were being perfect opportunists, and the Chinese allowed them to do so. When the Chinese realized that they could do little about the English drug trade, they even joined in selling opium to it's own people in order to get a slice of the profit pie. Hence, both nations share a burden of blame.
