1. 2.Opium destruction at Humen
1.1. At Qing Dynasty, the number of people smoking opium increased
1.1.1. English merchants found that selling opium is profitable, so they smuggled the opium produced in India to China to sell
1.2. At the reign of Daoguang Emperor, because a great amount of opium was imported, which endangered people’s health and the finance of China
1.2.1. Daoguang Emperor sent Lin Zexu to Guangzhou to suppress( or ban on) opium.
1.3. Lin Zexu went to Guangzhou and demanded the foreign merchants to hand over the opium war
1.3.1. But Charles Elliot, the Cheif Superintendent of British Trade in China, refused to do so
1.3.1.1. Lin Zexu then blockaded the English factories
1.4. As a result, the United Kingdom was forced to hand over more than 20,00 boxes of opium which were mainly destructed at Humen
2. Background
2.1. The United Kingdom and France became advanced industrial countries after the Industrial Revolution
2.1.1. There was a need to expand the market for the industrial goods
2.1.2. China became the target of the Western countries to trade
2.2. The Qing government believed that China was the Celestial Empire and is rich in products and didn’t need to import goods from foreign countries
2.2.1. The Qing government only allowed the foreign merchants to trade in Guangzhou
2.3. The United Kingdom hoped that China can open more treaty ports
2.3.1. So that the English goods could be sold in different places of the whole China
3. 1.Trade deficit
3.1. United Kingdom was the major Western country country that came to China to trade
3.1.1. There was lack of demand in China for the goods sold by the United Kingdom
3.1.1.1. Woollen
3.1.1.2. Cotton
3.1.2. The United Kingdom’s demand for Chinese goods continuously increased
3.1.2.1. Tea
3.1.2.2. Silk
3.1.2.3. Poetry
3.2. This resulted a huge trade deficit of the United Kingdom towards China
3.2.1. The United Kingdom send envoy to China to negotiate for a few times but all were unsuccessful
4. 3.The incident of Lin Weixi
4.1. The incident of Lin Weixi, a villager from Kowloon being beaten to death by the English soldiers happened
4.2. Li Zexu demanded the English to hand over the murder but the English refused to do so
4.2.1. Thus, Lin Zexu ordered to expel the English and terminated the trading with the United Kingdom
4.3. The United Kingdom claimed that their people’s lives faced great threats and there was a need to protect the United Kingdom’s interests
4.3.1. They used these as the reasons to send soldiers to attack China
4.4. The First Opium War officially broke out where the war continued for more than 2 years
4.4.1. China was defeated by the UK because of how powerful the English navy was and how strong the English weapons were
4.5. China was forced to sign the treaty of Nanjing with the United Kingdom
4.5.1. the effects of the war towards China from three aspects. Which ar the political the economic and the diplomatic aspects.