The Opium War 1840 1842

This book tells the fascinating story of the war between England and China that delivered Hong Kong to the English, forced the imperial Chinese government to add four ports to Canton as places in which foreigners could live and trade, and rendered irrever

This book tells the fascinating story of the war between England and China that delivered Hong Kong to the English, forced the imperial Chinese government to add four ports to Canton as places in which foreigners could live and trade, and rendered irreversible the process that for almost a century thereafter distinguished western relations with this quarter of the globe-- the process that is loosely termed the "opening of China." Originally published by UNC Press in 1975, Peter Ward Fay's study was the first to treat extensively the opium trade from the point of production in India to the point of consumption in China and the first to give both Protestant and Catholic missionaries their due; it remains the most comprehensive account of the first Opium War through western eyes. In a new preface, Fay reflects on the relationship between the events described in the book and Hong Kong's more recent history.

An account of the war started by the British when, in 1840, the Chinese tried to stop the sale of opium.

The first Anglo-Chinese War of 1839-1842 was fought essentially over trade restrictions between the British Empire and the Qing Dynasty. European traders were only permitted to sell though a cartel of Chinese merchants known as the Thirteen Hongs, and were not allowed to travel, live or trade in any other part of China apart from the Thirteen Factories in Canton. Due to the ever-growing demands of the home market for tea, and China's insistence on payment in silver, a trade imbalance in China's favour developed, and so the British, via the East India Company, began to trade in opium. Initially the Chinese authorities tolerated this, but in 1839, the new governor of Canton seized all the opium, banned its sale under threat of death, and closed the channel to Canton, effectively holding the British traders hostage. The resulting retaliation from the British was somewhat delayed, but in April 1840 the Chinese Expedition, a force of 3000 soldiers and a small naval force arrived in Singapore. After decisively defeating the Chinese in the summer 1842, the war finally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Nanking and the ceding of Hong Kong to the British Crown. Fully illustrated throughout with contemporary paintings, engravings and maps, this authoritative eye-witness account of the First Opium War was written by Duncan McPherson, a surgeon with the 37th Madras Native Infantry. Highly readable, McPherson's vivid descriptions of China and its people, and his detailed accounts of the battles give a unique perspective to the conflict. Also included is an in-depth appendix featuring the official battle reports, general orders, circulars, notifications and returns of the dead and wounded.

As China reclaims its position as a world power, Imperial Twilight looks back to tell the story of the country’s last age of ascendance and how it came to an end in the nineteenth-century Opium War. As one of the most potent turning points in the country’s modern history, the Opium War has since come to stand for everything that today’s China seeks to put behind it. In this dramatic, epic story, award-winning historian Stephen Platt sheds new light on the early attempts by Western traders and missionaries to “open” China even as China’s imperial rulers were struggling to manage their country’s decline and Confucian scholars grappled with how to use foreign trade to China’s advantage. The book paints an enduring portrait of an immensely profitable—and mostly peaceful—meeting of civilizations that was destined to be shattered by one of the most shockingly unjust wars in the annals of imperial history. Brimming with a fascinating cast of British, Chinese, and American characters, this riveting narrative of relations between China and the West has important implications for today’s uncertain and ever-changing political climate.