The Opium War :: essays research papers

The Opium WarThe Opium War, direct by Jin Xie, paints a rather impartial account of the Opium War, starting with the day of the month of Lin Zexu to end the opium trade in China to the signing of the Treaty of Nanking. This exposure seemed to fairly depict the faults of both the Chinese and the British during the 1830s and up to 1842. That said, The Opium War illustrated twain important factors that both helped to promote the conflict and eventual(prenominal) military confrontation between China and Britain. The first is the state of the Chinese political sympathies at the time of the opium trade. There was enough corruption inwardly the government itself that it was very difficult to halt affair at its source. The trading company that dealt with the British merchants often had to bribe officials with opium in order to fatten their business. Not only did this give incentive for the local government officials to tolerate allowing the trading, it made it difficult to find and prosecute all the parties involved. When Lin Zexu saw the accounts record, he could not believe that so many officials were involved, and he went as farther as to say that prosecuting them all means he would have to scratch off every official in Guangzhou. Indeed even some of his stimulate officials were opium users, forcing Lin Zexu to bend the rules, saying to err is human.While it was hard enough to supply ship out opium trade from China, it was even more difficult for the Chinese government to accept the demands of the British. At this time in history, China had grown overly sure of itself and presumed itself to be the greatest world power. This sort of arrogant and remote government is shown in the old and frail officials advising the emperor on actions against the British. plain after an initial attack and as war is looming between the two nations, China is still so sure of its power that the emperor, instead of asking for a truce, grants a truce for the British. At th is point however, it is interesting to assembly line that it is somewhat unclear what the intentions of the Chinese government are. The officials are seemingly change integrity on whether to appease the British or to wage open war. As China negotiated with Britain however, it seems that the Chinese were eager to appease any demands because they were already faint-hearted of their ability to defend themselves against a naval attack.