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Escape from Hengyang by Qiong Yao |
QING DYNASTY: PART II
Continuing from Qing Dynasty: Part I: The Manchus were both a blessing and a disaster for China. The blessing would be its early territorial expansionism which somehow prepared China proper for buffering the Czarist eastward expansion that would inevitably come in last couple hundreds of years. The disaster would be its policy of 'closing off the seashore' for segregation of Ming remnants in Taiwan and Southeast Asia from mainland Chinese. 
(Manchu's territorial gain was at the expense of China's population drop from 51.66 million in 1620 to 10.63 million in 1651, a tragic loss from the Manchu invasion, which had also exhibited the fact that China was not a country that could be easily conquered and that China's brave men were always willing to fall martyrdom in the resistance to foreign invasion.)
Li Ao, a critic of the KMT on Taiwan, echoed Li Hongzhang's comments that Manchu China's confrontation with 'red-hair devils' (i.e., British) was an extraordinary event not foreseen by China for 3000 years and that Britain, with its military might and fire-power, was an enemy China could not match during the course of past 1000 years. Wrong ! The cousins of 'red-hair devils', i.e., the Dutch, had arrived at Java in 1595 and the Chinese coast in AD 1602. From AD 1603 to 1624, Ming China exerted hundreds of ships and thousands of soldiers to repelling the Dutch from Chinese coasts and the Pescadores Islands. Often, numerous Ming ships encircled big Dutch warships for sake of winning the fight. Ming China mobilized a huge field army for landing on the Penghu Islands (i.e., Pescadores) and after fierce fighting, forced the Dutch into withdrawal. Dozens of years later, Zheng Chenggong, son of pirate-turned Ming General Zheng Zhilong, would first adopt the approach of "defeating the aliens by means of aliens' weapons". Zheng Chenggong, whose merchant fleets had sailed to the four corners of the seas, actively purchased weapons, firearms and cannons from the Dutch. In February 1662, Zheng Chenggong successfully expelled from Taiwan Island the Dutch who, having colonized the island from 1624 to 1662, already latinized the aboriginals' language to the extent that the aboriginals no longer remembered their own native language. Before the Dutch, Ming China waged two wars against Portuguese during time periods of 1521-1522 and 1547-1549 for securing territorial integrity. Manchu Qing China, in the ensuing hundreds of years, had been mostly occupied with "pleasure-seeking and literature-decoration", a 1916 comment by Japanese Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu in regards to Yuan Shi-kai's death and its influence on the rise and fall of the Republic Of China. (The worst thing is that today's decadent Communist China is not any better than the Manchu rulers. Note that "1957 Anti-Rightists Movement" had doomed China's fate for 20 years after finishing off China's half century worth of elites and conscience, and June 4th 1989 Masaccre had routed China's elites & conscience once again and doomed China for the past 15 years. China, in addition to losing to the Europeans and Japanese tons of gold, silver & wealth accumulated over the span of 5000 years, would lose almost one century worth of good souls for nothing. Red alerts !!!) The Opium War (1839-1842) 
Per Cai Dongfan, opium first reached China during Ming Emperor Shenzong's reign, and Emperor Shenzong (Zhu Yijun, r. 1573-1620) was addicted to it and named it 'Fu Shou Gao'.
Dutch had conducted opium trading from 17th century onward.
While Portugal had swindlingly leased Macau and used it for trading with Ming China, Manchu Qing China had no policy of commerce with Britain at the time.
As noted by http://www.ctrl.org/boodleboys/boddlesboys2.html, in 1689, the English began trading at Canton and by the early 1770's they surpassed the Portuguese, Dutch and French to "became the leading supplier" to China.
corvalliscommunitypages.com/asia_pacific/china/whether_corvallis_was_the_land_o.htm pointed out that "the Opium Wars waged against China by England, with the encouragement of American President John Quincy Adams, resulted in massive suffering in the (Chinese) countryside (and the cities) as the English and American drug cartels pushed their wares (opium) into every small village in Asia (China) as a means of paying for massive imports of Chinese tea and silk. "
http://historyliterature.homestead.com/files/extended.html
noted that "in 1820, 9,708 chests of opium
was smuggled in per year. 15 years later, the smuggled opium rose to 35,445 chests, a growth of 400%."
Per Sterling Seagrave, opium sold to China increased to 39000 cases in 1837 from 5000 cases in 1821.
http://www.ctrl.org/boodleboys/boddlesboys2.html traced the history of opium trade as follows:
Many historians discount the American activity in the opium trade, generally concentrating on the British and their mercantilist trading syndicate, the British East India Company. Because of the Navigation Act of 1651, Americans "were not permitted to sail their own ships to the Orient," they were required as colonists and subjects to buy all their Chinese goods in London from the East India Company. The East India Company’s monopoly on the tea trade was more of a reason for the American Revolution than the cost of the tax. Through a political arrangement the tea was actually coming in for less than it could be bought in England. But the agitation of Samuel Adams, Ben Franklin and others had led to situation where ships were sent back to England unloaded, some cargoes rotted other shipments were destroyed—ala, the Boston Tea Party... Until 1792 part of the Perkins family shipping business, along with their Cabot relations was the slave trade. In 1789 Thomas H. Perkins first went to China with Elias Derby from Salem, Massachusetts. A "loyalist" cousin, who fled America during the War of Independence, George Perkins was a merchant in Symrna. With a solid "connection," a strong family framework and firm financial backing Perkins & Company became the leader in the American pack. It was a family affair. Thomas H. was brother-in-law of Russell Sturgis, an uncle to J.P. Cushing and brothers John M. and Robert B. Forbes. Joshua Bates, a partner in Baring Brothers Bank, handled the family business in London. He was married to a Sturgis. Russell Sturgis's grandson later became Chairman of the Board of Barings. Perkins & Co. found that illegality both in nature and operation discouraged competition and used sporadic attempts by the Chinese Government to enforce their opium prohibition, "to [build] the machinery that allowed it to control the Canton market for Turkish opium." Perkins & Company became the first American firm to operate a "storeship" at Lintin in a new smuggling procedure. Samuel Russell and Phillip Ammidon came to Canton in 1824, Russell having first been there in 1818 as a business representative for a merchant house out of Providence R.I. Ammidon went on to India to serve as the firm's opium buyer. In "a series of accidents and coincidental decisions" Russell & Company acquired a "virtual" monopoly on the American portion of the trade in the 1830's. Other eastern merchants failed, died, or retired like John Jacob Astor. Perkins & Company, resident partner in Canton, Thomas T. Forbes was drown in August of 1829, and he carried a letter which gave Russell "charge of the firm's [Perkin's] business." In the 1830's the price of opium went down and shipments of opium to China went up. The decade started out with four times the shipments of 1820 and by 1838 over ten times. The opium clipper—introduced by the Americans—with its ability to sail against the monsoons made three round-trip journeys within one year instead of taking up to two years. Profits were huge and there was a large flow of silver being introduced from China into booming western economies. In early 1837 there was a price-crash in the opium market and the speculators losses reverberated around the world in a financial panic in which specie became scarce both in Britain and the US. August Belmont came to New York City in 1837, a stopover on his way to Havana, but stayed on in Gotham, buying securities, debts and property during the "Panic of 1837." Many say he was acting as an agent for the Rothschilds. Also in 1837 George Peabody, an old "China" trader—among other ventures—settled in London and brought into his sphere JS Morgan, progenitor of JP Morgan. Many Bonesmen were partners and principals in Morgan-related firms. (Frank Dikötter had written another seemingly astute but ludicrous article entitled "Race in China" at http://cio.ceu.hu/courses/CIO/modules/Module08Dikoetter/print.html - Frank Dikötter and the sort had no clue about "Chinese racism/nationalism" of 1900s at which time revolutionary forerunners had undergone stages of cognizance as to "social Darwinism" but finally adopted for the Republic of China the "Five Color National Flag" [1912-1928], which was symbolic of the union of five ethnic groups of Han, Mongol, Manchu, Tibetan & Hui Muslim.) Portuguese, British & Macao In AD 1514, i.e., 9th Year of Ming Emperor Wuzong's Zhengde Era, the first Portuguese ship arrived at Guangdong Province coastline. Ming China, as a result of bribery and collusion of Portuguese with local officials, mis-identified the Portuguese as the same as Malacca merchants. In AD 1520, Ming Dynasty verified that Fulangji (i.e., Portugal) had incorporated the land of Malacca that was considered a Ming vassal. By 1521, Emperor Shizong (Zhu Houcong, r 1522-1566) issued the decree of expulsion right after enthronement. The Portuguese interpreter was executed, while Portuguese emissary Thomas Pirez was driven to Guangdong coast from Peking. Thomas Pirez, retained as a hostage for restoring Malacca Kingdom, later died in prison in Guangdong Province. During 1521-1522 Sino-Portuguese War, Ming army climbed up two Portuguese ships, killed about 35 Portuguese, captured 43 Portuguese alive, caught about 10 men and women (Portuguese captives?), and caused numerous others fall off the ships and get drowned in the seas. From 1547 to 1549, Ming Governor Zhu Wan, also the imperial commissioner for coastal defence of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, launched three attacks at the Portuguese, wiping out Portuguese strongholds at Shuangyu (Ningbo, Zhejiang), and killed and captured over 239 Portuguese at Wuyu (Zhuangzhou, Fujian) and Zoumaxi (Shaoan, Fujian). Later, Portuguese came back to Xiangshan'ao area. As a result of Portuguese bribery and collusion with Ming local official, in AD 1553, Portuguese, who discarded the old name of Falangji [Fulangji], swindled the land of Macao by first pretending to dry their wet merchandise. Ming China, however, continuously restricted Portuguese activities by dismantling their church and city walls. On May 29th 1622, two British ships joined 15 Dutch warships in attacking Macao. In AD 1635, British, who had assisted Portuguese in shipping copper and metals to Goa one year ago but were refused entry into Macao, would dispatch 6 warships to Macao for trading with China. When British moored near Macao on June 25th 1637, Portuguese refused entry to the British. British, however, sailed along Pearl River towards Canton, bombarded Humen Battery when Chinese tried to stop them, and did not retreat till Chinese allowed some of their goods tranferred to Canton. Thereafter, British, by pretending to provide cover to Portuguese in passage through Dutch-blockaded Malacca Strait, gained access to Macao. Only after Chinese intervention did the British leave Macao. British would not return to Macao till AD March 18th 1802, about 160 years later. In between, around AD 1743, county magistrate for Dongguan county, i.e., Yin Guangren, boarded two British warships that were blown to Siziyang Sea near Humen Battery and forced British into releasing 299 Spanish captives to Portuguese in Macao before providing food, repairmen and other logistics. Succeeding Manchu Dynasty inherited Ming China's policy and granted the Portuguese access to the markets the same way as to Arab, Muslim & Southeast Asian traders. British returned to Macao after Britain, in AD 1801, grabbed Goa from Portugal by taking advantage of the Portuguese defeat in Portuguese-Franco War. Portuguese governor sought help with Manchu China. After China refused to trade with Britain and cut off supply to British, British ships left in June 1802. By late 1807, Lisbon fell into the French hands. British governor in India pretended to help Macao defend against France, and dispatched 10 ships to Macao on Sept 11th 1808. About 760 British soldiers occupied Macao.  Opium War & Trafficking Of Coolies & Sex Slaves Prof Yen Ching-hwang had authored a book entitled "Chinese Coolies Overseas & Manchu Officials" [i.e., Coolies and Mandarins] and pointed out that British Opium War of 1839-1842 had coincided with the prosperity of slave-nature trafficking of Chinese coolies overseas, a trade that was first started by the Dutch in 17th century. Yen Ching-hwang stated that Xiamen (Amoy), a port which had replaced historical Quanzhou port, would become the first port to see Chinese coolie sold overseas. In 1847, British governor claimed that British revenues from Amoy was 72,000 pounds, about 3 times the combined value from all other ports, a manifestation of slave trade in trafficking Chinese coolie to British Guana, Trinidad and Jamaica. Yen Ching-hwang stated that Macau would take the place of Amoy beginning from Nov 1852 when riots broke out as a result of Chinese attacking a British smuggler and his coolie trafficking Chinese henchman. From 1847 to 1875, 150,000 Chinese coolies were sold to Cuba as 'zhu zai' [i.e., piggy coolie]. Coolie trade continued till early 20th century as evidenced by the fact that the father of Li Zongren was hired by British in HK for years of indentured coolie work in Malay where they obtained freedom after strikes lasting years. Peru, Pacific Islands, West Indies, North Africa, South Africa, and Australia had all engaged in Chinese coolie slave trade. Chinese coolies built the Panama Railway. America was no exception. Chinese coolies built the US railroads and highways across Western US territories. Per Ah Ying, Chinese were first "shanghai'ed" to California in 1847 in the aftermath of American annexation of the Mexican province. The second wave of coolies came in 1865 when US constructed continental railways and highways. (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/cubhtml/cicTitles12.html contained a dossier of files on "The Chinese in California, 1850-1925". "Chinese Exclusion Act" was based on a 1879 California state law which discriminated against Chinese as scapegoats for the 1877 economic recession. The Peking Treaty of 1880 buried inside such clauses as allowing the US government take measures against Chinese coolies. See cprr.org/Museum/Fusang.html for Chinese Railroad Men working as coolie in America under ferocious White men's racial discrimination. In California, Chinese coolies dug the canal, built the dykes, and turned 400,000 acres of Sacramento marsh land into agricultural land. Also see SAN LUIS OBISPO'S CHINESE for the context of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. US government, after acquiring Hawaii in summer of 1898 and Philippines in Dec 1898, applied "Chinese Exclusion Act" to Chinese on the two islands, and further, President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law to have "Chinese Exclusion Act" applied throughout US-controlled islands and territories over the world, making the Chinese the lowest caste, a fundamental cause in Chinese suffering in ethnic cleansing which occurred in Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia etc. There had occurred an anti-American boycott in 1905 in reaction to the racially discriminating US policies toward Chinese coolie workers inside the United States. Leftist writer Ah Ying pointed out that the anti-American boycott originated from China's opposition to 1904 American attempt at renewing the 1880 Peking Treaty, by citation of which the US had expanded excluding-Chinese constraints to as many as 61 clauses. In 1943, CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT was repealed by the American Congress, with China awarded a yearly immigration quota of 102 persons.) More, Portuguese specialized in selling Chinese women and Chinese girls overseas as sex slaves throughout the latter half of 19th century. One Jesuit's AD 1563 account stated that he had taught Christianity to two batches of 450 and 200 Chinese women slaves before they were sold to Portuguese merchants and officials in Goa as sex slaves; Archbishop at Goa, Dom Ignacis De Sama Terez, stated in 1725 that Chinese women slaves were often cruelly killed by the wives of Portuguese merchants & officials and that Portuguese women encouraged their sons in sexually abusing Chinese women and girls; and in 1855, A British ship, Englewood, carried over 40 Chinese girls around age 7-8 [abducted from Ningbo area of coastal Zhejiang Prov] for transfer to a Portuguese called Martinez in Amoy port. Note that some White males have a sick & clandestine opinion even today that small Chinese/Asian women are good for sex. (The prosperity of sex slave trafficking could perhaps been vindicated by the huge population of Chinese-looking Indians in Goa of India. One would have to pity the men and women of Chinese, both ancestral and posterior, whom the creator Jewish & Christian God had decided to deliberately left out as the "non-chosen".) British Resentment Over Manchu Trading System In AD 1725, Manchu prohibited non-Portuguese foreigners (i.e., Westerners) from dwelling in Macau. Consecutively, in AD 1746, Portuguese King issued a decree that non-Portuguese Westerners could not stay or do businesss in Macau, causing those Westerners a relocation to Canton. Xiangshan county magistrate reported this event to provincial official. Manchu court notified Macau authority that those Westerners who received Manchu approval could still dwell in Macau. Manchu court was worried that Westerners would spread to Canton. In AD 1743, county magistrate for Dongguan, i.e., Yin Guangren, boarded two British warships that were blown to Siziyang [lion] Sea near Humen Battery and discovered that 299 Spanish were taken as prisoners by British. Yin Guangren forced the British into releasing the Spanish to Portuguese before providing logistical supply to the British. In AD 1757, a British merchant went to Tianjin to accuse Manchu customs official at Canton of corruption and bribery. Manchu court dismissed customs official, but put this British under arrest in Macau for three years and then expelled him. In AD 1759, Manchu Governor-general for Guangdong-Guangxi provinces ordered that Western merchants could not stay for the winter in China, and those merchants all went to Macau. Consul officials of Western powers set up residencies in Macau as a result of Manchu order that no Western women should be allowed to enter Canton. In AD 1793, the British government, under the request of the East India Company (which already established itself as a monopoly in India by 1740), sent in a delegation to Canton for opening up trading under Lord George Macartney. Emperor Qianlong (Qing Gaozong, Aixinjueluo Hong-li, r. 1736-1795) expelled Macartney for the emissary's refusal to knee down on both legs instead of one leg as well as the refusal to acknowledge England as a "tribute nation" to China. Lord George Macartney was said to have played the trick by seducing provincial Manchu officials into a dispatchment of the British delegation to Peking (and onward to Chengde's "mobile palace" in Rihe [Jehol]) in the name of congratulating Emperor Qianlong on his birthday. On his return trip via land, Lord George Macartney had clandestinely checked out the Manchu China's societal weaknesses, something that Britain had utilized in exerting military coersions against Manchu China in the next century. As pointed out by Manchu official Hong Liangji in 1793, China's crises had to do with households increasing 20 folds during the preceding 100 years while officialdom corruption had become prevalent under minister He-shen and his cronies. This would lead to the White Lotus Rebellion in 1796. (Emperor Jiaqing [Qing Renzong, Aixinjueluo Yong-yan, r. 1796-1820] arrested He-shen in 1799.) Though Britain failed to set up an embassy in Peking, trading with Britain continued at Guangzhou (Canton) without government sanctions. Beginning from Sept 1802, British laid their eyes on Macau. In July 1808, six British warships, under admiral Drury, forcefully entered Macau. On Aug 2nd, British took over several batteries. Manchu Governor-general for Guangdong-Guangxi, Wu Xiongguang, demanded that British withdraw from Macau. When British refused, Governor-general Wu Xiongguang ordered a cessation of trade with Britain. Admiral Drury led soldiers to "Thirteen Foreign Firms Guesthouse" and demanded a talk with Wu Xiongguang. British compromised by exiting in Dec, while Wu Xiongguang was deprived of his post by Manchu court for mishandling the crisis. British had another confrontation with Manchu in 1829 over the unpaid interests that Chinese "gong hang" (i.e., public firms) owned to the British merchants. British sailed numerous warships to Zhujiang River (i.e., Pearl River). Governor-general Li Hongbing assigned defence along Macau and Xiangshan coastlines. British compromised by withdrawing warships months later. In AD 1830, Williams Baynos, i.e., chairman for British East India Company, brought his wife and Portuguese maid to Canton against Manchu stipulation. When Governor-general Li Hongbing demanded the expellation of the women, Williams Baynos mounted cannons in his merchant ship. Williams Baynos conceded when Li Hongbing brought along troops. More conflicts followed. In AD 1833, Lord Napier was sent to Canton to replace the 'big ben', i.e., the monopolization of British East India Company. When Napier went to Canton for seeing Governor-general Lu Kun, Lu Kun refused to see him and dispatched subordinate officials to the meeting with Napier. Napier insulted those officials. Lu Kun ordered a cut of trade with Britain. Hence, Napier ordered that two British warships sailed to Canton and bombarded Manchu positions. Manchu reinforced defence along the Pearl River banks and dispatched troops to Macau for assisting Portuguese. Napier backed down after Manchu promised to resume trade. Four years later, in AD 1838, British Navy Commander Frederick Maitland sailed two warships to Macau for protecting opium trade. When Manchu officials refused to see him, Frederick Maitland demonstrated his warships at Cuanbiyang [piercing nose] Sea. Frederick Maitland sailed away when Manchu official deployed defence army. British Trading Opium Beginning from the eighteenth century, Europe and America had grown insatiable appetite for Chinese tea, silk and porcelain while Chinese had treated Western products as mere 'toys'. To offset an unfavorable balance of trade, the Westerners, mainly British, developed a third-party trade, exchanging their merchandise in India and Southeast Asia for Chinese goods. (Americans, including some company called Perkins & Company [Po-jin-si], had been engaged in selling Turkey opium to China. Persian opium was said to have been sold to China by the West without the exclusive control by either British or American. Some American merchant claimed that Americans did not have any less guilt than the British in drug trafficking to China. In deed, Americans built some kind of specialty trafficking ships entitled "opium flying cutter ship" per Ah Ying. The opium that was surrendered to and burnt by Lin Zexu at Humen Battery of Canton had consisted of lots of American possesions faking the British ownership per Ah Ying. Per Sterling Seagrave, in 1820s, Americans joined in to sell opium to China, with such firms as Penkins [Po-jin-si], and Boston's Russell & Co [La-sai-er], using the high-speed junk cutters for shipping opium.) By the early nineteenth century, cotton and opium from India had become the staple British imports into China through the connivance of profit-seeking British merchants who colluded with corrupt Manchu bureaucracy. corvalliscommunitypages.com mentioned a Hong merchant by the name of Wu Ping-Chien and known as Howqua II in the West, who profiteered from trade with the West, "had an old mining region, mountains and a river in Australia named after him, and ... invested a great deal of money in American railroads." Trading with foreign countries were initially restricted to Canton. All foreign ships, under the "Canton Trade System", must sail to Canton customs for inspection before unloading cargo. Foreign merchants had to deal with "Gong Hang" ("officially authorized firms") first. When Manchu Qing Emperor Daoguang (Qing Xuanzong, Aixinjueluo Min-ning, r. 1821-1850) got enthroned, he decreed a ban on opium import. Various inspection checkpoints were set up along the coast to prevent opium from slipping inland. But the traitor merchants, who would officially become so-called comprador [i.e., "kang bai du" or broker-dealers in English] after the Opium War, took in the bribes from the British, and the opium still flooded China, leading to physically-weakened Chinese race and depletion of silver in the measure of 10 million Chinese ounces or taels on a yearly basis. Manchu China's finance system, which was based on a domestic conversion rate of one tael silver to 800-1000 copper coins [that was a legacy of Qin Dynasty currency], would be derailed when one tael silver had to be converted from 1800 copper coins or more before the tax revenues could be surrrendered to the court. Do note that British laws, by imperial decree, prohibited entry of opium into Britain itself. British East India Company, however, "planted from hill to hill" in Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Patna, Benares and Malwa, and then shipped the opium to China. Opium War, 1839-42 exhibited good historical records about the opium trade, including a letter from Manchu Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu to the British Royal House as well as excerpts from Bombay Telegraph and Courier dated May 17, 1852. Bombay Telegraph and Courier mentioned that "from the skilful management and cultivation of about 100,000 acres of land, the East India Company produces an article which, sold at a profit of several hundred per cent., yields to them a net revenue, annually, of nearly three mil- lions sterling. We do not here include the Malwa opiuma seventh of the whole revenue of the country, raised from an extent of more than a million of square miles." Manchu Banning Opium Trade Zhu Chenglie (a Manchu "yu shi" [inspector or censor]) and Huang Jueci (a Manchu "shi qing" [minister]) petitioned with Emperor Daoguang for serious measures to ban opium. Xu Naiji (a Manchu "shao qing" [deputy minister]) proposed a legalization of opium to Emperor Guangxu. Censor Yuan Yulin opposed the suggestion. Lin Zexu (1785-1850), governor-general for Hu-Guang (Hunan, Hubei and Guangdong), warned the emperor that should opium rattle for another ten years, no more taxes could be raised and no more soliders could be recruited. Guangxu called Lin Zexu over to the capital for eight discussions successively. In 1838, after decades of unsuccessful anti-opium campaigns and two years of court debates, Emperor Daoguang adopted drastic prohibitory laws against the opium, issuing 39 articles and decreeing that whoever sold opium or took opium could be executed. Emperor Daoguang conferred Lin Zexu the post of "qin cai da chen" [emperor-dispatched grand minister], i.e., imperial commissioner, and dispatched him to Canton. Lin arrived in Guangzhou on March 10, 1839. Once Lin Zexu arrived at Guangzhou. Lin discussed matters with Deng Tingzhen the governor-general for Liang-guang (i.e., Guangdong-Guangxi provinces). Deng had caught numerous opium vendors and parlor operators. Lin suggested that they should solve the problem at the root by confiscating the opium on board the 22 foreign ships that were moored at Lingding-yang Sea. Lin ordered that both field army and navy blocade the entrance to Canton (Guangzhou) to prevent the opium from being smuggled ashore. Lin then called on the managers of thirteen foreign firms and demanded that they surrender opium within 3 days. Those managers in turn passed on the order to their consuls. British commerce consul Elliot, i.e., British Superintendent of Trade, however, deliberately went to Macau to avoid the confrontation. Three days later, foreign firms refused to surrender their opium. Manchu soldiers lay siege of all foreign ships, detained the foreigners, stopped trading activity, and arrested Chinese 'mai ban' (comprador, i.e., broker-dealers) who were employed by foreigners. About 350 British and 30 American opium vendors lacked food and supplies under the Manchu blockade. A British opium ringleader, by the name of Lancelot Dent [Dian-di], was caught while fleeing under disguise. Dent, together with his partner Beale, per Sterling Seagrave, was the most fierce competitor of Jardine [Za-dian] & Matheson [Ma-xi-sen] opium conglomerate "Jardine Matheson & Co" [i.e., Yi-he Firm]. Elliot then notified Governor-General Lin Zexu that they were willing to surrender 1037 chests of opium. Deng Tingzhen told Lin Zexu that each ship was capable of loading 1000 chests of opium. Lin Zexu then ordered a siege of foreigner guesthouse and dispatched navy to Lingding-yang Sea to have merchant ships encircled. By this time, late April of 1839, Elliot had no choice but to surrender altogether 20283 [21,823 chests per Wang Jianji, Wang Yuanchao & Zou Falin] chests of opiums. Elliot was said to have told the merchants to surrender the opium to him first by promising an eventual reimbursement by the British government, hence making the conflicts between China and the merchants into that between Britain and China. (bartleby.com/67/1416.html stated that some 3 million pounds of raw opium were destroyed.) Ships were ordered to sail to Humen [tiger gate] Battery for surrendering the opium. At Humen, on June 3rd 1839, Lin Zexu, together with Deng Tingzhen and Yi-liang (governor for Guangdong), held a opium surrender ceremony. After that, Lin Zexu reimbursed the foreign merchants with five Chinese 'jin' (grams) of tea for each chest of opium burnt, and had all merchants sign the affidavit stating that they would never trade in opium again. The affidavit had two more clauses stating that whoever violated laws would have their ships confiscated and personnel executed. British commerce consul Elliot, refusing to sign the affidavit, led his family and another 57 British families to Macau from Canton. All foreign merchants, except for British consul and merchants, had signed the affidavit. Lin then reported to Emperor Daoguang about the event and asked whether he should send in the opium to the capital. Emperor replied that opium could be burnt outside of Humen Battery. Lin had two ponds dug, poured salt into the water, mixed up water with plaster, dumped the opium into the ponds, opened the ditch to the sea and scattered the opium ashes to the sea. From June 3rd to 25th, crowds of people witnessed the opium burning event. Some British merchant ships at Jianshazui mouth would call on the British warships to attack Jiulong (Kowloon). One ship was sunken by Manchu general Lai Enjue. At the site of "Kowloon City Castle" would be Manchu China's Jiulong-zai Battery. On July 27th [lunar calendar] of 1839, Elliot led five British ships for an attack. Manchu officer Lai Enjue resisted the British, sunk one British ship, and later retrieved 15 bodies of British sailors. Liang Binhua stated that Elliot, looking for food on Jianshazui Sea after departure from Canton, was harassing Kowloon coast at the time. In Lin Zexu's report to emperor, Elliot was recorded to have attacked Guanyong of Jianshazui for six times in a matter of days. In addition to opium, a British sailor killed a villager called Lin Weixi on June 23rd at Jiansha [protruding sandbeach] Village. Elliot refused to surrender the culprit. On Aug 15th, Lin Zexu and Deng Tingzhen dispatched troops to various passes and ordered that foreigners cut off supply to British. On Aug 22nd, Elliot left Macau. On Aug 24th, Lin Zexu and Deng Tingzhen, together with Portuguese, expelled all British from Macau. On Sept 3rd 1839, imperial commissioner Lin Zexu toured Macau for banning opium trading and made a census check which showed that Macau had 727 households or 5612 Portuguese as well as 1772 households or 7033 Chinese. Lin Zexu was accorded the 19 gun salutes by Portuguese batteries when he visited Macao with Governor-general Deng Tingzhen on Sept 3rd 1839. After the tour, Lin Zexu permitted renewal of trade at Macau. Portuguese mediated over the matter on behalf of Elliot by having Lin Zexu agree to take out the clause in regards to "personnel executed" should they [British] violate laws. Lin Zexu consulted with Emperor Daoguang about taking out the clause, and Emperor Daoguang stated that no leniency should be shown to the British. Thus, Elliot ordered that British warships line up at the port entry to stop other foreign merchant ships from entering the harbor. Lin Zexu dispatched navy general Guan Tianpei against the British. Guan Tianpei's 5 ships were first fired upon by the British, and Guan responded by damaging one British ship. Guan chased the British vessels to Jianshazui mouth and further drove them off to the Laowanshan Outer Sea. Emperor Daoguang decreed that Britain alone should be prohibited from trading with China. Elliot then reported to Britain about the severance of diplomacy and trade. (There were no formal treaty relations between the two countries and hence no formal diplomatic relations, either.) The British Parliament, with an extra 9 votes pro vs con, approved the war against China in regards to restoring the Opium Trade. Per Sterling Seagrave, Britain declared war on China on Oct 1st 1839. British claimed that "armed with a petition signed by hundreds of traders and businessmen both in Asia and in England, Jardine successfully persuaded parliament to wage war on China, giving a full detailed plan for war, detailed strategic maps, battle strategies, the indemnifications and political demands from China and even the number of troops and warships needed. This plan was known as the 'Jardine Paper'." In June of 1840, Britain ordered that British governor in India mobilize 15,000 army for a campaign against China, with Elliot in command of field army and Bo-mai (Henry Pottinger ?) in charge of navy. This British punitive expedition would be termed the first Anglo-Chinese War or the Opium War (1839-42). British Launching First Opium War The British fleet under George Elliot, consisting of 48 ships and 4000 soldiers, reached Macau in June of 1840. Lin Zexu had full preparation for the British by fortifying the existing batteries, adding Weiyuan and Jingyuan batteries on two banks of Humen [Tiger Gate], inplementing iron chains and hidden poles at the 3rd Humen defence line, and recruiting thousands of fishermen fighters. After failing to penetrate the Tiger Gate river mouth, British rerouted majority of its navy northward. After encountering fierce resistance from Humen Batteries under the leadership of Lin Zexu & Guan Tianpei, British rerouted towards Amoy at the suggestion of a Chinese traitor. On Aug 6th, Chinese soldiers caught a British in Macau. Portuguese, to fawn on the British, demanded that this British be released. On Aug 19th, British attacked Chinese soldiers at Guanzha [pass gate] Pass bordering Macau and Guangdong, and took over pass with the assistance of bombardment by the warships. Chinese re-established garrison at Qianshan [frontal mountain]. Portuguese declared a false neutrality. After encountering resistance led by Fujian Governor-general Deng Tingzhen at Amoy, George Elliot, with 26 warships, rerouted to the Zhoushan Island (subordinate to Zhejiang Prov) and occupied Dinghai city of Zhoushan Island in July. Elliot then talked with commander Bo-mai for leading 8 warships to Tianjin in the north. Upon arriving in Dagukou Battery in on July 16th 1840, Elliot went to see Governor-general Qi-shan of Zhili Province with a letter from British prime minister Po-mai-si and demanding terms such as war indemnities, island secession, and port opening. Manchu rulers, for convenience, promised that all terms could be possible should the British return to Canton. British fleet, after enjoying months of luxury reception, left Bai-he [White River] of Tianjin on Aug 20th for the south. Qi-shan, together with treacherous minister Muzhang'a, petitioned with Emperor Daoguang for revoking Lin Zexu's commissioner post in Oct of 1840. Emperor Daoguang empowered Qi-shan as "imperial commisioner" for peace talks with Elliot at Canton. Elliot sailed back to Canton. Manchu minister in Shandong Peninsula claimed that Elliot was courteous when passing through his domain, and Manchu minister in Zhejiang claimed that British navy at Dinghai said they were willing to give back Zhoushan Island once Elliot reached peace with Qi-shan. British, treating Macau as home base, sent over their wounded for treatment. It was said that Winston Churchill's grandfather was buried in Macau. Macau was also used as the ground for peace talks between Britain and China. Portuguese pretended to mediate between the two parties. In Jan of 1841, new Manchu imperial commissioner to Canton, Qi-shan, dismantled defence to show his sincerity in peace talks. Qi-shan ordered that Guan Tianpei dismantle the iron chains and hidden poles as well, in addition to dismissal of the "fishermen fighters". British took over Dajiao [big horn] and Sha-jiao [sandy horn] in Jan of 1841 in a sudden attack and offered to have Manchu Qing Dynasty cede HK & Kowloon in exchange for Dajiao. British had attacked the batteries as a result of Qi-shan's deliberate warding off as to what he had promised at Tianjin. Battery Commander Chen Liansheng, his son and majority of 600 soldiers sacrificed their lives defending the first Humen line. In Feb, 16 British warships, in two echelons of eight, repeatedly attacked the 2nd line and blasted at Guan Tianpei's Jingyuan Battery which was equipped with 60 cannons. Guan Tianpei's battery repelled the British till a thunderstorm made the powder wet. In the ensuing blade-bayonet wrestling battle, white-bearded General Guan Tianpei, i.e., navy general for Guangdong Province since 1834, sacrificed his life in fighting against the invaders. Qi-shan, who refused to send relief to Guan Tianpei, met Elliot in Macau on Feb 10th 1841 for peace talks. When Charles Elliot (whom Qi-shan claimed he had met in Tianjin: George or Charles Elliot? adifferent Elliot since the one he met in Tianjin returned to Great Britain) added one more clause to have China cede Hongkong Island in addition to indemnity of 6,000,000 cureency, Qi-shan was hesitant somewhat. Qi-shan prepared two versions of offers for Bao Peng to take to Elliot, but instructed Bao Peng to produce the refusal letter should Elliot be over-demanding and arrogant. British sacked two auxiliary batteries near Humen to exert pressure on Qi-shan. Cai Dongfan claimed that Qi-shan negotiated a peace talk with Charles Elliot, but Deng Kaisong stated that Qi-shan did not sign the "Chuanbi ['pierce nose' sea] Treaty" in regards to HK. [Chuanbi Sea is a bay in Macau.] Though no signature or seal was on Chuanbi Treaty, British already took over HK Island in Jan of 1841. (Scholar Liang Binhua pointed out that British prime minister Palmerston ordered in June of 1841 that British General Henry Pottinger [Pu-ding-cha] occupy Jianshazui for sake of 'neutralizing' the peace talks.) Manchu official Yi-liang secretly rebuked Qi-shan in a likening of British demand for HK to Portuguese' swindling of Macau from Ming China. On Jan 27th 1841, Emperor Daoguang decided that British in Guangdong & Zhejiang provinces must be punished for their pirate acts, ordered that Qi-shan be deprived of his grand scholar title and the commissioner post, and dispatched Yi-shan [a nephew], Yang Fang [general in Hunan Province] and Rong-wen to Guangdong Province for a confrontation with the British. Yi-shan was given the title of General Jing-ni [i.e., quelling rebels]. Before the new Manchu ministers arrived, Elliot and Bo-mai mounted an attack at Humen Battery. British took over about 200 cannons that Lin Zexu had purchased from the Portuguese earlier. British next attacked the town of Wuyong and sacked it after a fight for almost two days. At this time, Yang Fang led few thousand Hunan Province soldiers to Canton and arranged the defence of Zhujiang River banks. British warships charged towards Yang Fang's positions few times with rising tides and retreated when tides receded. Yang Fang commented that China might have no peace from now on in face of so ferocious aliens in confrontation. By April, Yi-shan, after enjoying luxury treatment en route for months, finally arrived in Canton. On April 5th, Yi-shan ordered a general counter-attack with 18,000 soldiers from seven to eight provinces, which was a total disaster. Fightback lasted for only seven days. British exited Humen Battery on April 19th after an immediate payment of 6 million currency. By May 27th, British penetrated to Canton citywall, forcing Yi-shan into signing a so-called "Canton Peace Treaty" and a withdrawal of Manchu forces from Canton. British then raided the Canton outskirts for pillaging. On May 29th 1841, a small band of British, departing from Sifang Battery earlier, intruded into Sanyuanli Village, about 2.5 kilometers to the north of Canton. Vegetable growers like Wei Shaoguang killed three British for sexual attempt at Wei Shaoguang's wife. The next day, Sanyuanli villagers assembled nearby villagers, miners and workers for an attack at the British-controlled battery. At Guandi-miao Monastery, villagers raised the "three star balck flag". Thousands of villagers from 103 shires converged upon British the next morning. British commander, Wu-gu, counter-attacked with 1000 soldiers. Villagers induced the British into a trap at Niulan'gang, surrounded the British, caught a dozen alive, and caused a casualty of over 50 British, including the death of a colonel by the name of Bi-xia [Bishop?]. A thunderstorm caused the British firearms malfunction. On May 31st 1841, villagers from 400 shires in Fanyu, Nanhai, Huaxian, Zengcheng and Conghua counties converged upon Sifang Battery. British lost over 100 soldiers, including two officers. Elliot and his relief army were surrounded as well. British had to seek for help with Manchu Official Yi-shan. Yi-shan dispatched Yu Cuchun, i.e., the magistrate for Canton city, to the battery for guiding the British out of the encirclement. Thereafter, British government revoked Elliot's post with Henry Pottinger as well as replaced expedition commader for sake of extracting further gains from China. Further reinforcement was sent to China. British plenipotentiary Henry Pottinger led the British navy along the Chinese coast, capturing coastal cities in Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. In June of 1841, Emperor Daoguang, with no more plan for fighting the British, wrongly dismissed the inner-provincial soldiers from the coastal defence. In July, British attacked Xiamen [Amoy] of Fujian Province, and then existed the city to station at Gulangyu port. In Aug, Pottinger arrived at China and demanded that all terms promised at Bai-he of Tianjin must be satisfied by the Manchu government. In mid-Aug, British, who had exited Dinghai of Zhejiang Province in Feb, retook the coastal city. At Dinghai, General Ge Yunfei, together with two more "zong bing" generals, sacrificed their lives. British also occupied Zhenhai & Ningbo of Zhejiang Province. Local fishermen organized "black water party" to wage guerrilla attacks on the British. The "black water party" retrieved the bodies of Ge Yunfei and Zheng Guohong. At Zhenhai, Manchu commissioner as well as Governor-general for Liang-Jiang, Yu-qian, committed suicide after a battery general by the name of Yu Buyun abandoned the defence. The guerrilla forces of "black water party" was said to have abducted and killed the captain of British warship Nemesis as well as ambushed Pottinger. Throughout the seven month British occupation of Ningbo, "black water party" kept on harassing and killing the British. In Feb of 1842, Emperor Daoguang dispatched nephew Yi-shan and 13,000 army against the British in Ningbo & Zhenhai of Zhejiang Province, but Yi-shan again was defeated by the British. In late March, British exited Ningbo for attacking further northward. After sacking Zhapu, British arrived at the Yangtze river mouth by late April. On early morning of June 16th, nine British warships attacked the east battery and west battery of Wusongkou defence. General Chen Huacheng, on west battery, inflicted multiple hits onto British warships. After Niu Qian, i.e., Governor-general for Liang-jiang, abandoned the east battery, British concentrated on the west battery by noon. Chen Huancheng and his over 200 soldiers, at one time, induced the British into a landing for a wrestling fight. By dusk, Chen Huacheng and his soldiers all sacrificed their lives defending the battery. British, after sacked Shanghai's Wusong [Wosong] Battery, went into Shanghai, still a village at the time, and then sailed along the Yangtze. Luu Dengying abandoned the Jiangyin Battery. By July 20th, British took over Zhenjiang city. For three years, British gunboats, with increasing reinforcements from India and Britain, attacked Chinese coastal cities of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang & Jiangsu, penetrated the Yangtze River course, harassed the capital areas of Tianjin, and sacked Zhoushan Islands and Taiwan Island. Lin Ze-xu (Lin Tse-hsü) was disgraced and exiled to Yili [Ili] of Chinese Turkestan. By August of 1842, Manchu royal house failed to counter the British with old-style weapons & artillery and finally gave in to the British. On Aug 6th, 80 British warships, with 720 cannon and 8000 strong army, lined up the banks at Xiaoguan Wharf of Nanking [i.e., known as Nanking to the west but renamed to Jiangning after Manchu takeover of China in 17th century]. Manchu officials, i.e., Qi-ying, Yi-li-bu, and Niu Qian, were o talk peace with the British. British specifically requested for Qi-ying and Yi-li-bu as Manchu representatives who arrived in Nanking on Aug 11th. The thee boarded Pottinger's warship Cornwallis on Aug 20th to personally witness the 72-gun firepowers. Two Manchu imperial commissioners boarded the British vessel Cornwallis in Nanking, and on Aug 29th, signed with the British plenipotentiary the Treaty of Nanjing (August, 1842). Treaty of Nanjing [i.e., Treaty of Jiangning] and supplement treaties (the British Supplementary Treaty of the Bogue, July and October 1843) would be the first of numerous humiliating "unequal treaties" to come. 
The treaties opened five ports of Guangzhou (Canton), Fuzhou (Foochow), Xiamen (Amoy), Ningbo (Linbou) and Shanghai, rendered an indemnity of 21 million Mexican dollars as damages for the British, ordered the cession of HK (Xianggang) Island, granted Britain the 'most favored nation' status (i.e., enjoying privileges extorted from China by any other country), lowered the import duties from 65% to 5% ad valorem, exempted British nationals and their Chinese employees from Chinese law via 'extraterritoriality', and allowed British merchants to establish residency in the treaty ports (which led to later concession areas).
The Treaty of Nanjing (i.e., Jiangning Treaty) also set an example for other foreign powers to invade China. France and the United States, in the ensuing two years, signed similar treaties with China. Russia began to encroach on Chinese territories in the west, north and northeast.
After the war, opium trade more than doubled in the ensuing 30 years. homestead.com/files/extended.html discussed the economic effects of the Opium War: rising food rice as a result of Chinese farmers' abandoning the production of food for silk and tea industry, and the dismantling of home textile industry (Chinese hand-made cloths) in face of the rushing-in of cheap Western machine-made products. "Wangxia Treaty" [US] & Whampoa Treaty [France] http://www.ctrl.org/boodleboys/boddlesboys2.html pointed out: During that first Opium War, the Chief of Operations for Russell & Co. in Canton was Warren Delano, Jr., grandfather of Franklin Roosevelt. He was also the US vice-consul and once wrote home, "The High officers of the [Chinese] Government have not only connived at the trade, but the Governor and other officers of the province have bought the drug and have taken it from the stationed ships … in their own Government boats." Americans, who first sailed two gunboats to Macau during opium burning session, would dispatch a fleet to Macau in April 1842. On the pretext that a sailor was killed, one American warship sailed along Pearl River to demonstrate force. In 1843, Americans, in the name of war mediation, obtained similar privileges as the British. An American emissary was sent to China on Feb 24th 1844 for extracting a treaty. From June 17th to July 3rd 1844, Americans imposed unequal "Wangxia Treaty" onto Manchu China. [Wangxia was a village in Macau.] One month later, French, wielding the power of 8 warships, forced Manchu China into signing "Whampoa Treaty". 
The beneficial consequence of "Wangxia Treaty" would be Manchu's dispatchment of overseas students to America.
It was said that Manchu China had agreed to send young kids to America for studies after listening to the opinions from Yung Wing [Rong Hong] who graduated from Yale University in 1854.
At the suggestion of Yung Wing [Rong Hong, 1828-1912], Zeng Guofan, in 1871, dispatched Chinese children to America for overseas studies.
14-year-old Tang Shaoyi [1860-1938], who was studying in HK since he had an uncle working for Jardine Matheson & Co, was admitted to the 3rd session for studies in America in 1874.
In 1881, Tang Shaoyi, after a stay of 7 years in America, was recalled back before graduation from Columbia College as a result of Manchu fear of over "westernization" among the young overseas students, and in the ensuing year, Tang Shaoyi was sent to Korea together with P.G. von Mollendorff.
About half of those kids survived in America and mingled with American women before the "Chinese Exclusion Act" was formulated to delay the development of Chinese in American continent for the next 75 years.
In Nov 1842, Henry Pottinger's British army attempted to enter Canton in accordance with Nanking Treaty, but encountered resistance. British did not attempt to enter the city till July 1843, at which time they encountered resistance from the populace again. Manchu official Qi-ying persuaded British into a delay. It would be in Jan 1846 that Manchu official Qi-ying allowed British soldiers to enter Canton. Canton people intruded into Manchu prefecture office and lit a fire. Hence, Qi-ying negotiated with British for an entry in 1849. In 1849, new British envoy-minister demanded with new Manchu governor-general Xu Guangjin for entry into Canton by sailing warships into Pearl River. 100000 village fighters converged onto Canton for resisting British. Hence, Manchu governor-general Xu Guangjin declined British request again. In May [lunar calendar?] of 1846, Manchu official Qi-ying authorized the build of "Kowloon City Castle" that would later become a thorn in British's flesh during the expansion towards Kowloon Peninsula and the "New Territories". Southern portion of Kowloon Peninsula was later ceded to British in 1860 in the aftermath of Second Opium Wars. However, China still retained "Kowloon City Castle" as a symbol of territorial ownership. Around 1898, Li Hongzhang adamantly demanded the retention of "Kowloon City Castle" even at the expense of the lease of entire Kowloon Peninsula. Liang Binghua stated that Manchu court treated "Kowloon City Castle" as a thorn the same way as the retention of Jinzhou-cheng city inside of Russian-leased Luushun [i.e., Port Arthur] and a Chinese-controlled castle inside of British-leased Weihaiwei harbour. In contrast with the antagonisms from Cantonese, Shanghai was much more hospital to the Europeans and Americans. First British consul Ba-mo-er [? Pei-er-fu, a captain from Madras Cannons Regiment] arrived in Shanghai in 1843. Ba-mo-er first negotiated with Manchu "dao tai" [i.e., magistrate] Gong Mujiu for leasing about 130 acres of land between the Huangpu River and the Shanghai county capital. By 1846, through bribery with Gong Mujiu, British expanded its consulate territory to 1080 acres as well as the right to lease direct from Chinese landowners within the said domain. In 1845, British cunningly signed a lease agreement with Shanghai prefecture, with over 23 clauses stating to the effect that Chinese side could not terminate the lease at will and that British had the right to build bridges, construct roads, erect light poles, plant trees, set up fire department, and take charge of irrigation. The leased territory hence mutated into an independent kingdom. Foreign merchants expanded to 140 by 1848. British leased land increased to 2800 acres. While British established their domain on the south bank of Suzhou-he River, American Wu-li-guo erected a flag pole on north bank. At Hongkou, to the north of British leased land, Americans established its domain in 1848. 
In 1854, British, French and American revised the charters of their settlements to allow Chinese to live inside.
The settlements would have their own police, judges and city council.
By 1863, American leased territory increased to 8000 acres.
French obtained their leased land as well, first 500 acres and then 1200 acres.
In 1863, British and Americans, i.e., innate cousins, merged their leased land into so-called "International Settlement" which eventually expanded to 80,000 acres by 1930s.
French settlement expanded to 20000 acres at the same timeframe.
The "big ben" established a Britishmen's Club at the intersection of Suzhou-he and Huangpu rivers, which would be the predecessor of today's Seamen's Club.
Opposite to the club, on the other side of Suzhou-he River, would be a Whangpoo Park of the Bund where an insulting sign was hung at the gate, with words stating that "Chinese and dogs not allowed in the park".
Shanghai was to become the paradise of foreign venturers, i.e., 'Whore of the Orient', where you could expect to "buy a nine year girl at no cost" per Sterling Seagrave in addition to "688 whorehouses" that had at one time in 1927 incapacitated Dr. McDonald's entire regiment via venereal diseas as a result of "everything [including sex] was so [dirty] cheap".
The founder of American International Group claimed that he obtained his first bin of gold in Shanghai.
American companies involved in opium trade would include Russell [La-sai-er] & Company, Heard [He-de] & Company, Wetmore's [Wei-te-mo-er Company], Olyphant's [Ao-li-fen-te Company], and Wolcott [Wo-er-ke-te], Bates [Bei-ci? Joshua Bates] & Company per Sterling Seagrave.
The Boston Russel [La-sai-er] Company had connections with Roosevelt, Delano [Warren Delano, Jr., i.e., the grandfather of Franklin Roosevelt] and Forbes [Robert Bennett Forbes] families. -- Those names should be inscribed on the "Pillar of Shame".
Second Opium Wars (1856–60) & Arson of Summer Palace In 1856, the Second Opium War [i.e., the Arrow War] broke out following an allegedly illegal search of a British-registered ship, the Arrow, in Guangzhou [Canton] on Oct 8th of 1856 [sc]. Arrow was a piracy ship with a Chinese owner and crew, but it was flying the British flag after the captain obtained a one-year license from HK authorities on Sept 27th of 1855. The British sought the search of Arrow and the lowering of the British flag as a pretext even though the pirates' license had expired. British Consul Harry Parkes and Sir John Bowring demanded redress. Consul to Canton, i.e., Parkes, demanded that Canton government release the pirates and make apologies. Governor-general Ye Mingshen declined it. British minister-envoy Bowring [Bao-ling-he] and Canton consul Parkes hence used it as a pretext for war. 
The French joined the British in using as their excuse the murder of a French missionary in interior China. (On Feb 29th of 1856 [sc], French Catholic missionary Auguste Chapdelaine intruded into interior China illegally and was beheaded. Zhang Mingfeng, a county magistrate in Xilin of Guangxi Province failed to provide an investigation report that satisfied the French.)
However, the fundamental cause of British-French Second Opium War against China would be related to violations of both Treaty of Nanjing and the Treaty of Wangxia, i.e., 1) persisting refusal, from 1842 to 1856, by Guangdong Province populace in allowing the British to enter the Canton [Guangzhou] city; and 2) deliberate putoff by the Manchu court in re-negotiating the clauses of Nanking Treaty and Wangxia Treaty etc in regards to commerce. (The Second Opium War was a result of the British feeling "incensed by what they felt was clear treaty violations" and the Chinese feeling angered by "the wholescale export of Chinese nationals to America and the Caribbean to work at what was no better than slave labor". See Richard Hooker analysis.) In 1856, British had some fighting in Canton. On Oct 23rd, British, under navy general Xi-ma-mi-ge-li, sailed along Zhujiang River (i.e., Canton River or Pearl River) and bomabarded Humen Battery. British attacked and sacked the Canton forts for sake of pressuring Governor-general Ye Mingshen. Battery general Wu Yuanyou abandoned the battery under no-fight-back order. British then sailed into inner river and bombarded Liede Battery which fired back. Ye Mingshen then claimed that British would retreat by sunset. British closed in to Thirteen Firm Wharf, to the southwest of Canton. The next day, Ye Mingshen continued to ignore the British at the time British was attacking Fenghuang-gang Battery. After sacking Fenghuang-gang, British took over Haizhu Battery on 25th. British had a break on Sunday. On 27th, British sent over a request for entering Canton. Since Ye Mingshen continued to ignore the British, British mounted guns at the governor-general office and blasted one shot every ten minutes for the afternoon. Staff and soldiers fled the governor-general office. Only Ye Mingshen was sitting in with prayers to the devine spirits. Then, Ye Mingshen issued an order to resist the British at a reward of 30 "grand silver dollar" for each British head. On 28th, British blasted open a corner on the citywall. On 29th, British entered Canton and intruded into governor-general office right after Ye Mingshen vacated it. By sunset, British exited Canton. On Nov 7th [sc], William B. Reed was sent to HK by US President Buchanan for mediating between China and Great Britain, but later in the month the Americans revenged an attack by capturing three Manchu forts. British mounted skirmishes with Chinese continuously and blasted at Canton city till Jan of 1857. On Jan 20th, British warships exited towards Humen Battery for relief to come. Ye Mingshen reported the news to the emperor. Emperor Xianfeng instructed that peace should be sought with the British. In March of 1857 [sc], British relief troops arrived from Madras and England, and Lord Elgin, an earl, was appointed minister-envoy. In Oct, French dispatched Jean Baptiste Louis Gros [Ge-luo] on an expedition against China. On Dec 12th 1857, British-French joint armies issued a ten-day ultimatum to Ye Mingshen. Ye Mingshen intended to negotiate for peace by offering monetary concession. After superstitious bamboo slip came back with the words that "disaster would be gone 15 days later", Ye Mingshen took it as divination and ordered that subordinates do nothing for the next 15 days. On Dec 24th, British-French sent notice to Ye Mingshen again. On 27th, Ye Mingshen held a birthday party. On Dec 28th [sc], allied forces bombarded Canton again even though Ye Mingshen (Yeh Ming-ch’en) revised a treaty and promised to resume trade. British-French bombarded Canton and the governor-general office. Ye Mingshen fled to Yuehua Academy after British-French cannon balls splashed across the city. At east gate, Deng Anbang resisted the British with 1000 village fighters from Dongguan county, while dozens of Manchu soldiers fired the cannon balls on Donggu Battery. Half a day later, Deng Anbang sacrificed his life. On 29th, British-French attacked five batteries at the north gate. After failing to sack the batteries guarded by Za-pu, British-French attacked the north gate. After taking over Mt Guanyinshan, British-French sacked both north gate and east gate by firing from the mountain top. On Dec 30th, Governor Bai-gui [Bo-gui] dispatched merchants Ren Chongyao & Liang Lunshu to Mt Guanyinshan for peace talk. British-French insisted that Ye Mingshen must come personally. Ye Mingshen was located from his hiding place, fetched to Mt Guanyinshan, and then shipped to HK. Ye Mingshen's subordinate Jiang Sheng suggested that Ye jump into the sea to commit suicide, which Ye refused. When Ye repeatedly made drawings for the British, Jiang Sheng reminded him not to stamp his name on the drawings. Ye Mingshen hence likened himself to ancient Chinese emissary to the Huns by signing himself "Su Wu At Sea". Governor-general Ye Mingshen, one year later, died in custody in Calcutta, India. After a respite, during which British fleet and Lord Elgin returned to India for cracking down the local Indian rebellions, the British would renew its campaign against China for the purpose of "ratifying the treaty". In May of 1858 [sc], Lord Elgin and Jean Gros sent fleets northward with United States envoy William Bradford Reed and the Russian envoy Admiral E. V. Putiatin onboard. Russians and Americans supposedly acted as intermediaries at the request of the conflicting parties. On April 28th, Emperor Xianfeng dispatched Governor-general Tan Yanxiang to Dagukou, but the British & French declined him for bearing no "full authorization" from Manchu court. Tan Yanxiang then ordered that 3000 soldiers under Zhang Dianyuan defend the port. Another 2000 soldiers, with 30 cannons, were sent to the coast from the capital. Thousands of village fighters were recruited. One Manchu official set up a reception stand on the battery for the British-French negotiation team to enjoy good food and fresh fruits. While the reception team greeted the British-French with courtesy words like "whoever met each other over 1000 li distance away must have good destined fate", Tan Yanxiang deliberately displayed the cannons to the invaders for exhibiting Manchu power. Zhang Dianyuan objected to disclosure of military preparations. On May 20th, coalition force issued an ultimatum for the possession of the battery that was good for two hours. Under bombardment, Tan Yanxiang ordered a fightback which sank four colaition ships. 50 wooden boats carrying fire failed to cause any damage to the coalition ships. Coalition troops landed on the beach and intruded into the battery. On May 20th [sc], the allied fleet sacked the Pei-ho (Bei-he) forts and the Taku (Dagu) forts (near Tianjin). Governor-general Tan Tingxiang and General Tuo-ming-a were defeated by the allied forces. Zhang Dianyuan jumped into river to commit suicide, and soldiers rescued him. Meanwhile, Russia attacked northernmost Manchuria, and in May of 1858, Manchu General for Heilongjiang [black dragon river, i.e., Amor River], Yi-shan, signed the Treaty of Aigun (Aihui) ceding to Russia the 600,000 square kilometers of land between the northern bank of the Amor River and Outer Xing'an Ridge, and gave joint possession of the land between the Ussuri River and the sea. (In 1859, Manchu court reject |
![Though, Anna Wang [Anneliese Martens], in her memoirs, expressed jealousy over Gong Peng by stating that the Anglo-American reporters had flattered the Chinese communists and the communist movement as a result of being entranced with the goldfish-eye'ed personal assistant of Zhou Enlai](GongPeng.jpg)