鴉片戰爭與在華條約港
The Opium War and Treaty Ports in China
“France can beat China in ships and afloat, but that Formasa so far shows that on land, and man to man, China is quite as able to fight: the disposition is therefore rather to fight it out-and although my judgment is in favor of saving China’s life by settling in any way possible, my sympathies are entirely with those who talk thus, and, were I a Chinaman, I would fight it out…”
——Sir Robert Hart, October 10, 1884
Duncan, Edward. The Hon. E.I. Co. Iron Steam Ship Nemesis, with Boats of Sulphur, Calliope, Larne and Starling, Destroying the Chinese War Junks in Anson’s Bay, January 7, 1841 (Chuenpee near Canton). May 30, 1843. Aquatint and etching. National Maritime Museum. Greenwich, London. https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-148139.
On this page
鴉片戰爭前的廣州一口通商體系
Canton Trade System Before the Opium War
In the early 19th century, Chinese goods occupied an important position in global trade. The total population of China had reached more than 400 million, which fueled the growth of both domestic consumption and interregional market activities. The city of Canton, the western name for Guangzhou (廣州), was the only port that processed the flow of trade between foreign merchants and Chinese representatives. This meant that all foreign maritime trade with China could only be conducted through the port of Guangzhou (Canton).
From 1784 to 1833, more than 1,040 ships came to Guangzhou (Canton) from cities in the United States such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Providence, second only to Britain. American merchants sold Chinese products in the United States for up to three times their initial purchase price. This newly independent nation had already established a strong connection with China during the early 19th century, following in the steps of the other great powers.
Chinese emperors remained suspicious of trade with foreigners. The Qianlong Emperor, who ruled from 1735 to 1796, heard reports from provincial governors about Jesuit activities in inland China without Chinese administrative permission. The Portuguese first established the missionary and trading center of Macao in the 16th century. Chinese administrators were concerned that Portuguese missionaries were moving deeper into the interior provinces. Provincial governors from maritime provinces feared that these activities would raise unexpected conflicts and threaten China’s maritime security and defense. Although Emperor Qianlong disagreed with violently expelling Jesuits and foreigners, he did announce in 1748 that foreigners were forbidden to visit any Chinese provinces other than Guangdong, the province where Canton was located. Under this historical background, the Qianlong Emperor emphasized the regulation of Chinese maritime trade with foreigners, which limited all commercial activities to the supervision of the Qing government in Canton.
The Canton Trade System was established during Qianlong’s reign and was followed by his successors until the 1840s. This policy regulated the exclusive position of the Canton port in China’s international trade. It also became the window through which foreign powers came to know China.
William Daniell, 1769-1837, The European Factories, Canton, 1806, Oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1981.25.210.
白銀、鴉片與炮艦——中英衝突
Silver, Opium, and Gunboats – The Qing-Britain Conflicts
The Canton Trade System limited the ways in which socioeconomic changes in China from being influenced by foreigners. Silver was both the currency and the capital that kept China’s market functioning. Through the Canton System, a fair amount of silver was drawn into China through trade with foreign merchants, including those from Great Britain and its colonial possessions. From 1758 to 1838, a total of 5,107 foreign sailing ships visited and traded at the port of Guangzhou (Canton), more than ten times the cumulative number from a century earlier. From the perspective of silver coinage, more than 500 million liang (a Chinese weight standard approximately equal to 36-37 grams in coinage) of silver coins flowed into China from 1553 to 1830, amounting to about 18 thousand tons of pure silver. This evidence clearly shows that China was involved in and was an important part of the world economy. The rapid expansion of the Chinese economy during this period was powered by the inflow of Western silver, but it also triggered resentment and conflicts.
During the mid-19th century, Great Britain positioned itself as one of the most powerful countries in the world through colonial expansion. The silver prosperity in China threatened the flow of silver from British India back to England. Starting in the late 18th century, British merchants began investing in opium plantations in India and introduced opium to China through trade. By the early 19th century, consumption and addiction of opium had rapidly increased and became a social concern, leading Emperor Jiaqing (the son of the Qianlong Emperor) to ban the sale of opium in China. Opium was a profitable product that was both addictive and easy to transport. The East India Company and other British merchants began channeling opium from British India into China through illegal smuggling networks, generating substantial, untaxed profits in silver. As the opium throughput increased, prices became lower, and more people from the lower classes began to consume it.
Regulations on opium by the Qing government led to a massive social campaign in Guangdong Province for opium destruction, which later caused retaliation from Britain. Starting from the 1830s, Qing administrators recognized opium abuse as a major issue after they noticed that people from the martial and ruling classes had become opium users. Officials in the emperor’s court who strongly opposed opium began to come to power. In 1839, the new imperial commissioner Lin Zexu 林則徐, picture on the right, came to Guangdong Province to solve the opium problem, following Emperor Daoguang’s order (the son of the Jiaqing Emperor and grandson of the Qianlong Emperor) to ban and destroy all opium in this province. Lin was a strict official who ordered the collection of opium in Guangdong and destroyed it in the city of Humen (虎门). British merchants who had stored this opium suffered great losses and requested that the British government give a violent response. The British government also saw this as an opportunity to change China’s Canton Trade System and establish its domination in China’s market. In July 1840, a British fleet of gunboats and expeditionary forces opened fire. Over the next two years, the British, captured the cities of Guangzhou and Zhenjiang (鎮江), forcing the Qing government to surrender. This was the First Opium War (1840-1842).
中國開關與在華條約港
China’s Enforcing Openness and Treaty Ports
The Treaty of Nanjing (南京條約) was signed after China’s defeat in the First Opium War. However, it did not end Britain’s pursuit of further interests in China. The British government requested a large amount of compensation from the Qing, including Hong Kong Island, war reparations, and five treaty ports that allowed the free movement of foreigners to trade in China beyond the port of Guangzhou without Chinese authorization. Because the Qing government still hesitated to implement the treaty, along with other conflicts among commoners, Britain and France decided to enforce their will by sending a large maritime invasion. In October 1856, Britain attacked Guangzhou, and France joined in later, marking the beginning of a new war. In June 1860, united forces captured Tianjin (天津) and advanced toward Beijing, the Qing capital. They later looted and burned the Old Summer Palace (圓明園), forcing the Qing government to surrender again. This war is known as the Second Opium War (1856-1860).
The Treaty of Beijing (北京條約), signed after the Second Opium War, was both a political and economic setback for the Qing government. In addition to the Treaty of Nanjing, the great powers further requested Chinese compensation in territories, permission for missionaries to travel through the country, and more treaty ports. After this series of treaties with different great powers, the old Canton Trade System was no longer effective, and China was forced to withdraw many of its restrictions on foreign trade and missionary activities, making the state increasingly vulnerable to colonial influences.
The two Opium Wars intensified ethnic, economic, social, and cultural tensions within Qing society, especially between the Manchu rulers and their subjects. In order to protect their interests in China, the great powers used Chinese domestic unrest as an excuse to justify foreign military deployment and hostile operations against the Qing government and the Chinese people.
Platt, John, “To Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. This Print of The Signing & Sealing of the Treaty of Nanking. Is with Her Majesty’s permission humbly dedicated By Her Majesty’s faithful and devoted servant, The Proprietor” (1846). Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:238280/.
中國海關稅務總司
The Chinese Maritime Customs Service (CMCS)
The Chinese Maritime Customs Service (CMCS) was established in 1854 in response to the expansion of international trade in China’s treaty ports since the First Opium War. The CMCS was an imperial agency responsible for customs affairs and the regulation of foreign trade. Although the agency was under the control of the central government of China, it operated through a more indirect and delegated administrative structure that differed from many other traditional Chinese imperial institutions in both organization and practice.
The Inspectorate General (IG), the highest administrative authority within the CMCS, was held by foreign inspectors from 1854 to 1950. During this period, around 11,000 foreign nationals worked for the CMCS, while a similar number of Chinese employees served in less influential positions. In general, these well-trained and specialized foreign employees helped transform the CMCS into a highly disciplined and professional agency. They also contributed to the foundation of China’s modern customs system and trained Chinese staff in these newly introduced administrative practices.
One of the most famous and important Inspectors General (IG) of the CMCS was Sir Robert Hart (赫德), who served in the position from 1863 to 1911. Hart was born and educated in Ireland, then still part of Great Britain. He was hired by the Qing government to replace his predecessor, Horatio Nelson Lay (李泰國), who had lost the trust of the Qing authorities. Hart emphasized that the CMCS should function as a Chinese customs service rather than forwarding foreign interests.
Globalization in the second half of the 19th century developed through expanding networks of international exhibitions, which served both as public spectacles and as opportunities for trade and commercial exchange. Hart and the Chinese Maritime Customs Service actively participated in more than twenty-eight exhibitions and world’s fairs, presenting Chinese art, products, and culture while introducing a broader understanding of Chinese aesthetics and beauty to global audiences.
There are many historical debates regarding the position of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service and the ways in which it embodied Chineseness, foreignness, and Manchu governance at an institutional level. Beyond the debate over Hart and his Customs Service, the Chinese Government Collections that the CMCS contributed to in 1884 present a revealing image of China as both a society in transition and a civilization still attached to its cultural traditions. These collections suggest that late Qing China cannot be easily defined by a single word, but was instead shaped by multinational influences and remained vastly different from the modern understanding of China.