August 28, 1840
The
Empirical
Lin the Cloudy Sky?
Lin Tse-hsü,
Imperial Commissioner, was dismissed from his post last week. Despite a lifetime
of public service with steadfast morality and integrity, a cloud of lies has
hidden the once Clear Sky (1). The effort Tse-hsü’s dismissal represents
is honorable in its intent, but whether or not China shall prevail against
the British in this so-called ‘Opium War’ does not depend upon
the actions of one man, even the Emperor.
By the
age of 53, Tse-hsü had gained a reputation for always handling difficult
situations correctly and became known as "Lin the Clear Sky
(2)." For this reason, Emperor
Tao-kuang, after his own son died of an overdose (3), commanded
Tse-hsü to rid Glorious China of the evil stink of the West, opium.
The Emperor understands that Britain is using opium for its own purposes to
control its trade relations and increase its power over Great China. At
first, Britain bought tea and silk goods from China, but had nothing that the
Chinese wanted to purchase from them in return. By creating a massive
demand for opium in China, the British were able to stop the flow of their
silver into China and greatly increase the amount of silver going out,
crippling the Chinese economy. It also caused the Empire to become a land
with many useless addicts (4). Once a great nation with much power and an
advanced culture, China has now been brought low by a bitter yellow drug.
Tons of opium have been brought into China, leaving the once great Empire ripe
for this foreign invasion. Opium is the secret weapon for Britain to
conquer China.
It is this secret enemy that
Tse-hsü had to defeat. In 1836 opium was made illegal in China.
However, the opium trade continued. In 1838 more than 2 million once-productive
citizens were addicted to this drug (5). Hoping to rid China of this
infection, Tse-hsü headed to Canton and
launched an intensive anti-drug campaign (6). Then, on March 10, 1839 he
proclaimed that there would be no more toleration of trade in this illegal
narcotic and arrested many known dealers. Anyone caught possessing the drug,
whether buying, selling, or just holding it, was sentenced to public execution
by strangulation (7). But Tse-hsü, ever the optimist, felt that
addicts were merely misled by the British and still could be rehabilitated. Any
addict who voluntarily came to one of the many rehabilitation centers gained
automatic amnesty (8). This showed his unwavering hope that China could be
restored to her past glory.
His next move was to deal with the British merchants who were
supplying the drug. (9) They grew the drug in India where it was legal and
smuggled it to up Pearl River to the markets in Canton to trade
their legal goods (10). Tse-hsü approached the merchants with the
righteous arrogance of our Superior Nation and demanded they hand over all
of the black market product, opium, and sign an agreement to never sell opium
in China again, "on pain of trial and execution if found guilty (11)."
He even
wrote to their Queen with words of peace, "since Britain has made opium
trade and consumption illegal in England because of its harmful effects, it
should not export that harm to other counties."
But the
British feel no moral remorse for their actions as the worst drug-dealers of
all time (12). They feel no responsibility for their destruction of
Chinese civilization. They ignored Tse-hsü's civilized requests and
returned his courtesy with coarse cries and barbarian humor. These lesser
men believed that their corrupt Cantonese counterparts, including the viceroy
and high naval officials (13), would protect them from the Commissioner's
wrath. But Tse-hsü knew of their bribes, their "squeeze" money.
He himself was impervious to such base corruption and he made his fury felt.
Because the British only responded
to force, all trade was suspended with the Western merchants. Their neighborhood
on the waterfront was surrounded by barricades to prevent the weaker members
of our Magnanimous Nation from giving in to carnal temptations (14). Captain
Charles Elliot, the ranking British official in Canton, was outraged. He demanded
China lift these restrictions, arguing that the merchants were not subject
to the just laws of China. This raised a fierce argument that became the true
cause for the current Opium Wars. The British feel that our legal system
is uncivilized and they
will not subject their citizens to its barbarism. Yet Tse-hsü
rightly felt that any crime committed on China's soil should be dealt with
by China under its laws. As a result, no treaties existed between the two
countries (15). A period of weak resistance followed and on March 27, the
British agreed to turn over all stores of opium. Over two and a half million
pounds of this plague on Chinese society were subsequently handed over and
destroyed by Tse-hsü. Tse-hsü was proud of his destruction
of the "foreign mud (16)." The Emperor himself said, "This
is something that is greatly delightful to the hearts of mankind (17)."
Although
many hoped that this was the last sight of opium in China, it was not to be so.
British trade was unbalanced without opium so the British persistently snuck
around and sold it on many areas of the coast. When drunken British soldiers killed an innocent Chinese
villager, Tse-hsü felt that it was the last straw (18). Stronger measures were needed to make
the British give up on opium. He threatened to throw the British
out of China. He stopped the sale of all food to British ships and
poisoned springs that the British were known to frequent. Tse-hsü's
tactics were so effective that all the British were forced to retreat to Hong
Kong by August. There a heavily armed British frigate joined them (19). The
British anger was growing, though. Tse-hsü's reaction to this
military threat was quite over-confident, "British fabrics are inferior to
Chinese silk, British earthenware is inferior to Chinese ceramics, and the
general behavior of British seamen is uncivilized, therefore the British navy
must be inferior to the Chinese navy (20)." How little was known at the
time, how hard it is to accept now.
Although
the Chinese invented gunpowder, the barbarians created many copies of the
cannons. These are more plentiful on their ships, and even the cowardly
merchants carry more advanced cannons than any of the Glorious Fleet of China
for they have more to fear. With their greater number of cannons, the British
easily destroyed several Chinese junks in a skirmish near Kowloon.
Fearing retribution from their superiors, the captains of the junks told Clear
Sky that they had defeated the British, and this Tse-hsü repeated to the
Emperor. In a rage, the Emperor wrote to the Westerners, "you have
presumptuously fired upon and attacked our naval cruisers, our army and navy
will now be required to launch a devastating attack upon you, and you will
suffer just punishment at our hands (21)." He then commanded Tse-hsü
to assemble a fleet that could crush the pitiful British for their audacity.
This move
had two goals. It served as a warning to the British that they should
be careful of what they do next and as a warning to any other countries who
dealt with China.
Tse-hsü was so sure of his victory that after gathering
eighty junks and fireships, he wrote this poem, "a vast display of Imperial might
has shaken all the foreign tribes, and, if they now confess their guilt, we
will not be too hard on them." On November 3, 1839, two British
frigates approached the Chinese fleet, offered terms of surrender, and when
the letter was returned unopened, proceeded to destroy the entire fleet in
forty-five minutes. Five large junks were sunk immediately and the rest were
either sunk or severely damaged (22). This was the beginning of the most humiliating
period in Chinese history.
Tse-hsü
did all that he could to prepare China for what would come next, for he
realized that it was inevitable that it would come. But the situation has grown
out of his control, through no fault of his own. His intense persecution of
drug dealers, as well as his aggressive push for foreigners to be tried under
Chinese law, gave the British cause to attack, the desire was already there.
Opium was just a cover story, with the true motive being the intense power
struggle for supremacy between the two nations. Which country shall prevail is
still unclear, but the British have taken a long lead. When the British returned
with a large fleet of many ships and over a thousand marines earlier this year,
they besieged Canton and gained control of important places along the coast.
Their advanced instruments of modern warfare are decimating our now ancient
weapons.
Tse-hsü's
brave comment before the second attack, "People say that our junks and
guns are no match for the British?But they do not know (23)!" proved to be
seriously false, adding the final cloud to the now dark sky that was once known
as Lin the Clear Sky. The Chinese military, despite such strong leadership, had
become weak and its failure had slowly dragged down the proud shoulders of even
Tse-hsü. In a partial attempt to placate the West before it is too
late and to rectify damage to his own reputation, Emperor Tao-kuang has
stripped Lin Tse-hsü of his title as Imperial Commissioner a week ago. He
has been exiled to the province of Ili, in the far northern frontier (24). Many
are outraged at this sad display of weakness on the Emperors part. This
decision is surely the first among many in which China bows to the West.
Footnotes:
1) P. Chrastina, “Emperor of China Declares War on
Drugs,” n.d., <http://oldnewspublishing.com/opium.htm>
1-27-03
2) Ibid
3) Ibid
4) Spielvogel, Jackson J. World History: The Human Odyssey. (New York: West Educational Publishing,1998), 768.
5) P. Chrastina, “Emperor of China Declares War on Drugs,” n.d., <http://oldnewspublishing.com/opium.htm> 1-27-03
6) World Book, vol. 3, C-Ch, ed. Robert F. Dembeger et al (Chicago: World Books Inc., 1993), 502-503
7) P. Chrastina, “Emperor of China Declares War on Drugs,” n.d., <http://oldnewspublishing.com/opium.htm> 1-27-03
8) Ibid
9) World Book, vol. 3, C-Ch, ed. Robert F. Dembeger et al (Chicago: World Books Inc., 1993), 502-503
10) P. Chrastina, “Emperor of China Declares War on Drugs,” n.d., <http://oldnewspublishing.com/opium.htm> 1-27-03
11) Ibid
12) R. Hooker, “The Opium Wars,” 7-14-1999 <http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHING/OPIUM.HTM> 1-27-03
13) P. Chrastina, “Emperor of China Declares War on Drugs,” n.d., <http://oldnewspublishing.com/opium.htm> 1-27-03
14) Ibid
15) R. Hooker, “The Opium Wars,” 7-14-1999 <http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHING/OPIUM.HTM> 1-27-03
16) P. Chrastina, “Emperor of China Declares War on Drugs,” n.d., <http://oldnewspublishing.com/opium.htm> 1-27-03
17) Ibid
18) Ibid
19) Ibid
20) Ibid
21) Ibid
22) Ibid
23) Ibid
24) Ibid
Images:
1) Taylor, F. “Tao-Kuang, Emperor of China,” n.d.,
<http://www.history.navy.mil/library/anh/exped.htm> 2-3-03
2) Moncrieff, L. “Historic China and Drug Abuse,” n.d., < http://www3.telus.net/tcmguide/addctour.html > 2-3-03
3) Blake, W. “Chinese Lugsails,” n.d., <http://www.friend.ly.net/~dadadata/junks.html> 2-3-03
4) “1840-1860: Opium Wars,” June 24, 2002 <http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/20/hk.history.01/ > 2-3-03
