Opium War Analysis
A. Plan of Investigation
How and to what extent did Confucian values make it difficult for China to adapt to the challenge of the west leading up to and after the Opium War (1839-1842)? Between 1839 and 1842, China experienced the first of two Opium Wars, against Britain. The Opium War, which weakened the Qing Dynasty, created diplomatic tension, opened China up to more foreign influence. The time period examined will mainly be between 1839 and 1842, though there will be context from years leading up and following the war, including the years after the Treaty of Nanking was signed. To determine the extent and reasons for the difficulty that the Chinese experienced adapting to the challenge of the west, this paper will examine certain Confucian …show more content…
Travis Hanes and Frank Sanello recounts the history of the Opium War through both the Chinese and the British perspectives. Its purpose is to give both sides of the story to better inform the reader of the Opium Wars causes, conflicts, and effects, while also presenting the information in an interesting way intended to captivate the reader. Because the source presents the view of each side the information is balanced and lets the reader decide what they make of both arguments. The value of this source is that it does examine both perspectives and it includes, not only stories and text but also illustrations of graphs and charts to aid understanding. The source has the limitation of its length, being very long and it covers information outside of the scope of this paper. Both of the authors are Americans that created this source many years after the event, so it is a secondary source that has an inherent underlying western inclination, though the images were obtained by primary …show more content…
This source helps lead to the conclusion that the Chinese had a rather difficult time adapting to the challenge of the west. Spence writes about the cultural inferiority the Chinese experienced. They believed that the country was superior in every way, when in reality China was far less technologically, economically, and socially advanced compared to the west. When it came to the military China was also way behind many other countries. One of the factors contributing to their defeat in the Opium War was that they were using cannons, used for many dynasties, unlike Britain's advanced military technology. If China had a better military and were a bit more lenient on the values of Confucius, the result of the war may have been in their
How and to what extent did Confucian values make it difficult for China to adapt to the challenge of the west leading up to and after the Opium War (1839-1842)? Between 1839 and 1842, China experienced the first of two Opium Wars, against Britain. The Opium War, which weakened the Qing Dynasty, created diplomatic tension, opened China up to more foreign influence. The time period examined will mainly be between 1839 and 1842, though there will be context from years leading up and following the war, including the years after the Treaty of Nanking was signed. To determine the extent and reasons for the difficulty that the Chinese experienced adapting to the challenge of the west, this paper will examine certain Confucian …show more content…
Travis Hanes and Frank Sanello recounts the history of the Opium War through both the Chinese and the British perspectives. Its purpose is to give both sides of the story to better inform the reader of the Opium Wars causes, conflicts, and effects, while also presenting the information in an interesting way intended to captivate the reader. Because the source presents the view of each side the information is balanced and lets the reader decide what they make of both arguments. The value of this source is that it does examine both perspectives and it includes, not only stories and text but also illustrations of graphs and charts to aid understanding. The source has the limitation of its length, being very long and it covers information outside of the scope of this paper. Both of the authors are Americans that created this source many years after the event, so it is a secondary source that has an inherent underlying western inclination, though the images were obtained by primary …show more content…
This source helps lead to the conclusion that the Chinese had a rather difficult time adapting to the challenge of the west. Spence writes about the cultural inferiority the Chinese experienced. They believed that the country was superior in every way, when in reality China was far less technologically, economically, and socially advanced compared to the west. When it came to the military China was also way behind many other countries. One of the factors contributing to their defeat in the Opium War was that they were using cannons, used for many dynasties, unlike Britain's advanced military technology. If China had a better military and were a bit more lenient on the values of Confucius, the result of the war may have been in their