China Imperialism

How far was imperialism the cause of the first Opium War in China 1839-1842?
The Opium Wars in China are said to have been caused by a number of factors, none more so than China’s opinion of Britain. Connections between the two countries began through trading and naturally an awareness of the British people came about . However it was shown that China’s imperial government did not see Britain as a power of any significance- which seems to be related to their sense of imperialism; China believed that they ‘did not need to be interested in Britain’ , they had such faith in the power that their country held that Britain need not be heeded. On the other hand, Britain believed in its imperial superiority and looked at the country as ‘past minded,
This information was completely new to the Chinese and spoke of life in Britain. However the palace and government still lacked essential interest in what would one day be their rivals. Maybe it differed from the costal merchants because they were so far removed from common interactions of the British. In any case, Britain were still believed to be of no threat. The source points out that even in the decline of the Qianlong emperor’s rule, their land mass and populace easily outsized any of that of the Western world, and especially Britain . In terms of interest, paradoxically, Britain set out upon the Macartney Mission, disguising the celebration of the emperor’s eightieth birthday with profit making and marketing intents . Whilst visiting during the celebration, the non-cooperation of Macartney in traditional Chinese festivities was mistaken for he and his group being uncivilised and the community pitied them . Consequently, we can see how direct communication through trading on the south east coast would have been a more direct route to learning the ways of the British people, rather than false visits to the palace and vague recollections in literature. We can see that if the Chinese had paid more attention to the encroaching British imperialists, war may have been prevented by taking steps to stop the
Opium smuggling caused a major financial and domestic strain on China . But by now Britain’s power, both geographically and militarily, became noticed . China began to study Britain further and naturally, the preceding images proposed by the Qianlong government were upturned . Although there was progress in the study of the British, it was mainly through individuals in a minority of scholars, rather than a study that would be regarded countrywide . Again, through inaccurate sources of imperialism, it became even more assumed that the British would not survive if the tea trade did not exist and this strengthened the notion that Britain could be easily stopped if necessary. Furthermore, because there was no incentive to begin to understand British influence, this was the general consensus which allowed imperialism, again, to be the cause of the Opium