Weekly Thoughts #1: Empire's Recipe for Destruction

For an empire with a rich cultural heritage, gigantic land mass, and a plethora of resources, Opium proved itself a small but instrumental recipe for the empire's downfall. For this weekly review, I'd like to analyze how this drug, deemed "harmless" to the West, would change China's path to the future forever.

Before the arrival of Opium in Canton, the Qing empire and its citizens viewed their civilization as the "center of the world" in every aspect - be it the military, resources or even divinity of its rulers. With a 2000+ year-history of Confucianism, Confucius's words and call to practice, such as ancestral worship, the Chinese were proud to be preserving Confucianism and its rich culture in their everyday lives. Internal stability was achieved through the military campaigns to expand Qing's territory during Kangxi's reign, and valuable resources were valuable to the point that China felt it did not have to trade with the West.

It is not surprising, given the development of China with restricted knowledge of the world's continents, that Sino-Centrism was ingrained in the imperial court. When Macarthy introduced the West's eagerness to trade and be politically involved in the Qing empire, Qianlong dismissed him as a barbarian and claimed he accepted the offerings of the British as a sign of politeness. In Qianlong's letter to King George, he also reminded the British of being loyal to the Qing Emperor for its safety to be ensured. The cold exchange of thoughts and intentions shows just how militarily advanced, surprisingly civilized group the Europeans were.

The Chinese heavily restricted European trade in Chinese soil by only allowing trade at the port in Canton. Moreover, the goods coming from Europe were not in faring well in the Middle Kingdom, which subsequently led to an outflowing of silver in Europe in favor of the Chinese. Desperate, the Europeans resorted to smuggling in Opium.

Opium was illegal in China - it was not taken as seriously in Europe. Hence, the Opium trade was illegal in China. The Qing government, however, were too late in realizing its detriments to society and banning it. In a short period of time, villages and cities were addicted, and Chinese regardless of gender and age started smoking it. The Western influence that the Qing government found too trivial to care began destroying the pillars of Chinese society. Outrageous anti-Confucian acts such as selling off wives as slaves for some "Opium money" began to increase, and the ideals of family unity and communal harmony, began to corrode. For the first time, in a civilization that was able to preserve Confucianism under the influences of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and even Christianity, Confucian ideals were under serious threat. Increasingly wary of this, Qing ordered the dumping of Opium in the Canton port.

The West had the weaponry. It had the technology. And, most importantly, it was prepared.

So, was the great civilization destroyed by superior weaponry and staunch supporters of Imperialism? Yes, and the consequences of being militarily inferior was harsh to the Chinese. Civil wars, the corruption of treasured ideals, and the creation of different Chinas would characterize China's early modern history. This all started with the opium - and it is interesting how opium took down an empire.

The wife cries:"Why? Why are you letting them take me?" There was a long silence. The wife was gone, and his husband knew that. Gone, as in forever. Slowly, he took out the silver coin he got from the slave owners. By now, his memory of her wife he once loved more than anything else, had all but vanished. His head was as a empty as a penniless piggy bank.