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400
Opium thebaicum, from the Egytpian fields at Thebes, is first introduced to China by Arab traders.
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1300
Opium Trading Slowed Down
Opium had become a taboo subject for those in circles of learning during the Holy Inquisition. In the eyes of the Inquisition, anything from the East was linked to the Devil. -
1527
Opium Makes a Comeback
At the height of the Reformation, opium pills were quoted in European medical literature and would be commonly called the " Stones of Immortality" -
Opium Was Used for Recreational Use
In Persia and India eating opium and drinking opium mixtures became popularized as a way to high. -
The British Enter India
The British first landed on Indian territory in 1608 at Surat. The British East India Company was given a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, which granted the company a monopoly on trade with the East Indies -
Opium properly introduced to China
The Dutch exported shipments of Indian opium to China and the islands of Southeast Asia; the Dutch introduce the practice of smoking opium in a tobacco pipe to the Chinese. In 1767, The British East India Company's import of opium to China reaches a staggering two thousand chests of opium per year. In 1793, The British East India Company established a monopoly in trading opium. They made is so India couldn't sell opium to anyone else so they could sta on top. -
Period: to
Chinas Imperialism was Flourishing, sorta?
China is at the center of the world economy as Europeans and Americans seek Chinese goods. However, China starts experiencing internal strains. The expanding population that taxes food supply and government control, these strains lead to rebellions and a weakening of the central government. -
British East India Company Established a Trading Post in China
When Portuguese traders paid for access to ports in Macau on China's far southeast coast. Portuguese traders would smoke opium along the coast. The Chinese considered it barbaric and subversive. The British East India Company also established a trading post there. The East India Company was an English company formed for the exploitation of trade with East and Southeast Asia and India. Incorporated by royal charter in 1600. -
The Canton System
The Canton system which was introduced by the Qing required foreign companies to trade with Chinese merchant collectives, not directly with the Chinese people. These attempts to limit and control foreign trade activity failed and it began to spread beyond the southeast. This was only the start to the decline in Chinas economy. -
Industrial Revolution Starts
Though a few innovations including the steam engine, cotton gin, and telegraph, were developed as early as the 1700s, the Industrial Revolution began in earnest in the 1830s and 1840s in Britain. Since the industrial revolution started in Britain, it allowed them to be more advanced than ANYONE at the time. -
The First Offiical Opium Ban
China's emperor, Kia King, bans opium completely, making trade and poppy cultivation illegal. -
Period: to
Smugglers Era
Since the Opium ban, The British East India Company was stuck when their biggest customers cut off all exchanges. So, they used various British and American smugglers such as Charles Cabot and John Jacob Astor to still deliver the high-demand drug in an act to try to keep their profits up. -
An Expedition gone wrong
Lin Tse-Hsu, the imperial Chinese commissioner in charge of suppressing the opium traffic, orders all foreign traders to surrender their opium. In response, the British send expeditionary warships to the coast of China, beginning The First Opium War. -
China Lost The War That They Started
The Chinese are defeated by the British in the First Opium War. Along with paying a large indemnity, Hong Kong (chinas capital) is given up to the British -
Treaty of Nanjing
Signed in 1842 but effective in 1843, the Treaty of Nanjing officially ended the opium war. The Treaty Of Nanjing is considered the Unequal Treaty. The treaty gave Britain the entire island of hong kong. Britain opened 5 trading ports and allowed sales with non-collective merchants who usually sold tea, porcelain, and silk. Britain also demanded repercussions from the war. The large monetary demand sent China's economy spiraling. During this era, everyone's lives consisted of selling.