The war is over. The treaty is signed, sealed, & delivered. Yet though the smoke has cleared, the haze of uncertainty over what - exactly - just happened... lingers on. And that misunderstanding will echo for the next century. While Qiying writes love letters to Pottinger and the opium clippers resume business at anchorages just outside the new treaty ports, the machine set in motion by the Treaty of Nanjing is only just beginning to roll out.
Time Period Covered:Aug. 1842 - c. 1860
Major Historical Figures:
The Qing Empire:The Daoguang Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Minning) [r. 1820–1850] Qiying, Imperial Commissioner and chief negotiator [1787–1858] Yilibu, Imperial Commissioner and senior negotiator [1772–1843] Zhang Xi, retainer and intermediary [fl. 1840s] Lin Zexu, former Imperial Commissioner [1785–1850] Howqua (Wu Bingjian), senior Hong merchant [1769–1843] Hong Xiuquan, failed examination candidate [1814–1864]
The British Empire: Queen Victoria [r. 1837–1901] Sir Henry Pottinger, Plenipotentiary to China [1789–1856] Sir Hugh Gough, Commander of British Land Forces [1779–1869] Charles Elliot, former Chief Superintendent [1801–1875] Captain William Hutcheon Hall, commanding HMS Nemesis [c. 1797–1878] William Jardine, co-founder, Jardine Matheson [1784–1843] James Matheson, co-founder, Jardine Matheson [1796–1878] John Robert Morrison, principal interpreter [1814–1843]
Other: Captain Jean-Baptiste Cécille, commanding French frigate Erigone [1787–1873] Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff, missionary and civil magistrate [1803–1851] William Lockhart, missionary physician [1811–1896] Napoléon Libois, procurator, Missions Étrangères [1805–1872]
Major Sources Cited: Fay, Peter Ward. The Opium War, 1840–1842Wakeman, Frederic Jr. "The Creation of the Treaty System" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10Fairbank, John K. Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast
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