Second Opium War
Part of the Opium Wars
Upper North Taku Fort in 1860.
Date 1856-1860 Location China Result Franco-British victory; Treaty of Tientsin Casus belli Chinese boarding of British-registered ship the Arrow
Combatants
Qing China	United Kingdom French Empire
Commanders
Unknown	Michael Seymour James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros

The Second Opium War or Arrow War was a war of the United Kingdom and France against the Qing Dynasty of China from 1856 to 1860. The Opium Wars (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), or the Anglo-Chinese Wars were two wars fought in the mid-1800s that were the climax of a long dispute between China and Britain. ... Image File history File links Upper_North_Taku_Fort. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... The Treaties of Tientsin (天津條約) were signed in Tianjin in June 1858, ending the first part of the Second Opium War (1856-1860). ... Casus belli is a modern Latin language expression meaning the justification for acts of war. ... Image File history File links China_Qing_Dynasty_Flag_1862. ... The Qing Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ching chao; Manchu: daicing gurun; Mongolian: Манж Чин), occasionally known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1644 to 1912. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Sir Michael Seymour (1802 - 1887) was a British admiral and the uncle of Sir Edward Hobart Seymour, also an admiral. ... The Earl of Elgin and Kincardine James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine (20 July 1811 – 20 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat, best known as Governor General of the Province of Canada and Viceroy of India. ... Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros (1793-1870) was one of the first daguerrotypists. ... There were two Opium Wars between Britain and China. ... The Qing Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ching chao; Manchu: daicing gurun; Mongolian: Манж Чин), occasionally known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1644 to 1912. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...

Background

The 1850s saw the rapid growth of imperialism. Some of the shared goals of the western powers were the expansion of their overseas markets and the establishment of new ports of call. The French Treaty of Huangpu and the American Wangxia Treaty both contained clauses allowing renegotiation of the treaties after twelve years. In an effort to expand their privileges in China, Britain demanded the Qing authorities renegotiate the Treaty of Nanking (signed in 1842), citing their most favoured nation status. The British demands included opening all of China to British merchants, legalizing the opium trade, exempting foreign imports from internal transit duties, suppression of piracy, regulation of the coolie trade, permission for a British ambassador to reside in Beijing and for the English-language version of all treaties to take precedence over the Chinese. // Production of steel revolutionized by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transatlantic telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Railroads begin to supplant canals in the United States as a primary means of transporting goods. ... // Cecil Rhodes: Cape-Cairo railway project. ... The Treaty of Whampoa (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: ) was a commercial treaty between France and China, which was signed by Théodore de Lagrené and Qiying on October 24, 1844. ... The Sino-American Treaty of Wanghia (Traditional Chinese: 中美望廈條約; Simplified Chinese: 中美望厦条约; Pinyin: ) is the first diplomatic agreement between China and the United States in history, signed on July 3, 1844. ... The Treaty of Nanjing (Chinese: 南京條約, NánjÄ«ng TiáoyuÄ“) is the agreement which marked the end of the First Opium War between the United Kingdom and China. ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Most favoured nation (MFN), also called normal trade relations in the United States, is a status accorded by one nation to another in international trade. ... Opium is a narcotic drug which is obtained from the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy . ... Coolie labourer circa 1900 in Zhenjiang, China. ...   (Chinese:  ; Pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; IPA: ), a metropolis in northern China, is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ...

The Qing Dynasty court rejected the revisionary demands from Britain, France, and the US. The Qing Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ching chao; Manchu: daicing gurun; Mongolian: Манж Чин), occasionally known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1644 to 1912. ...

Outbreak

The war may be viewed as a continuation of the First Opium War (1839-1842), thus the title of the Second Opium War. Combatants Qing China British East India Company Commanders Daoguang Emperor Charles Elliot, Anthony Blaxland Stransham The First Opium War or the First Anglo-Chinese War was fought between Great Britain and the Qing Empire in China from 1839 to 1842 with the aim of forcing China to import British opium. ... 1839 (MDCCCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

On 1856-10-08, Qing officials boarded the Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship that had been registered in Hong Kong and was suspected of piracy and smuggling. Twelve Chinese subjects were arrested and imprisoned. This has come to be known as the "Arrow Incident"^[1]. The British officials in Guangzhou demanded the release of the sailors, claiming that because the ship had recently been British-registered, it was protected under the Treaty of Nanking. Only when this was shown to be a weak argument did the British insist that the Arrow had been flying a British ensign and that the Qing soldiers had insulted the flag. Faced with fighting the Taiping Rebellion, the Qing government was in no position to resist the West militarily. 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... October 8 is the 281st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (282nd in leap years). ... The flag of 18th-century pirate Calico Jack Piracy is robbery committed at sea, or sometimes on the shore, by an agent without a commission from a sovereign nation. ... A skirmish with smugglers from Finland at the Russian border, 1853, by Vasily Hudiakov. ... Guangzhou is the capital and the sub-provincial city of Guangdong Province in the southern part of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The White Ensign. ... Combatants Qing Empire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Commanders Xianfeng Emperor, Tongzhi Emperor, Empress Dowager Cixi, Charles George Gordon, Frederick Townsend Ward Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan, Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai, Li Xiucheng The Taiping Rebellion (or Rebellion of Great Peace) was a large-scale revolt against the authority...

Although the British were delayed by the Indian Mutiny, they responded to the "Arrow Incident" in 1857 and attacked Guangzhou from the Pearl River. Ye Mingchen, then the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, ordered all Chinese soldiers manning the forts not to resist the British incursion. After taking the fort near Guangzhou with little effort, the British Army attacked Guangzhou. Chinese people in Hong Kong have adopted many western folkways, but a substantial number of them still adhere to traditional Chinese traditions on various aspects of social living; for instance family solidarity, “courtesy and face” in interpersonal relationship. ... Other Hong Kong topics Culture - Economy Education - Geography - History Hong Kong Portal Politics of Hong Kong takes place in a framework of a political system dominated by the Peoples Republic of China, an own legislature, the Chief Executive as the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party... An engraving titled Sepoy Indian troops dividing the spoils after their mutiny against British rule gives a contemporary view of events from the British perspective. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The are two Pearl Rivers: The Pearl River (China) (See also the Pearl River Delta) The Pearl River in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Louisiana Pearl River is also the name of some places in the United States of America: Pearl River, Louisiana Pearl River, Mississippi Pearl River... Guangdong, often spelt as Kwangtung, is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Guangxi (Zhuang: Gvangjsih; old orthography: ; Simplified Chinese: 广西; Traditional Chinese: 廣西; Pinyin: Guǎngxī; Wade-Giles: Kuang-hsi; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangsi), full name Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Zhuang: Gvangjsih Bouxcuengh Swcigih; old orthography: ; Simplified Chinese: 广西壮族自治区; Traditional Chinese: 廣西壯族自治區; Pinyin: Guǎngxī Zhuàngzú Zìzhìqū) is a Zhuang autonomous region of...

The British Parliament decided to seek redress from China based on the report about the "Arrow Incident" submitted by Harry Parkes, British Consul to Guangzhou. France, the USA, and Russia received requests from Britain to form an alliance. France joined the British action against China, prompted by the execution of a French missionary, Father August Chapdelaine ("Father Chapdelaine Incident"), by Chinese local authorities in Guangxi province. The USA and Russia sent envoys to Hong Kong to offer help to the British and French, though in the end they sent no military aid. The Houses of Parliament, as seen over Westminster Bridge The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. ... Sir Harry Smith Parkes (1828 - 1885) was a 19th century British diplomat who worked mainly in China and Japan. ... A missionary is traditionally defined as a propagator of religion who works to convert those outside that community; someone who proselytizes. ... Father Auguste Chapdelaine (Chinese name: Ma Lai) (February 6, 1814 - February 29, 1856) was a French Christian missionary of the Paris Society of Foreign Missions. ...

The British and the French joined forces under Admiral Sir Michael Seymour. The British army led by Lord Elgin, and the French army led by Gros, attacked and occupied Guangzhou in late 1857. Ye Mingchen was captured, and Bo-gui, the governor of Guangdong, surrendered. A joint committee of the Alliance was formed. Bo-gui remained at his original post in order to maintain order on behalf of the victors. The British-French Alliance maintained control of Guangzhou for nearly four years. Ye Mingchen was exiled to Calcutta, India, where he starved himself to death. Sir Michael Seymour (1802 - 1887) was a British admiral and the uncle of Sir Edward Hobart Seymour, also an admiral. ... The Earl of Elgin and Kincardine James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine (20 July 1811 – 20 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat, best known as Governor General of the Province of Canada and Viceroy of India. ... Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros (1793-1870) was one of the first daguerrotypists. ...   (IPA: [] Bengali: কলকাতা) (formerly  ) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. ...

The coalition then cruised north to briefly capture the Taku Forts near Tianjin in May, 1858. The Taku Forts (or Dagu Fort; Chinese: 大沽船坞; pinyin: dagu paotai) are forts located by the Hai He (Peiho River) estuary, in Tanggu District, Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: TiānjÄ«n; Postal map spelling: Tientsin) is one of the four municipalities of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

Treaty of Tianjin

In June 1858 the first part of the war ended with the Treaties of Tianjin, to which France, Russia, and the United States were party. These treaties opened eleven more ports to Western trade. The Chinese initially refused to ratify the treaties. The Treaties of Tientsin (天津條約) were signed in Tianjin in June 1858, ending the first part of the Second Opium War (1856-1860). ...

The major points of the treaty were:

1. Britain, France, Russia, and the United States would have the right to establish diplomatic legations (small embassies) in Peking (a closed city at the time)
2. Ten more Chinese ports would be opened for foreign trade, including Niuzhuang, Danshui, Hankou, and Nanjing
3. The right of all foreign vessels including commercial ships to navigate freely on the Yangtze River
4. The right of foreigners to travel in the internal regions of China, which had been formerly banned
5. China was to pay an indemnity to Britain and France in 2 million taels of silver each
6. China was to pay compensation to British merchants in 2 million taels of silver for destruction of their property

A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. ... Beijing (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: Běijīng; Wade-Giles: Pei-ching; Postal System Pinyin: Peking), is the capital city of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Yingkou (Simplified Chinese: 营口; Traditional Chinese: 營口; Pinyin: ) is a prefecture-level city of Liaoning province, in northeastern China. ... Lover Bridge of Tamsui, July 7, 2004 Tamsui (Chinese:淡水鎮, Taiwanese: Tām-súi/Tām-chúi, Tongyong Pinyin: Danshuei, Hanyu Pinyin: Danshui) is a sea-side town in Taipei County, Taiwan Province, Republic of China. ... Hankou (漢口; pinyin: Hànkǒu; Wade-Giles: Hankow) is one of the three towns, together with Wuchang and Hanyang, which are included in modern day Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, in China. ...   (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: NánjÄ«ng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling)) is the capital of Chinas Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. ... The Yangtze River or Chang Jiang (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), or Drichu in Tibetan (Tibetan: འབྲི་ཆུ་; Wylie: bri chu) is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world after the Nile in Africa and the Amazon in South America. ... The tael (兩), PY: Liang, was part of the Chinese system of weights and currency. ...

Treaty of Aigun

On May 28, 1858, the separate Treaty of Aigun was signed with Russia to revise the Chinese and Russian border as determined by the Nerchinsk Treaty in 1689. Russia gained the left bank of the Amur River, pushing the border back from the Argun River. The treaty gave Russia control over a non-freezing area on the Pacific coast, where Russia founded the city of Vladivostok in 1860. May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ... 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Treaty of Aigun was the Russian-Chinese treaty that established the modern borders of the Russian Far East. ... Nerchinsk Treaty was the first treaty between Russia and China. ... Events Louis XIV of France passed the Code Noir, allowing the full use of slaves in the French colonies. ... The Amur (Russian: Амур) (Simplified Chinese: 黑龙江; Traditional Chinese: 黑龍江; Hēilóng Jiāng, literally meaning Black Dragon River) (Mongolian: Хара-Мурэн, Khara-Muren or Black River) (Manchu: Sahaliyan Ula, literal meaning Black... Argun River may refer to Argun River, Caucasus Argun River, Asia This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Vladivostok (Russian: ) is the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia, situated close to the Russo-Sino border and North Korea. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...

Continuation of the war

In June 1858, shortly after the Qing Court agreed to the humiliating treaties, more hawkish ministers prevailed upon the Xianfeng Emperor to resist encroachment by the West. On June 2, 1858, the Xianfeng Emperor ordered the Monglian general Sengge Rinchen to guard the Dagu Fort in Tianjin. Sengge Richen reinforced the Dagu Forts with added artillery. He also brought 4,000 Mongolian calvary from Chahar and Suiyuan.

In June, 1859, a British naval force with 2,200 troops and 21 ships, under the command of Admiral Sir James Hope sailed north from Shanghai to Tianjin with newly-appointed Anglo-French envoys for the embassies in Beijing. They sailed to the mouth of the Baihe River (also spelled Peiho river) guarded by the Dagu Fort near Tianjin and demanded to continue inland to Beijing. Sengge Rinchen replied that the Anglo-French envoys may land up the coast at Beitang and proceed to Beijing but refused to allow armed troops to accompany them to the Chinese capital. The Anglo-French forces insisted landing at Dagu instead of Beitang and escorting the envoy to Beijing. On the night of June 24, 1859, a small batch of British forces blew up iron obstacles that the Chinese had placed in the Baihe River. The next day, the British forces sought to forcibly sail into the river, and shelled Dagu Fort. They encountered fierce resistance from Singge Rinchen's positions. After one day and one night's fighting, four gunboats were lost and two others severely damaged. The convoy withdrew under the cover of fire from a naval squadron commanded by Commodore Josiah Tattnall. Tattnall's intervention violated U.S. neutrality in China. For a time, anti-foreign resistance reached a crescendo within the Qing Court. Admiral Sir James Hope (3 March 1808–9 June 1881) was a Royal Navy officer and Admiral of the Fleet. ... Categories: China geography stubs | Chinese rivers ... Commodore is a rank of the United States Navy with a somewhat complicated history. ... Josiah Tattnall Commodore Josiah Tattnall (14 June 1794 - 14 June 1871) was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812, the Second Barbary War, and the Mexican-American War. ...

In the summer of 1860, a larger Anglo-French force (11,000 British, 6,700 French) with 173 ships sailed from Hong Kong and captured the port cities of Yantai and Dalian to seal the Bohai Gulf. Then they carried out a landing near at Bei Tang(also spelled Pei Tang), some 3km from the Dagu Fort on August 3, which they captured after three weeks' on August 21 . After taking Tianjin on August 3, the Anglo-French forces marched inland toward Beijing. The Xianfeng Emperor then dispatched ministers to for peace talks, but relations broke down completely when an arrogant British diplomatic envoy, Harry Parkes, was arrested after his abrasive and racist behavior during negotiations on September 18. He and his small entourage were imprisoned and tortured (some were murdered by the Chinese in a fashion that infuriated British leadership upon discovery in October). The Anglo-French invasion clashed with Singge Rinchen's Mongolian calvary on September 18 near Zhangjiawan before proceeding toward the outskirts of Beijing for a decisive battle in Tongzhou District. At Baliqiao, Sengge Rinchen's 10,000 troops including elite Mongolian calvary were completely annhilated after several doomed frontal charges against concentrated firepower of the Anglo-French forces, which entered Beijing on October 6. Yantai (Simplified Chinese: 烟台, Traditional Chinese: 煙台; pinyin: Yāntái) is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Shandong province, Peoples Republic of China. ... Dalian (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Dàlián; Japanese: Dairen; Russian: Далянь, Dalian or Дальний, Dalny) is the governing sub-provincial city in the eastern Liaoning Province of Northeast China. ... August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (216th in leap years), with 150 days remaining. ... Sir Harry Smith Parkes (1828 - 1885) was a 19th century British diplomat who worked mainly in China and Japan. ... // Overview Tongzhou District (Simplified Chinese: 通州区; Traditional Chinese: 通州區; Hanyu Pinyin: Tōngzhōu Qū), located in southeast Beijing, is considered as the capitals eastern gate. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years). ...

With the Qing army devastated, Emperor Xianfeng fled the capital, leaving his brother, Prince Gong, to be in charge of negotiations. Xianfeng first fled to the Summer Palace in Chengde and then to Jehol in Manchuria. ^[2] British-French troops in Beijing began looting the Summer Palace immediately (it was full of valuable artwork). After Parkes and the surviving diplomatic prisoners were freed, Lord Elgin ordered the Old Summer Palace be destroyed starting on October 18. The destruction was total. However Beijing was not occupied; the Anglo-French army remained outside the city. Prince Gong (Chinese: 恭亲王; Wade-Giles: Prince Kung) (January 11, 1833 - May 29, 1898), commonly known in his days as the Sixth Prince (六王爺), was born Yixin (Chinese: 奕訢; Wade-Giles: I-hsin), of the Aisin-Gioro clan (the Qing Manchu imperial family ruling over China). ... Mountain Resort, Chengde Mountain Resort, Chengde The Mountain Resort (Chinese: 避暑山庄; pinyin: BìshÇ” Shānzhuāng; literally: Mountain Resort for Avoiding the Heat) or Ligong (Chinese: 离宫; pinyin: Lígōng, the Qing Dynastys summer palace) situated in the city of Chengde in Hebei Province, China, is the worlds... The Putuo Zongcheng ticket to the summer resort (1984) Chengde (Chinese: ; pinyin: Chéngdé; Manchu: Erdemu be aliha fu) is a city approximately one hundred miles northeast of Beijing in northeastern Hebei province, situated near the Luan River. ... Rehe (Simplified Chinese: 热河; Traditional Chinese: 熱河; pinyin: Rèhé; lit. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Summer Palace in Beijing. ... The Earl of Elgin and Kincardine James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine (20 July 1811 – 20 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat, best known as Governor General of the Province of Canada and Viceroy of India. ...

The motives for the destruction of the Summer Palace are an interesting subject for debate. The ostensible reason stated by Lord Elgin was to discourage the Chinese from using kidnapping as a bargaining tool, and to exact revenge on the Emperor for his violation of the flag of truce. In this way, his action was successful, seeing as the Manchu did not harm diplomatic envoys until the Boxer Rebellion, 40 years later. Other options, such as executions, the replacement of the Manchu entirely, and the destruction of the Forbidden City were all discussed. The Russian envoy Count Ignatiev and the French diplomat Baron Gros argued against all these, and so Elgin settled on the burning of the Summer Palace, arguing that this was the "least objectionable" as it hurt the government but did not disrupt the daily lives of the innocent Chinese people. The Summer Palace in Beijing. ... Combatants Eight-Nation Alliance (ordered by contribution): Japan Russia United Kingdom France United States Germany Italy Austria-Hungary Righteous Harmony Society Chinese Empire Commanders Edward Seymour Alfred Graf von Waldersee Ci Xi Strength 20,000 initially 49,000 total Over 100,000 Casualties 230 foreigners, thousands of civilians Unknown The... This article is about the Chinese imperial palace in Beijing. ... Count Nikolai Pavlovich Ignatiev (Russian: Николай Павлович Игнатьев) (17 January (29 January Old Style) 1832 – 20 June (3 July Old Style) 1908) was a Russian statesman and diplomat. ...

Western historians assert that Elgin's decision was motivated by the torture and murder of almost twenty Western prisoners, including two British envoys and a journalist for The Times.^[2] The Manchu of that era raised torture to a cruel art form, including death by a thousand cuts while in a wire jacket and death by mortification, where limbs were tourniqueted off one by one. ^[3] Chinese historians have argued that the destruction was a cover-up for widespread looting. That the Summer Palace was looted before being destroyed is certain but it is not surprising. Nearly all armies loot what they capture (examples from Chinese history are plentiful), and the Summer Palace was captured. Elgin was acutely sensitive to the charge of looting, as it was his own father, Thomas Bruce (1776-1841), who, from 1799 to 1803, removed from the Acropolis in Greece what are now known as the Elgin Marbles to Britain, where they remain to this day, a subject of rancor between the Greek and British governments. The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine (July 20, 1766 - November 14, 1841) was a British nobleman and diplomat, known for the removal of marble sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens -- popularly known as the Elgin Marbles. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Acropolis of Athens from the south-west with the Propylaea and the Temple of Nike (left centre) and the theatre of Herodes Atticus (below left) Acropolis (Gr. ... --88. ...

Aftermath

After the Xianfeng emperor and his entourage fled Beijing, the June 1858 Treaty of Tianjin was finally ratified by the emperor's brother Prince Gong in the Convention of Beijing on October 18, 1860, bringing The Second Opium War to an end. Prince Gong in official dress Prince Gong (Chinese: 恭親王; Wade-Giles: Prince Kung) (January 11, 1833 - May 29, 1898), commonly known in his days as the Sixth Prince (六王爺), was born Yixin (Chinese: 奕訢; Wade-Giles: I-hsin), of the Aisin-Gioro clan (the Qing... The Convention of Peking (October 18, 1860), also known as the First Convention of Peking, was a treaty between the Qing Government of China and the British Empire, and between China and France, and China and Russia. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...

The British, French and - thanks to the schemes of Ignatiev - the Russians were all granted a permanent diplomatic presence in Beijing (something the Qing resisted to the very end as it suggested equality between China and the European powers). The Chinese had to pay 8 million taels to Britain and France. Britain acquired Kowloon (next to Hong Kong). The opium trade was legalized and Christians were granted full civil rights, including the right to own property, and the right to evangelize. Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Stub ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The content of the Convention of Beijing included:

1. China's recognition of the validity of the Treaty of Tianjin
2. Opening Tianjin as a trade port
3. Cede No.1 District of Kowloon (south of present day Boundary Street) to Britain
4. Freedom of religion established in China
5. British ships were allowed to carry indentured Chinese to the Americas
6. Indemnity to Britain and France increasing to 8 million taels of silver a piece
7. Legalization of the opium trade

Two weeks later, Ignatiev convinced the Manchu to sign a "Supplementary Treaty of Beijing", in which the Manchu signed away some 300,000 to 400,000 square miles of land to the Russians, as Hsu says "without a soldier or a shot" as the Russians had no soldiers on this expedition (Hsu, pg 218). In modern day Hong Kong, Kowloon refers to the urban area made up of Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon, bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutters Island in the west, Tates Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and... Boundary Street (Chinese: 界限街; Cantonese IPA: , Jyutping gaai3 haan6 gaai1; Mandarin Pinyin: Jiè Xiàn Jiê) is a three-lane one-way street in Kowloon, Hong Kong. ...

The defeat of the Imperial army by a small Anglo-French military force (outnumbered at least 10 to 1 by the Manchu army) coupled with the flight (and subsequent death) of the Emperor and the burning of the Summer Palace was a shocking blow to the once powerful Qing Dynasty. "Beyond any doubt, by 1860 the ancient civilization that was China had been thoroughly defeated and humiliated by the West." (Hsu, pg. 219). Even the Chinese mandarins could see that things needed to change, but what should change? And who would lead the change?

Footnotes and references

1. ^ Tsai, Jung-fang. [1995] (1995). Hong Kong in Chinese History: community and social unrest in the British Colony, 1842-1913. ISBN 0231079338
2. ^ ^{a b} The Rise of Modern China, Immanual Hsu, 1985, pg. 215.
3. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ling_chi

Further reading

• Personal narrative of occurrences during Lord Elgin's second embassy to China, 1860 by Henry Loch, 1869.
• The Rise of Modern China by Immanual Hsu, 1985.
• Jack Beeching, The Chinese Opium Wars (1975), ISBN 0-15-617094-9
• Erik Ringmar, Fury of the Europeans: Liberal Barbarism and the Destruction of the Emperor's Summer Palace
• W. Travis Hanes III and Frank Sanello, The Opium Wars (2002), ISBN 0-7607-7638-5
• The Second China War by Bonner-Smith and E. Lumley, 1944.

The Second Opium War in popular media

• Fraser, George MacDonald (1986). Flashman and the Dragon. New York, NY: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-55357-8.  — A portion of the memoirs of the fictional Harry Paget Flashman recounting his adventures during the Second Opium War and Taiping Rebellion.

George MacDonald Fraser (born 1926 in Carlisle, England) is a writer of Scottish descent. ... George MacDonald Fraser (born 1926 in Carlisle, England) is a writer of Scottish descent. ... Flashman and the Dragon is a 1986 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. ... “Flashman” redirects here. ... Combatants Qing Empire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Commanders Xianfeng Emperor, Tongzhi Emperor, Empress Dowager Cixi, Charles George Gordon, Frederick Townsend Ward Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan, Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai, Li Xiucheng The Taiping Rebellion (or Rebellion of Great Peace) was a large-scale revolt against the authority...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Second Opium War

• Unequal treaties
• David Sassoon
• Anglo-Chinese relations
• Imperialism in Asia
• Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864)
• Charles George Gordon
• British military history
• Wikisource speech by Richard Cobden MP on the situation at the time