# #321 - Opium War 6: Imperial Ouroboros

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-china-487671/321-opium-war-6-imperial-ouroboros
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-china-487671/321-opium-war-6-imperial-ouroboros.md
Podcast: [The History of China](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-china-487671)
Published: 2026-03-10T17:56:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/YfZO4tERxneauNcW9Fgn/mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML4611304531.mp3?updated=1773165007
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/YfZO4tERxneauNcW9Fgn/mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML4611304531.mp3?updated=1773165007
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-history-of-china-487671/episodes/321-opium-war-6-imperial-ouroboros
Duration seconds: 2243

## Resource

The Ransom of Canton.The lame-duck Superintendent watches helplessly as a triumvirate of Qing officials arrives to reverse every compromise his predecessor had wrought... & promptly launches the most ambitious Chinese military operation of the entire war. In the midst of that rain-soaked battlefield, a brief skirmish between British soldiers and peasant militiamen plants the seed of a legend that will haunt Chinese politics for the next century. Time Period Covered:Feb. 1841–Oct. 1841 Major Historical Figures: The Qing Empire:The Daoguang Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Minning) [r. 1820–1850]Yishan, Imperial Commissioner and Pacifier-General of the Rebellious (靖逆) [1790–1878]Longwen, Manchu nobleman and ministerial attaché [d. 1841]Yang Fang, Governor-General and military commander [c. 1770–1846]She Baoshun, Prefect of Canton [fl. 1840s]Yuqian, Imperial Commissioner for Military Operations in Zhejiang [fl. 1841] The British Empire:Queen Victoria [r. 1837–1901]Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Foreign Secretary [1784–1865]Charles Elliot, Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China [1801–1875]Sir Henry Pottinger, incoming Plenipotentiary to China [1789–1856]Sir Hugh Gough, Commander of British Land Forces [1779–1869]Captain William Hutcheon Hall, commanding HMS Nemesis [c. 1797–1878] Major Sources Cited:Wakeman, Frederic Jr. "Canton Trade and the Opium War." The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.Wakeman, Frederic Jr. Strangers at the Gate: Social Disorder in South China, 1839–1861.Fay, Peter Ward. The Opium War, 1840–1842.Lovell, Julia. The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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