Episode
#316 - Opium War 1: Chasing the Dragon
- Podcast
- The History of China Podcast
- Published
- Jan 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2549
- Processing state
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Summary
In this empire business, you gotta make the opium first. Then when you get the opium, you get the silver. Then when you get the silver, then you get the tea. Time Period Covered: ca. 1760-1839 CE Major Historical Figures: Qing Empire: The Daoguang Emperor (Minning) [r. 1820–1850] Governor-General of Liangguang, Ruan Yuan [1764–1849] "The Hoppo" (Imperial Superintendent of Maritime Customs), The emperor’s personal revenue agent at Canton Chinese Commercial Interests: "The Cohong" (Gonghang), the licensed guild of Cantonese merchants authorized to trade with foreigners "The Consoo Fund" (Gongsuo), the Cohong’s collective insurance pool Yaokou Dealers & River Smugglers, opium wholesale intermediaries and armed transporters inland via the Pearl River system British & Foreign Interests: The British East India Company (EIC) The Select Committee at Canton, the EIC's on-site management team Dr. William Jardine (1784–1843), physician-turned-opium magnate The True Protagonists: Silver, shiny Tea, fragrant Opium, somniferous Major Works Cited: Fairbank, John K. Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: The Opening of the Treaty Ports, 1842–1854. Platt, Stephen R. Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China’s Last Golden Age. Wakeman, Frederic, Jr. “The Canton Trade and the Opium War” in The Cambridge History of China, Volume 10: Late Ch’ing, 1800–1911, Part I.