Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t1.7

v1.c5.s3.t1.7

The adverse consequences of the opium trade for China were many. China's once favourable balance of trade began to reverse itself and silver began to flow out of the country in increasing quantities. This had a destabilising effect on the currency, causing particular hardship to cultivators whose tax payments had to be made in silver. The smuggling of opium on a large scale contributed to corruption and administrative breakdown in affected sectors. The effect of opium addiction on human productivity and on social life cannot be measured. The impact on the Chinese military forces amongst whom opium addiction spread rapidly was particularly alarming from the point of view of the imperial government. All this prompted the Jiaqing emperor and his high officials taking a firm decision to enforce the existing regulations and clamp down on the opium trade. To put this policy into effect, the emperor despatched the Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu to Canton in 1839. As is well-known, Lin Zexu’s efforts to put an end to the opium trade were met with Britain’s decision to launch the naval attack on China, known as the First Opium War which resulted in China’s defeat. After the Second Opium War, the Qing government was compelled to legalise the opium trade in 1860.