Effects of the Opium War on the Qing Dynasty

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Effects of the Opium War on the Qing Dynasty
Before the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, the Chinese people were ruled by dynasties. This governance system had its advantages and challenges, and in this paper, the last of these imperial dynasties will be discussed. The Qing Dynasty ruled the territory that mostly became current China. Their reign was from 1644 to 1912. The Qing dynasty originated from southern China. They went north, conquering the Ming dynasty soldiers, assimilating some of them who defected, especially the Hans, a clan that dominated and entailed most of the Chinese population CITATION Dav12 \l 1033 (David Andrew, 2012). In this essay, the Qing dynasty was a relatively stagnant empire compared to the other kingdoms. Their static nature is why the Opium Wars of 1839-1842 and 1860 destabilized the Qing dynasty, branding the Chinese people inferior to the Europeans.
The Qing dynasty generally wanted to conquer and rule the land that their predecessors, the Ming dynasty, formally dominated. They believed that the change they planned on bringing was based on two doctrines. The first was Neo-Confucian culture's doctrine and the bureaucratic institutions that they had adopted from their preceding dynasties CITATION Wil09 \l 1033 (Rowe, 2009). Secondly, they believed that a significant source of stability was the Central Asian aspect of their Manchu identity, which allowed them to appeal to Mongol, Tibetan, and Uighur constituents. Unlike the Mongols who ruled Asia a few centuries before them, they retained their real identity and did not assimilate other cultures and communities' way of living. The Qing dynasty had no formal ministry of foreign affairs. The lack of ambassadors also hindered their progress because they were only the fourth most extensive empire in Asia at their time.
In the 18th century, the European powers began expanding their empires and exploring other parts of the world. In the later part of the century, there was a high demand for opium in China, and likewise, most European countries wanted Chinese ceramics, silk, and tea. When Daoguang Emperor realize...