Qing China — the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion

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Lin Zexu's confiscation and destruction of British opium stocks at Canton, after the Daoguang Emperor ordered the opium trade stopped.

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The Qing commissioner sent to Canton in 1839 who blockaded foreign traders and destroyed over 20,000 chests of opium, triggering the First Opium War.

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Ended the First Opium War; ceded Hong Kong to Britain, opened 5 treaty ports, imposed a $21m indemnity and fixed tariffs — the first Unequal Treaty.

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A right letting foreigners be tried under their own country's law, not China's, while on Chinese soil — it directly undermined Qing legal sovereignty.

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The Arrow incident of 1856, when Chinese officials boarded a Chinese-registered ship flying a British flag, giving Britain (and France) a pretext for war.

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British and French troops looted and burned the Qing Emperor's Summer Palace near Beijing as a reprisal during the Second Opium War.

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Failed civil-service exam candidate who, after visions, declared himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ and founded the Taiping movement.

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The 'Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace' — the rebel state Hong Xiuquan founded, based at Nanjing (renamed Tianjing) from 1853 to 1864.

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Confucian scholar-official who raised the regional Xiang Army from Hunan province, which played the key role in defeating the Taiping Rebellion.

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They shifted military and financial power from Beijing to regional leaders, weakening central Qing authority and foreshadowing later warlordism.

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An estimated 20–30 million deaths from fighting, famine, and disease (1850–64) — more than the First World War — devastating the Yangzi valley.

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Opium Wars: loss of sovereignty and territory via Unequal Treaties. Taiping Rebellion: catastrophic loss of life and destabilised regional power balance.