In excerpts of Duncan MacPherson’s memoir of the First Opium War (April 1840-August 1842), Two Years in China, MacPherson describes the events of the war along with what he believed about China and its people. He justifies British actions in the Opium War and the British opium trade by claiming that describing Chinese people are inferior to the British. Other times, he compliments China, but possibly only for the purpose of justifying and promoting the opium trade. The memoir displays examples of the type of thinking part of the concept of Orientalism as defined by Edward Said. In 1400, neither the UK or Europe wasn’t richer than China. However, starting in 1700, China started to fall behind economically to the UK, eventually lead to a
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He asserts that the use of opium prevents disease and has positive health benefits. None of this is backed up with any evidence. He mentions that although many people believe that opium injures life and shortens life, he finds Chinese people to be “powerful, muscular, and athletic people” and its lower class superior to that of the lower class in the UK. He is thus claiming that opium smoking results in some form of Chinese superiority. Since he is using the idea of Chinese being better than the British in some way to promote the opium trade in this example, it may be that he compliments the Chinese only for the purpose of justifying and promoting British trade of opium in China against their will. If it is the case that if MacPherson compliments China to justify British domination and control of China, it shows in the end that he believes China is inferior to the …show more content…
He focuses on how easily the British defeat the Chinese and, how weak the Chinese are. This is detailed specifically in the conclusion where he mentions “... utter inutility of obtaining a direct official intercourse with the emperor through his deceitful and lying mandarins, who, to cloak their own weakness, and consequently the weakness of the empire, wilfully misrepresent the true state of things.” He believes that war with China will convince the Chinese that the British will demand whatever they want. The conclusion here shows what McPherson truly thinks about the Chinese and possibly how British leaders felt as well. The Opium Wars were not just a case of demanding compensation for the earlier incident, but to assert dominance over China, especially naval dominance, and ensure that China will no longer dare retaliate against the “superior”
He asserts that the use of opium prevents disease and has positive health benefits. None of this is backed up with any evidence. He mentions that although many people believe that opium injures life and shortens life, he finds Chinese people to be “powerful, muscular, and athletic people” and its lower class superior to that of the lower class in the UK. He is thus claiming that opium smoking results in some form of Chinese superiority. Since he is using the idea of Chinese being better than the British in some way to promote the opium trade in this example, it may be that he compliments the Chinese only for the purpose of justifying and promoting British trade of opium in China against their will. If it is the case that if MacPherson compliments China to justify British domination and control of China, it shows in the end that he believes China is inferior to the …show more content…
He focuses on how easily the British defeat the Chinese and, how weak the Chinese are. This is detailed specifically in the conclusion where he mentions “... utter inutility of obtaining a direct official intercourse with the emperor through his deceitful and lying mandarins, who, to cloak their own weakness, and consequently the weakness of the empire, wilfully misrepresent the true state of things.” He believes that war with China will convince the Chinese that the British will demand whatever they want. The conclusion here shows what McPherson truly thinks about the Chinese and possibly how British leaders felt as well. The Opium Wars were not just a case of demanding compensation for the earlier incident, but to assert dominance over China, especially naval dominance, and ensure that China will no longer dare retaliate against the “superior”