First Opium War Research Paper

Against the background of the First Opium War (1840–42), Western photographers visited China for the first time, accompanying Western military personnel, missionaries, and consular officials. The earliest recorded photographic activity in China by Western photographers was in July 1842, only three years after the invention of the medium. Dr. Richard Woosnam (1815–1888) and Major George Alexander Malcolm (1810–1888) made daguerreotypes at Yangtze (Yangzi) River during the final stages of the First Opium War. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing) was signed between the defeated Qing government and Britain. As a result, five trade ports were opened to foreigners, and Hong Kong became a British colony. This provided the first opportunity for Western photographers such as Jules Itier and George R. West (c.1825–1859) to visit China. …show more content…
Photographers such as Paul-Emile Marie Camille Berranger (1815–1896), Colonel Charles Louis Desiré Dupin (1814–1868), Lieutenant John Ashton Papillon (1838–1891), and Felice Beato, among others, accompanied the military forces that visited the mainland. The Treaties of Tientsin (Tianjin), signed in 1858, allowed Britain, France, Russia, and the United States to establish legations in Peking (Beijing). Diplomats such as Robert Morrison (1825–1911) and William Nassau Jocelyn (1832–1892) could thus come to Peking to photograph and record significant events. After the Second Opium War, a limited number of legation staff, missionaries, and Imperial Maritime Customs Service officials were also allowed to reside in Peking. The medical missionary Dr. John Dudgeon (1837–1901) and Customs employee Thomson Child (1841–1898) were among the significant amateur and part-time commercial photographers who documented nineteenth-century