Creating the Opium War examines British imperial attitudes towards China during their early encounters from the Macartney embassy to the outbreak of the Opium War – a deeply consequential event which arguably reshaped relations between China and the West in the next century. It makes the first attempt to bring together the political history of Sino-western relations and the cultural studies of British representations of China, as a new way of explaining the origins of the conflict. The book focuses on a crucial period (1792–1840), which scholars such as Kitson and Markley have recently compared in importance to that of American and French Revolutions. By examining a wealth of primary materials, some in more detail than ever before, this study reveals how the idea of war against China was created out of changing British perceptions of the country.
Inhoudsopgave
Introduction
PART I THE EMBASSIES
1 The Macartney embassy
2 The Amherst embassy
PART II PRELUDE TO THE OPIUM WAR
3 The EIC vs free traders
4 ‘Show of force’
5 Justifying the Opium War
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Over de auteur
Hao Gao is Lecturer in Imperial and Global History at the University of Exeter