During the 19th Century, western states directly invented Asian and African nations. China, Japan, and the African States responded quite differently to the changing world conditions that confronted them, the nineteenth Century witnessed the decadence of the Manchu dynasty and the incompetence of the administration.

Western powers exerted pressure. The objectives of the westerners at the outset were exclusively commercial. Although China escaped complete subjugation, its institutions were significantly altered by the western impact.

• How the western traders gained a foothold.

By the 19th Century, the Manchu aristocracy and the Chinses class of scholars- Officials were schooled in a tradition that trade was a nefarious business unworthy of a gentlemen’s attention. The Western traders in China were looked down upon. Manchu govt allowed western traders to have relations only with and not with Chinese merchants and most with govt officials.

Cumbersome restrictions were imposed upon Western trades. Only Macao (Portuguese settlement) and Canton have authorized ports of exchange. The trade at Canton was under the general supervision of a Manchu Officially Known to foreigners as the “Hoppo” and was handled through a guild of Chinese merchants called the “cohong.”

While the “cohong” merchants enjoyed foreign trade, they were taxed and squeezed by numerous officials. They were also held personally responsible for the conduct of the foreigners they dealt with. There were severe restrictions upon western traders through the system of “security merchants” confinement of the traders.

Western traders could not request the govt officer except through a co-hong merchant as an intermediary. Canton trade was profitable to both the Chinese and foreigners. Remarkably stable relation was established between Chinese and foreign merchants at Canton.

However, a wide gap between the two fundamentally different civilizations led to friction between Chines and westerns. The character of trade began no change in a disadvantageous direction to China. In the Early days, chinses reported tea, silk, and cotton cloth in lesser quantities-had for exceeded the value of imports into China.

The difference was made up in silver payments to Chinese merchants. Western traders found it difficult to discover any appreciable Chinese demand commodities they could supply. Eventually, 0 means of altering the trade balance was provided by the increase in Opium consumption in China.

Traders of various nationalities, including Americans, participated in the China trade. The more significant Share had been in the hands of the British East India Company, the vigorous attempts of a particular Chinese commissioner to enforce prohibitions against opium traffic.

Created a series of incidents culminating in the Anglo-Chinese war of 1839-42.

This conflict confined to the coastal regions near the Canton and the lower Yangtze ports is known as the opium war because of the dispute that precipitated it. It marked the beginning of The Subjection of China to Conditions imposed by the Western power.