Introduction

1. China's relationship with "the West" prior to the 18C:

• The shape of East-West contact in "traditional China" or, in the early-Manchu period (Vohra, p. 12)
• "The West" in Chinese (especially Chinese government) eyes (pp. 22-23)
• The "special case" of Russia (p.23)

 

a. How the single-port (Guangzhou) trade system was formed, and how it collapsed (pp. 24-25)

b. Differences between Chinese and Western attitudes toward trade (p. 25, lc. Para.3)

c. The reversal of the balance of trade and balance of payments (pp. 25, 32-33 [The Opium Problem])

d. The rise of "free trade" ideology in the West and the conflict between monopoly trade and "free" trade (pp. 25-26)
 

3. The problem of failed diplomacy (pp. 26-29)
 

4. From diplomacy to war

a. Mounting crises: diplomatic issues (pp. 29-31)

b. Mounting crises: trade issues (pp. 32-33) [Pay attention especially to p. 35, lc., para. 2]

c. The fighting of the Opium War (pp. 34-36)
 

5. The Unequal Treaties system

a. The Treaty of Nanjing and its modeling effect (p. 36)

b. The Treaty system [pay attention to the terms of "extra-territoriality" and "most-favored nation."] (pp. 36-37)
 

6. The issue of treaty revision and the background to renewed war

a. The Guangzhou issue: The commoners' role in Chinese-West relations (pp. 42)

b. Problems of institutional structures in handling China's "foreign relations" after the Opium War (pp. 41-44)

c. The fighting of the Second Opium War (a.k.a. the Arrow War) (pp. 44-48)

d. The Treaty of Tianjin (1856) and the Beijing Conventions (1860) (pp. 45-46; 48)

e. The aftermath of the Second Opium War and background to the "Self-Strengthening Movement"

. The awakening of the Han gentry

. The emergence of regional interests
 

Questions of Historical Perspectives
 

• Understanding differences in political-economic systems
• Clashing outlooks, attitudes and responses