Episode 43: Arrow War Part 1 - The Flimsiest of Pretexts

After the end of the Opium War, an uneasy truce existed between the Qing Empire and the Foreign Powers. Despite their victory, the British in particular felt unsatisfied with their gains, and constantly pushed the envelope, trying to whittle away more and more privileges from the Chinese.

Overcome with internal issues such as rebellions, inflation, and natural disasters, the Great Qing was in no state to push the issue a second time, and thus attempted to fend off the foreigners as best they could, while avoiding open war.

For a number of years the unflappable Commissioner Ye Mingchen (葉名琛) managed to keep up this balancing act, despite the best British efforts. Then, a frustrated group of British colonial administrators, frustrated at the lack of progress, decided to manufacture a crisis, and blame it on the Qing.

Join as as we move past the Opium war to... the Arrow War!

Selected Sources:
Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Japan in the Years 1857, '58, '59, by Laurence Oliphant

A History of Hong Kong: Frank Welsh

The Scramble for China: Robert Bickers

The Opium War: Julia Lovell