For centuries China was the world’s largest and most self-sufficient state, and in 1800 the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty was still upholding China’s traditional sovereignty and majesty. Foreign merchants could trade only with licensed Chinese merchants through the port of Guangzhou (Canton) on the south China coast. By 1830, however, British merchants were also smuggling highly addictive opium into China and earning colossal illegal profits.

In 1838 the Chinese government moved aggressively to deal with the crisis. It dispatched Lin Zexu, an energetic top official, to Guangzhou to stamp out the opium trade. Lin dealt harshly with Chinese buyers and then confiscated the opium stores of the British merchants. He also wrote a famous letter to Queen Victoria, calling on her to help end the drug trade and explaining why the Chinese government had acted. Neither Lin’s action nor his eloquent letter, a portion of which follows, was successful. British armies attacked, China was “opened,” and the opium trade continued.

Lin Zexu, Letter to Queen Victoria

His Majesty the Emperor comforts and cherishes foreigners as well as Chinese: he loves all the people of the world without discrimination. Whenever profit is found, he wishes to share it with all men; whenever harm appears, he likewise will eliminate it on behalf of all mankind. His heart is in fact the heart of the universe.

Generally speaking, the succeeding rulers of your honorable country have been respectful and obedient. Time and again they have sent petitions to China, saying: “We are grateful to His Majesty the Emperor for the impartial and favorable treatment he has granted to the citizens of my country who have come to China to trade….”

As this trade has lasted for a long time, there are bound to be unscrupulous as well as honest traders. Among the unscrupulous are those who bring opium to China to harm the Chinese; they succeed so well that this poison has spread far and wide in all the provinces. You, I hope, will certainly agree that people who pursue material gains to the great detriment of the welfare of others can be neither tolerated by Heaven nor endured by men….

I have heard that the areas under your direct jurisdiction such as London, Scotland, and Ireland do not produce opium; it is produced instead in your Indian possessions…. In these possessions the English people … also open factories to manufacture this terrible drug. As months accumulate and years pass by, the poison they have produced increases in its wicked intensity, and its repugnant odor reaches as high as the sky. Heaven is furious with anger, and all the gods are moaning with pain. It is hereby suggested that you destroy and plow under all of these opium plants and grow food crops instead, while issuing an order to punish severely anyone who dares to plant opium poppies again….

Since a foreigner who goes to England to trade has to obey the English law, how can an Englishman not obey the Chinese law when he is physically within China? The present law calls for the imposition of the death sentence on any Chinese who has peddled or smoked opium. Since a Chinese could not peddle or smoke opium if foreigners had not brought it to China, it is clear that the true culprits are the opium traders from foreign countries. Being the cause of other people’s death, why should they be spared from capital punishment? A murderer of one person is subject to the death sentence; just imagine how many people opium has killed! This is the rationale behind the new law which says that any foreigner who brings opium to China will be sentenced to death by hanging or beheading. Our purpose is to eliminate this poison once and for all and to the benefit of all mankind.

European traders and missionaries arrived in Japan in the sixteenth century, but in 1640 the government expelled the Europeans in order to preserve the existing Japanese culture and society. Three centuries later, Japan met the challenge of the West by adopting many of the methods and technologies of the West. Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922) contributed significantly to this effort and its success.

Born into the military nobility known as the samurai, Yamagata Aritomo joined in the Meiji Restoration (see page 816), and to him fell the task of strengthening the armed forces, which the Meiji reformers separated from civilian officials. Traveling to Europe and carefully studying European armies and navies, he returned home in 1872 and wrote the memorandum reprinted here, “Opinion on Military Affairs and Conscription.” The next year, he helped reorganize Japanese society by writing a new law calling for a Japanese army drafted from the whole male population, on the Western pattern. No longer would fighting be controlled by samurai alone.

Yamagata Aritomo, “Opinion on Military Affairs and Conscription”

A military force is required to defend the country and protect its people. Previous laws of this country inculcated in the minds of the samurai those basic functions, and there was no separation between the civilian and military affairs. Nowadays civilian officials and military officials have separate functions, and the practice of having the samurai serve both functions has been abandoned. It is now necessary to select and train those who can serve the military functions, and herein lies the change in our military system….

The creation of a standing army for our country is a task which cannot be delayed….

The so-called reservists do not normally remain within military barracks. During peacetime they remain in their homes, and in an emergency they are called to service. All of the countries in Europe have reservists, and amongst them Prussia has most of them. There is not a single able-bodied man in Prussia who is not trained in military affairs. Recently Prussia and France fought each other and the former won handily….

It is recommended that our country adopt a system under which any able-bodied man twenty years of age be drafted into military service, … and after completion of a period of service, they shall be returned to their homes. In this way every man will become a soldier, and not a single region in the country will be without defense. Thus our defense will become complete.

The second concern of the Ministry is coastal defense. This includes building of warships and constructing coastal batteries. Actually, battleships are moveable batteries. Our country has thousands of miles of coastline, and any remote corner of our country can become the advance post of our enemy….

At a time like this it is very clear where the priority of this country must lie. We must now have a well-trained standing army supplemented by a large number of reservists. We must build warships and construct batteries. We must train officers and soldiers. We must manufacture and store weapons and ammunitions. The nation may consider that it cannot bear the expenses … [but] we cannot do without our defense for a single day.

Sources: Excerpt from “A Letter to Queen Victoria” by Lin Tse-hsu (Zexu) in China in Transition: 1517–1911, edited and translated by Dun Jen Li, pp. 64–66. Copyright © 1969 by Wadsworth, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc. Reproduced by permission, www.cengage.com/permissions; “Opinion on Military Affairs and Conscription” from Japan: A Documentary History, ed. David J. Lu (Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1997), pp. 315–318. Translation © 1997 by David J. Lu. Reprinted by permission of M. E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved. Not for reproduction.

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