http://www.britishchineseheritagecentre.org.uk/
The decline of the Mongol Empire, and the rise of the Ottoman rule of the Islamic World in the early 1300s led to a decline in the Silk Road. Increasing mercantilism led European explorers to seek new routes to the east. The Treaties of Tordesillas (1494) & Saragossa (1529) imposed by Papal authority divided the world into a Spanish & Portuguese duopoly of trading rights – the Spanish concentrating on South America, and the Portuguese on the East Indies and China. In 1513, Jorge Álvares became the first Portuguese to land in China.
In 1535, Portuguese traders obtained the rights to anchor ships in Macau's harbours and to carry out trading activities, though not the right to stay onshore.
The Portuguese establish a permanent settlement in Macao.
By 1564, Portugal commanded western trade with India, Japan, and China. This coincides with the rise of European mercantilism. The Dutch and French begin to rival Spain and Portugal in seeking out overseas trade, but in particular, Elizabethan England begin to pursue overseas enterprises – at first in North America, West Africa, Bengal and the East Indies.
The British East India Company (HEIC) was formed as a private joint-stock enterprise by shareholder investment, and was granted a Royal Charter to pursue trade with the East Indies – particularly in the lucrative markets of cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea and opium, but ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and Qing China.
The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC) is raised in Amsterdam – over the next four decades they progressively eject both the Portuguese and the HEIC from their various small toeholds in the East Indies.
Captain John Wendell arrived in Macao on 27 June 1637 with four heavily armed merchant ships intent on taking some of Portugal’s trade monopoly with China, and opening trade between Britain and China. After upsetting both the Portuguese and the Ming Chongzhen Emperor (Zhu Youjian), they were forced to leave on 27 December 1637 in failure.
In China, the rebel army of Li Zicheng captures Beijing and the Chongzhen Emperor (Zhu Youjian) hangs himself, signalling that the Manchu Qing Dynasty overthrows the Ming Dynasty (although the Kangxi Emperor’s conquest is not finally complete until 1683).
In 1684, the Kangxi Emperor (Xuanye) of the Qing Dynasty allowed foreigners to trade with China in the four cities of Canton (Guangzhou), Amoy (Xiamen), Sungkiang (Songjiang), and Ningpo (Ningbo) – in the case of Canton, this led to the establishment of the ‘Thirteen Factories’ – a series of warehouses and offices which served as the sole legal site of European trade with China between 1757 (when the Canton System was formally introduced) and 1842. The major business houses that grew up around the factory system were to become known as ‘Hongs’.
Michael Shen Fu-Tsung (c.1658-1691) visits Britain and meets the English King James II. Shen Fu-Tsung was from Nanjing and converted to Catholicism after it was brought to Europe by the Jesuit priest Philippe Couplet. They left Macao in 1961 and visited together Southern Netherlands, the Papal States, France and England. His portrait was painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723), and entitled “The Chinese Convert”, 1685.
By the early 1700s, the HEIC was consolidating its power, influence and trade dominance in Asia. It has established several key trading posts in Surat (1619), Madras (1639), Bombay (1668), and Calcutta (1690). Whilst the British state concentrated on its control of British North America, and between 1756 and 1763, became embroiled in the costly Seven Years War, the Company increasingly dominated India trade with little government oversight of their activities. In 1757 the Armies of the HEIC defeated the Nawab of Bengal Sirajuddaulah in the Battle of Plassey, effectively granting them territorial control of a large portion of India. The HEIC established a capital at Calcutta and began direct governance – British dominance in India would be key to the HEIC also coming to dominate European trade with China. In the East Indies, the Dutch increasingly undermined Portuguese influence and replaced it with their own.
Canton System formally introduced – in an attempt to stave off the commercial threat posed by increasing European mercantilism, China introduces the Canton System which forced all European trade to go through the Southern port of Canton (Guangzhou), and to be conducted under the control of local ‘Cohong’ – a guild of Chinese merchants that monopolised the Chinese side of all import-export deals through Canton – payment for Chinese goods would only be accepted in silver. This began to have a negative impact on Britain, which pegged its currency to the Gold Standard and had to purchase silver from Europe and Mexico to pay for the insatiable demand for Chinese tea in Britain.
The Sultan of Kedah cedes the island of Penang (off the Malayan Peninsula) to the HEIC. The French are establishing control of Cochin-China.
Lord George Macartney’s Embassy to China, also known as the Macartney Mission, was the first attempted trade envoy to China with a goal of opening up access to Chinese trade ports for HEIC ships, the relaxation of trade restrictions on British merchants in Canton (Guangzhou) and a cessation of a small island off the coast for the establishment of a British base of operations. He also hoped to establish a permanent embassy in Beijing. Macartney’s delegation personally met with the Qianlong Emperor (Aisin Gioro Hongli) who dismissed all of their requests out of hand, stating: ”Our Celestial Empire possesses all things in prolific abundance and lacks no product within its borders. There is therefore no need to import the manufactures of outside barbarians in exchange for our own produce.”
The British seize Malacca from the Dutch, extending their ability to trade with the East Indies.
The British forcibly occupied Java when the Netherlands became a part of Napoleon’s Empire. Sir Stamford Raffles was appointed Lieutenant Governor, and carried out extensive reforms, but Java was handed back in 1814.
By 1814 most vessels traveling to Canton were stopping at the ‘outer anchorage’ of Lintin Island (Nei Lingding Island) where they would have their cargo inspected and pay customs duties to Chinese customs officials.
With its silver reserves under constant pressure caused by Chinese trade, the HEIC realised they could reduce the burden on their trade deficit by replacing silver with the trading of cheaply produced narcotic opium readily available from their Indian territories. The Qing administration initially tolerated this move, as their own monopoly of the tea trade benefited from an increase in tea exports to Britain as a result of the shift to opium.
British official Stamford Raffles landed in Singapore to establish a trading port. It is formally declared a British colony on 2 August 1824.
British merchants take control of Lintin Island and transform it into a centre of opium trade. Within three years the flow of silver was reversed, with Chinese traders now using silver to purchase the growing demand for opium within China. Initial imperial efforts to respond to the new deficit problem were hampered by local officials who were personally benefitting from bribes and local taxes.
The Imperial government finally manages to ban the importation of opium, but the base of Lintin Island provides the perfect location for opium smugglers to operate. They use old ship hulks as floating warehouses, and small fast boats to run the opium inland. Between 1821 and 1837, sales of opium in China are believed to increase five-fold.
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands on 17 March 1824. It holds that subjects of the two nations are permitted to trade in territories of British India, Celyon, the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and British Malaya (Malaysia) on the basis of “most favoured nation” but must obey local regulations. Under the treaty, the Dutch cede Malacca to Britain, and by 1826 Malacca, Penang and Singapore (and the Island of Labuan) are all unified as the Colony of the Straits Settlements.
Singapore was grouped together with Penang into a single administrative unit, the Straits Settlements under the administration of the East India Company, which retains control until the Colonial Office takes over in 1867. The Dutch cede all trading rights on the Malay Peninsula to the HEIC. After two years of campaigning against the Kingdom of Ava, the HEIC creates a foothold in Burma, and Assam is ceded to Britain.
The Napier affair occurs, negatively affecting relations between Britain and China.
First Opium War between the United Kingdom and the Qing dynasty of China. The continual growth of opium importation led to calls for its legalisation and taxation. However the Daoguang Emperor (Doro Eldengge Han) rejected these calls, instead appointing Lin Zexu to resolve the problem. He began by confiscating over 20,000 chests or around 1,200 tons worth of opium, and publically destroying it on the beach outside of Canton. Although private property, the British Government objects to the seizure and sent Naval vessels to blockade the Pearl River (Zhujiang) in an act of gunboat diplomacy. When a British vessel, the Royal Saxon attempted to run the blockade, Chinese naval war junks moved to protect it but were soundly beaten in the Battle of Chuenpi. British warehouses are burned in Canton, forcing the owners to flee. The war lasted for a further two years, but it was terminated in 1842 with the Treaty of Nanking – the first of a long series of one-sided treaties imposed by European powers that come to be known as the ‘unequal treaties’.
James Brooke takes possession of Sarawak. His family will dynastically rule the territory as the “White Rajahs” under British protection until the Japanese invasion in 1941. They cede it to the crown in 1946.
The United Kingdom takes over Zhoushan Archipelago during the First Opium War.
Pre-dating the Hong Kong Police, the Hong Kong Marine Police (also called the HK Water Police) is formed to deal with problems of piracy and smuggling. As with most 19th century colonial police forces, they are more paramilitary than civilian in nature.
The China Gun Lascars are raised, and remain in service until 1891.
The Union Flag is raised for the first time at Possession Point after British forces occupy Hong Kong Island.
During the First Opium War the Fortress of Amoy (currently Xiamen) was invaded by the British forces, who captured it together with Gulanyu Island.
The Treaty of Nanking was a peace treaty terminating the First Opium War. It stated that China cedes Hong Kong to Britain, trading in Canton is resumed, and additional trading port access is opening in Foochow, Amoy, Ningpo, and Shanghai.
Treaty of the Bogue supplements Treaty of Nanking by granting Britain most favoured status.
Creation of the Hong Kong Police – it initially consisted of 32 men, made up of a mixture of Europeans, Indians and Chinese. An ad hoc force had been raised on 30 April 1841 under the command of Chief Magistrate Captain William Caine of the 26th of Foot (Cameronians) Regiment, but the Hong Kong Police were not formally raised until the the first Police Ordinance was passed on 1 May 1841. Although their first purpose was maintaining civil order, in this period the region was beset with problems of corruption, violence, smuggling and piracy, and so the early Hong Kong Police was more of a paramilitary force very capable of armed response. From its beginnings in 1844 through to the Hong Kong Handover in 1997, the Hong Kong Police always employed local Chinese alongside European men. The Hong Kong Police was granted a ‘royal’ prefix in 1969, becoming known as the Royal Hong Kong Police until 1997, when it reverted to Hong Kong Police upon handover.
The Taiping Rebellion is fought between the established Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Christian millenarian movement of the Heavenly Kingdom of Peace. Although statistics are unreliable, it is considered one of the deadliest wars in history with an estimated death toll of 20–30 million dead (high estimates can be upward of 100 million).
Second Burma War sees the British annexed the Province of Pegu (Lower Burma).
In 1853 a rebel group known as the Small Sword Society was founded, and occupied the Chinese Walled City of Shanghai. At first the British and Americans tried to remain neutral, but the French supported the Qing Government. However when some British and American sailors decided to join the Small Sword Society, they were involved in directly fighting against the French, forcing the British and Americans to get involved. Initially the foreign concessions remained on sovereign Chinese territory, but in exchange for support against the Small Sword rebels, the Qing Government agreed to transfer sovereignty – creating the Shanghai International Settlement, and the Shanghai Municipal Council to administer it. The Shanghai Municipal Council raised a local volunteer military unit known as the Shanghai Volunteer Corps (SVC), initially to deal with the Small Sword Society. However they soon came into direct conflict with the Qing forces besieging the occupied walled-city, who refused to move away from their concessions. The SVC was briefly disbanded in 1855, but re-established in 1861 as the local defence force of the Shanghai International Settlement. It grew to become a multinational force with soldiers from various European nations, Chinese nationals, Indians and Filipinos. In addition to the SVC, the council also raised the Shanghai Municipal Police for maintaining internal order. The nature of this duty required them to be paramilitary in their nature, and they attracted a lot of men with military experience. Initially open only to Europeans, they also recruited a Chinese branch from 1864, and a Sikh branch from 1884.
US Navy ships enter Edo (Tokyo) Bay. Japan is persuaded to make a treaty that opens, initially, two ports (Shimoda and Hakodate) to American ships, diplomats and commerce. Several European nations quickly follow their lead, profoundly reshaping the political relationship between Europe and Asia.
The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) was formed in May 1854 when the Crimean War led to a reduction of the British military presence in Hong Kong. They were to help bolster the defences at a time when marauding pirates were still a hazard on the China coast.
Chinese Secret Societies were not just creating problems for European imperial powers in Hong Kong and Shanghai, but also in Singapore. So in in 1854 when the secret societies encouraged the local Chinese to start riots, the Singapore Volunteer Rifle Corps was raised as a local militia unit – also paramilitary in nature. At first they consisted primarily of Europeans as ‘special constables’ and Indian sepoys more or less functioning like soldiers, although the later also employed local Malay and Chinese men. Even well-behaved convicts were used to meet the shortfall of available men during the original riots for which they were formed. The SVRC was disbanded in 1887, only to be reformed a few months later in 1888 as the Singapore Volunteer Artillery Corps (SVAC). In 1901, the SVAC had grown to also include infantry, engineers and rifle sections, and their name reverted to Singapore Volunteer Corps (SVC).
Piracy at sea and local internal disputes had grown to the point they were seriously impacting on European trade. The British Union Flag was deliberately insulted in a provocative act, but the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (also known as the Indian Mutiny) prevents Britain from initially sending a full-scale military response. Instead, the Royal Navy takes action at Canton in 1857, and are joined by a French fleet in 1858 – with the French launching attacks at Fatshan (Foshan) and Taku. By 1860, the Anglo-French Alliance is able to introduce an expeditionary force into the conflict, and an expeditionary force storms the Taku Forts and marches into Beijing. During the conflict, on 18 October 1860, British and French forces loot the Summer Palace, and the British burn down the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan). The Imperial Chinese Government is obliged to submit, and as part of their reparations, Britain imposes a lease on the mainland territory of Kowloon opposite Hong Kong island – expanding their territory.
Establishment of the Canton Commissariat Corps (CCC)- The first recorded British-Chinese regiment established due to a shortage of manpower in the Second Opium War. The army began recruiting local residents to help man the territory’s artillery and coastal defence.
The CCC was short-lived, having been disbanded upon the conclusion of the Second Opium War. However Qing Dynasty China was facing growing internal unrest in the form of the Nian and Taiping Rebellions, and these had the potential to threaten Western interests in China. An American adventurer and soldier for hire named Frederick Ward with experience fighting in the Crimean War of 1853-1856, had arrived in China in 1860 to pursue business interests. As the Taiping forces closed in on Shanghai, local Qing Imperial agents Wu Xu and Yang Fang approached Ward to establish a force of foreign nationals in defense of Shanghai. With the help of a local Lieutenant, Li Hongzhang he recruited every Westerner with experience using weapons, and created the Shanghai Foreign Arms Corps. By the summer of 1860 they had gone into battle alongside the Qing Army. Ward and Hongzhang formed a formidable partnership, and they introduced new ideas of military administration and structure, training and discipline, tactics and weaponry into China for the first time. Their flexible approach and well-trained, disciplined force achieved several victories, earning the epithet ‘Ever Victorious Army’, but in September 1862 at the Battle of Cixi, Ward was killed. Command passed to British general Charles Gordon. Gordon added local Chinese recruits to the motly band of Westerners, and grew his force into a powerful and effective unit that regularly defeated larger oppositions, and played a key role in putting down the Taiping Rebellion. For his successes in China, back in Britain he earned the nickname “Chinese Gordon”, which came with fame and popularity that would last with him to his later adventures in Africa.
James Brooke’s son, Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke – the 2nd Rajah of Sarawak, raises the Sarawak Rangers to defend their Kingdom. Made up of a mixture of European, Malay and Chinese soldiers.
Straits Settlements become a Crown Colony (now administered by the Colonial Office).
The Malay State Guards are raised – featuring a large Indian component, it also utilises Malay and Chinese troops.
Russia invades Sakhalin Islands, and Chinese Turkestan. As this affects the “Great Game” between Britain and Russia, Britain pays even closer attention to Chinese affairs.
A British expedition invades Perak, and included Nepalese Gurkha soldiers on their first overseas expedition.
Local Hong Kong Chinese recruited by 40th Fortress Company, Royal Engineers. On 1 August 1914 there were 11 Fortress Companies at home and 15 overseas, all on coastal defence duties. Some were entirely for Electric Light (that is, searchlight) duty; others also had Works responsibilities. On mobilisation, men of the Territorial RE took over the home stations, releasing men for duty with the British Expeditionary Force – although not all regulars were withdrawn right away but were released gradually, their places being filled by men who were unfit for overseas service. Territorial troops also moved out to take over some of the overseas stations.
The British North Borneo Company is founded by Royal Charter.
We'd love to hear from you. Please send questions or feedback to the below email addresses.
Before contacting us, you may wish to visit our FAQs page which has lots of useful info on Tiki-Toki.
We can be contacted by email at: hello@tiki-toki.com.
You can also follow us on twitter at twitter.com/tiki_toki.
If you are having any problems with Tiki-Toki, please contact us as at: help@tiki-toki.com
Close