Letter to Queen Victoria (1839) regarding the opium trade
E579851
The "Letter to Queen Victoria" (1839) is a famous open letter by Chinese official Lin Zexu condemning the British opium trade and appealing to the British monarch to halt the trafficking of opium into China.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Letter to Queen Victoria (1839) regarding the opium trade canonical | 1 |
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
anti-opium text
ⓘ
open letter ⓘ political document ⓘ |
| addressedTo | Queen Victoria NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| addresseeTitle | Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| appealsTo |
Queen Victoria’s sense of justice
ⓘ
reciprocity between nations ⓘ |
| associatedWithEvent |
Lin Zexu’s anti-opium campaign in Canton
ⓘ
seizure and destruction of opium at Humen ⓘ |
| author | Lin Zexu NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| circulation |
not formally delivered to Queen Victoria
ⓘ
text later translated into European languages ⓘ |
| condemns |
production of opium in British India for export to China
ⓘ
smuggling of opium into Chinese ports ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | Qing China NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| criticizes |
British government policy on opium
ⓘ
British merchants engaged in opium trafficking ⓘ |
| dateWritten | 1839 ⓘ |
| genre | imperial memorial-style remonstrance adapted as an open letter ⓘ |
| geographicContext |
British Empire
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Guangdong (Canton) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod | late Qing dynasty ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance |
early example of Chinese diplomatic protest to Western powers
ⓘ
important text in Chinese anti-imperialist discourse ⓘ key document in the lead-up to the First Opium War ⓘ |
| influencedBy | Confucian concepts of benevolent rulership ⓘ |
| language | Chinese ⓘ |
| legalArgument |
foreigners in China must obey Chinese laws
ⓘ
opium importation violates Chinese law ⓘ |
| mainTopic |
British opium trafficking into China
ⓘ
Chinese anti-opium policy ⓘ opium trade ⓘ |
| moralArgument |
opium trade harms Chinese people
ⓘ
opium trade violates principles of justice and humanity ⓘ |
| politicalContext | First Opium War NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| purpose |
to appeal to the British monarch to halt opium trafficking into China
ⓘ
to condemn the British opium trade ⓘ to justify Chinese enforcement actions against opium ⓘ |
| questions | whether Britain would tolerate similar harm to its own people ⓘ |
| relatedWork |
Lin Zexu’s anti-opium proclamations
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Lin Zexu’s memorials to the Daoguang Emperor NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| requests |
that Britain prohibit opium exports to China
ⓘ
that British subjects respect Chinese laws ⓘ |
| rhetoricalStrategy |
comparison of moral standards applied at home and abroad
ⓘ
use of Confucian moral reasoning ⓘ |
| studiedIn |
Chinese diplomatic history
ⓘ
global history of narcotics control ⓘ history of the Opium Wars ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.