TERMS AND GUIDE QUESTIONS FOR FILM
THE TWO COASTS OF CHINA
Note: For some additional information on the first Opium War and its
principal players, you may see Leon Poon's site (at http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/modern.html#opium)
out of the University of Maryland. He includes the Chinese characters for many
terms.
Kamikaze: the "Divine Wind" of August 1, 1281, which legend has it, drove the Mongols from the shores of Japan. Genghis Khan (1167-1227) and Khubilai Khan (1215-94): leading rulers of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. Marco Polo (1254? -1324?): Venetian trader and adventurer, who traveled between Europe and Asia from 1271 to1295. Accounts of his travels have recently met with scholarly skepticism. Lord Macartney (1737-1806): British envoy to the Chinese Qianlong emperor in June 1793. The Qianlong Emperor (1735-96): Fourth ruler of the Qing dynasty, whose reign was one of the longest in Chinese history. |
Cohong (Hong Merchants): intermediaries between foreign traders and Qing officials at Canton. Warren Delano II: Senior partner in China for the U.S. trading firm of Russell & Co. and the grandfather of future President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Patna (India): the capital of the State of Bihar. Lintin Island: an island near Canton, at which foreign merchants unloaded opium for local consumption. Lin Zexu (1785-1850): Qing Imperial Commissioner in Canton, who tried to combat opium addict among local residents William Gladstone (1809-98): British statesman and leading figure in the English Liberal Party from 1868 to 1894. Yuan Ming Yuan: "Garden of Perfect Brightness" the Qing summer palace burned by British and French military forces in 1860. |
#1. Describe some cultural differences between Mongol and Han Chinese communities during the Imperial period.
#2. What was the legacy of the Mongol Yuan dynasty in political and economic terms?
#3. How did the Manchus choose to rule China?
#4. Describe the activities of the typical European expatriate merchant in 18th-century Macao.
#5. How did Lin Zexu respond to the opium trade? How did the western traders react to Lin's actions?
#6. What was the outcome of the first Opium War?