ABSTRACT
From 1757 until 1842, all Western merchants were restricted to Guangzhou, but with the Treaty of Nanjing (1842), the Yanghang Merchant Guild was abolished, and trade opened at five ports: Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai. While such acts are hardly defensible, the question presents itself as to why burning of Yuanming Yuan remains a focus of “national shame” for the Chinese today. The answer lies in a rigorous exploration of the path of Western imperialism in nineteenth-century China. Today, when Chinese hear the words “Yuanming Yuan,” it is the destructiveness of Western imperialism that immediately comes to mind. The havoc wreaked on the Yuanming Yuan by Westerners not only obliterated a stunning element of their past but also ushered in one of darkest eras of China’s history. John Hay’s agreement would allow an “open door” to all countries in all areas. Quite indicative of the period, China was not consulted, much to chagrin of increasingly impotent Chinese diplomatic corps.
