08 HUM Journal Entries 18ChaseL

7/28/2019 08 HUM Journal Entries 18ChaseL

1/5

Chase Lee

This is Lin Xezu, the imperial commissioner

as well as a traitor because he sold the

opium.

Late 1838-GuangzhouHello, my name is Wang Zu, I am 30 years old, and I am a local farmer wholives in Hong Kong. To be more specific, I live right next to the Guangzhouharbor. Lately I havent been doing much. It costs a lot just to get thematerial to write in this journal, but it is worth it because maybe my

grandchildren may become rich as a result of me writing these journalentries. I make a living off of selling my local products to customers from themarket. The customers normally consisted of Asian people because Chinaisnt known to sell many things to other countries. So, China is conservativewith their products. The main crop I have been selling is corn; however Ihave a small patch of land in which I harvest opium. The Chinesegovernment (The Peoples government of China) has enforced farmers to notsell or plant opium, so I plant it in secrecy. However, I met a man who wassmuggling opium onto a British ship and he successfully sold it for areasonable price. Adding on to that, the British have lately

been travelling along our harbors, and the British havebeen trying to get smuggled opium to their ships andnormally they get the opium. I didnt turn the man inbecause he offered me over 5 yuans, to not talk about thetrade! These days are really roughand I make very little income. I havetwo children currently. Earlier todaywas one of the worst days ever.

I was walking around the Guangzhou market and I met the strictest man

ever. Based on his expensive clothes such as his governmental hat, robes,

and beads I could tell he was Lin Xezu, a well-known imperial commissioner.

I talked to him and he was so generous as to give me some food. What I

didnt know was that all the opium, I planted over an 8 year period, which

was supposed to be sold to the local merchants has actually been given to

Charles Elliot, a British man, who then gave it to Lin Xezu because Charles

Elliot wanted to achieve closer negotiation between the two nations. However,

Lin Xezu decided to sell the opium to countries/colonies abroad-especially

India. The money Xezu received was over 4.5 million yuans. I got really

angry, but I knew there was nothing I could do to get the money back since

any rebellions would be crushed. Luckily, I found out that I wasnt the onlyone angry with The Peoples government (particularlyLin Xezu) So was

Charles Elliot because he forced the merchants to give him the opium to

have a closer relationship with China and Hong Kong but instead Lin Xezu

just saw it as an opportunity to earn more money for The Peoples

government. I started to hear some rumours about the British coming to

attack. I was getting scared for my family.

I told my family to prepare to leave and along the way I met many other

families who were leaving as well.

Early 1839- Northern Hong Kong


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Chase Lee

The road has been rough. I had to pay a man to take us to China. It took

forever to get a boat to Northern China. Along the way we saw the British

fleet including the HMS Volage. I glimpsed back towards the Guangzhou

harbour and saw that the Chinese were defenceless with the pounding steel

that the British possessed. I watched as ourfarm was blown to a crisp. The British rained

cannons onto our farm in

Hong Kong. On the ferry we

met another British man by

the name of Lord

Palmerston. He allowed our

boat to cross, but I noticed

his expensive suit and tie.

Lord Palmerston looked old

because of his white hair

and wrinkly face. He wore a

solid poker face. We

sailed on, but I decided to go

back to Hong Kong. We

walked all the way back along the

harbour. We got back to Hong Kong and I was

devastated, at the time, because there was nothing in sight and the British

were armed with weapons and patrolling the Guangzhou harbours, making

sure no man walked over there. If it hadnt been for the British coming over

and blowing up our lands just to get revenge and take our harbour, I could

have lived a normal life with my family. I forever will hate the British. And as

a result of this event (what they called The First Opium war) I had to adapt

to it and had to begin a new life. After having experienced how much money

you can earn as a merchant I decided this would be my new career. I sold

some local products of China and made some side profit. I have two boys

and they then got a job as people who steer boats. We made friends with

another family. The father of that family gave us some food, for free and we

decided that things were starting to get better. Although there were still

bombs ablaze, since the war was still taking place. My family tried

everything. We tried to build shelter but it would be knocked down. I finally

started to think the war was going to end, because the British were gaining

more ground starting from Guangdong.


3/5

Chase Lee

In the photo (above) the Peoples government and the foreign secretary,

Lord Palmerston, attended this meeting/treaty.

1842-Wang Zus bedroom

It has been a while since I wrote in this journal/diary but it has been busy.

The reason for this is because European trade boats would come in and they

would look for some of Chinas products. Just recently, the British fixed our

farm by removing the damage and then allowed people to purchase it. With

some of the pocket money, my family had we purchased it and our family

then became merchants and farmers. I overheard from other merchants and

they said that there was a treaty signed to stop the fighting. They called it

the Treaty of Nanking. Nothing has changed much besides there not having

many

bombings. Now

I dont feel good

or bad about

the war endingbecause when

the British

came over they

also brought

over new

innovations

such as the tractor which then helped to increase my harvest. I also met a

woman who is called Susan. She came over from Britain and the reason she

moved to Hong Kong was because she believed she would have a better lifesince it was calm in Hong Kong and the government was not as strong with

enforcing laws. We got married and we lived on the farm. From mywifes

perspective she always says, It is great here because of the new innovations,

trade routes, and influential people. How can you not like it? I normally

ignored her comments until today I told her the reasoning; from my point-of-

view.

Ever since the British came, life has been difficult and harsh. Hong Konghas only become another British colony with great positioning for trade in

the Far East. Many British people come over and the balance between the

Chinese people and British people has become imbalanced because of the

British settlers. As a result the Chinese culture has been disregarded such

as our language. Many of my Chinese people now speak English.

And with his final words, he passed on to another life.

1950-Wang Zus house


4/5

Chase Lee

Based on my great-grandfathers earlier journal entries I could tell that he

extremely disliked the British because they colonized Hong Kong. Wellif he

only knew. I chose to add onto his journal by continuing his legacy. My

name is Ronald, I am 20 years old, and I live on my great-grandfathers farm.

In comparison to my great-grandfathers entries, I think everything in thissociety has become more sophisticated because of the British colonizing

Hong Kong. As said in my great-grandfathers entries, he saw the British as

invaders rather than inspirers (in which I feel they are). I see the British as

inspirers because they act as an example of what Hong Kong could then

become a more perfect city.There wasnt one man who inspired the people

of Hong Kong because every British, political figure inspired the people of

Hong Kong to have greater beliefs, not only Chinese holidays or British

holidays. They allowed the people of Hong Kong to do what they felt, in

which that they wanted to do. That is why, in the 20th century, we do not

consider the British as beasts, but rather as individuals who taught us that

there was always a choice- good or bad. The Treaty of Nanking was the

treaty that stated that this was Britains land and they had a choice. So to

conclude my great-grandfather and my journal we both have different views

on Britain colonizing Hong Kong. My great-grandfather saw it as a natural

disaster, whereas I feel as it were an accomplishment to a more

sophisticated society with new innovations such as the tractor, the printing

press, or an automobile. I hope the next generation who read this journal

would realize that everyone has their own point-of-view.


5/5

Chase Lee

Bibliography:

"Wikipedia Images." Upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb. N.p.,

n.d. Web.

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08 HUM Journal Entries 18ChaseL