Ep. 102 | The History of Hong Kong (Part 2)
In part two of Laszlo’s overview of the history of Hong Kong, we look at the Canton System and the lead-up to hostilities that culminated in the Treaty of Nanjing that ceded Hong Kong in perpetuity to the British crown.
In this episode we’ll get as far as the Convention of Chuenpi of January 20, 1841. Here, Hong Kong was ceded to Britain but neither side was satisfied with this temporary settlement.
In Part 3 we’ll see this Convention repudiated and hostilities will quickly resume which ultimately leads to the first of the despised (on the Chinese side anyways) unequal treaties.
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Terms in Episode
| Pinyin/Term | Chinese | English/Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Cheung Sha Wan | 长沙湾 | A district in west Kowloon in HK |
| Chuanbi Caoyue | 穿鼻草约 | The Convention of Chuenpi |
| Haijin | 海禁 | A ban on sea trade |
| Lin Zexu | 林则徐 | Sent down to Canton by the emperor to deal with the opium problem |
| Liu Bei | 刘备 | Great warlord of the Shu State who, along with Sun Quan, defeated Cao Cao |
| Qishan | 琦善 | Also spelled as Keshan, imperial negotiator who faced off against Capt. Charles Elliot |
| Zheng Chenggong | 郑成功 | Ming dynasty loyalist and longtime thorn in the side of the Qing |
| Zhoushan | 舟山 | Coastal city just east of Ningbo |
| Zhu Yuanzhang | 朱元璋 | Ming Dynasty founder (also Hongwu Emperor) |
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