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Oct. 30, 2005 It’s understandable that China today is more sensitive on the question of opium than other countries, in view of the two Opium Wars (1839-1842 and 1858-1860) waged by Britain to enforce opium addiction on the Chinese, despite imperial resistance. Perhaps many people only remotely aware of opium addiction in China in the nineteenth century imagine dark smoky opium dens and attribute the vice to some Chinese character defect. The truth is that the British East India Conpany, at first, and later private British and Iraqi Jewish companies deliberately promoted the opium trade with a view to amassing huge fortunes, without regard to the harm done the addicts, who numbered perhaps 25,000,000 at the beginning of the twentieth century. In the year 2000, Chinese authorities removed Yves St. Laurent’s perfume called ‘Opium’ from showcases of Chinese department stores, arguing that it conveyed an inappropriate message, suggesting that opium was something glamorous, exotic or titillating. Some people thought the Chinese were overdoing it, but one thing is certain, and that is that drug addiction is far less common in China today than in the US. Even less well known than the Anglo-Jewish opium rackets in the Orient was the catastrophic effect of the intrusion of Christianity in China. I wrote an article on that subject, entitled, “Christianity Sparked China’s Bloodiest Rebellion,” which was posted on useless-knowledge.com on March 20, 2005, but let me summarize it briefly again. In 1837, a 35-year-old Tennessee Baptist named Issachar Jacox Roberts, went to China as a missionary, with almost incredible gall if you ask me, and he preached there, finally gaining fluency in Chinese. In the meantime, Hong Xiuquan (1812-1864), a poor farmer’s son who had failed civil service examinations on four occasions, was very distraught as a consequence. At about that time, he was introduced to the Bible and Christianity, and later got personal insruction from Issachar Jacox Roberts. At the time of their meeting, the emperor was Daoguang, who was succeeded by Xianfeng and Tongzhi, all of the Qing or Manchu Dynasty, China’s last dynasty. Conditions for the common people were harsh, with oppression, famine and uprisings being commonplace. This set the stage for a revolution called the Taiping Rebellion, led by Hong Xiuquan, who was steeped in Christianity, thanks in part to the good offices of Issachar Jacox Roberts, and conceived the idea that he was the Messiah. Some of Hong Xiuquan’s ideas were commendable. He sought the outlawry of alcohol, tobacco, opium, slavery, polygamy and prostitution. The Taiping Rebellion raged for 13 years (1851-1864), claiming from 20,000,000 to 40,000,000 lives, depending on the estimate you select. Of course, to lay the whole blame at the doorstep of Jesus Christ would be to to oversimplify. But it’s an equal or worse oversimplification for Christians to absolve themselves entirely. The usual argument is that Honq Xiuquan’s Christianity was not genuine Christianity, but if Christian missionaries had not been in China in the first place, no one could even begin to point an accusing finger. Surely it would be ridiculous to argue that, despite a death toll of 20,000,000 to 40,000,000, Christianity, if properly understood, could have been entirely beneficial to the Chinese. I say that if Christianity is such a powder keg that it could be turned into a casus belli for history’s bloodiest rebellion, it ought really to be done away with. Anyway, today we witness the spectacle of Christian missionaries going to China, or smuggling Bibles into China, as if they were doing God’s work. Are they really seeking another Taiping Rebellion? ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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