British opium trade in China
E140347
aspect of British imperialism
aspect of Sino-British relations
historical event
illicit drug trade
opium trade
The British opium trade in China was a 19th-century system of illicit narcotics commerce, largely driven by British merchants and the East India Company, that flooded China with opium, destabilized its society and economy, and ultimately provoked the Opium Wars.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| British opium trade in China canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1226953 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: British opium trade in China Context triple: [Opium Wars, hasCause, British opium trade in China]
-
A.
Opium Wars
The Opium Wars were two mid-19th-century conflicts between China and Western powers, primarily Britain, that forced open Chinese trade and marked a key turning point in the era of Western imperialism in Asia.
-
B.
British concession in Canton
The British concession in Canton was a foreign-controlled enclave in Guangzhou, China, established in the 19th century as part of the treaty port system that facilitated British trade and extraterritorial rights.
-
C.
Ming and Qing Chinese maritime trade restrictions
Ming and Qing Chinese maritime trade restrictions were a series of imperial policies that tightly controlled or prohibited private overseas commerce, limiting foreign contact and concentrating seaborne trade in state-sanctioned channels.
-
D.
The History of British India
The History of British India is an early 19th-century, multi-volume historical and philosophical account of British rule in India that strongly influenced colonial policy and Victorian views of Indian society.
-
E.
The Siege at Peking
The Siege at Peking is a historical narrative by British writer Peter Fleming that recounts the 1900 Boxer Rebellion and the defense of the foreign legations in Beijing.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: British opium trade in China Target entity description: The British opium trade in China was a 19th-century system of illicit narcotics commerce, largely driven by British merchants and the East India Company, that flooded China with opium, destabilized its society and economy, and ultimately provoked the Opium Wars.
-
A.
Opium Wars
The Opium Wars were two mid-19th-century conflicts between China and Western powers, primarily Britain, that forced open Chinese trade and marked a key turning point in the era of Western imperialism in Asia.
-
B.
British concession in Canton
The British concession in Canton was a foreign-controlled enclave in Guangzhou, China, established in the 19th century as part of the treaty port system that facilitated British trade and extraterritorial rights.
-
C.
Ming and Qing Chinese maritime trade restrictions
Ming and Qing Chinese maritime trade restrictions were a series of imperial policies that tightly controlled or prohibited private overseas commerce, limiting foreign contact and concentrating seaborne trade in state-sanctioned channels.
-
D.
The History of British India
The History of British India is an early 19th-century, multi-volume historical and philosophical account of British rule in India that strongly influenced colonial policy and Victorian views of Indian society.
-
E.
The Siege at Peking
The Siege at Peking is a historical narrative by British writer Peter Fleming that recounts the 1900 Boxer Rebellion and the defense of the foreign legations in Beijing.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (56)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
aspect of British imperialism
ⓘ
aspect of Sino-British relations ⓘ historical event ⓘ illicit drug trade ⓘ opium trade ⓘ |
| beganBefore |
Anglo-Chinese War
ⓘ
surface form:
First Opium War
|
| causeOf |
Anglo-Chinese War
ⓘ
surface form:
First Opium War
corruption among Qing officials ⓘ economic destabilization in Qing China ⓘ escalation of Sino-British tensions ⓘ growth of coastal smuggling networks ⓘ silver outflow from China ⓘ social disruption in Qing China ⓘ widespread opium addiction in China ⓘ |
| consequence |
expansion of Western influence in China
ⓘ
long-term trauma in Chinese national memory ⓘ opening of treaty ports in China ⓘ weakening of Qing sovereignty ⓘ |
| controlledBy | British East India Company ⓘ |
| economicMotivation |
correction of British trade deficit with China
ⓘ
profit maximization for British merchants ⓘ revenue for British Indian administration ⓘ |
| keyActor |
British East India Company
ⓘ
City of London merchants ⓘ
surface form:
British private merchants
Chinese coastal merchants ⓘ Chinese smugglers ⓘ Indian opium producers ⓘ |
| legalStatusInBritishIndia | state-monopolized ⓘ |
| legalStatusInChina | illegal ⓘ |
| linkedTo |
Canton System
ⓘ
Treaty of Nanking ⓘ
surface form:
Treaty of Nanjing
unequal treaties ⓘ |
| mainCommodity | opium ⓘ |
| opposedBy |
Chinese scholar-officials
ⓘ
Lin Zexu ⓘ Qing dynasty ⓘ
surface form:
Qing government
|
| primaryExporter | United Kingdom ⓘ |
| primaryImporter |
Qing dynasty
ⓘ
surface form:
Qing China
|
| productionBase |
Bengal Presidency
ⓘ
Bombay Presidency ⓘ Malwa-Nimar region ⓘ
surface form:
Malwa region
|
| regulatedBy |
British colonial authorities in India
ⓘ
surface form:
British colonial administration in India
|
| relatedConflict |
Anglo-Chinese War
ⓘ
surface form:
First Opium War
Opium Wars ⓘ
surface form:
Second Opium War
|
| timePeriod |
19th century
ⓘ
late 18th century ⓘ |
| tookPlaceIn |
Bengal
ⓘ
Canton ⓘ India ⓘ Malwa ⓘ Pearl River Delta ⓘ Qing dynasty ⓘ
surface form:
Qing Empire
South China Sea ⓘ |
| tradeMechanism |
auction system in Calcutta
ⓘ
offshore receiving ships ⓘ smuggling ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: British opium trade in China Description of subject: The British opium trade in China was a 19th-century system of illicit narcotics commerce, largely driven by British merchants and the East India Company, that flooded China with opium, destabilized its society and economy, and ultimately provoked the Opium Wars.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.