China's traditional world outlook is the world, which is called "the land of kings, the shore of the land, and the minister of kings", and "there are no two days in the sky, and the country has no two masters". The feudal system, which originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty, established the title system of the emperor. Until the early Western Han Dynasty, there was still the traditional custom of cracking the soil and sealing the king. Later, when dealing with foreign relations, there was a tradition of dwarfing and wooing other countries through intermarriage, conferring titles, etc. As long as there was a desire for peace, they could submit orally.
These practices seem ridiculous to modern people, but at that time, they were worthy of being a relatively clever way to deal with them. On the one hand, they preserved the dignity and status of the central kingship, on the other hand, the price and cost were very low, and only when they met with strong hostility and aggressive ambition from foreign countries would they fail.
For thousands of years, the Chinese empire has flourished in eastern Asia like a snowball. The emperor became the * * * Lord of the "world", accepted the worship of subjects and foreigners, and mediated the contradictions among the States.
Before the Opium War, Britain was in a period of social change. In the era of great navigation, the ocean became a booster to promote the pursuit of European spice trade. The discovery of the New World pushed this movement forward a big step, and the first industrial revolution that followed made Britain step into modern society at such a good time and place, and in the process, it evolved from a kingdom to the British Empire. At this moment, in the Chinese empire, the feudal monarchy system still continues its life strongly on the surface.
Knowing this, we can understand the inevitability of the opium war.
The British ambassador's reluctance to pay three respects and nine knocks is intolerable to China and a challenge to the ethical cornerstone of the existence of the Chinese empire. Judging from Yong Zhengdi's attitude at that time, it was already an amnesty.
For Britain, it is completely understandable that you can't pay three respects and knock nine times. As an emerging country, it certainly doesn't want to be dwarfed for no reason.
Maybe history is such a scam. The two empires stood on their own positions, looked at each other in their own way, and handled each other's affairs in their own way. The result can be imagined.
What people can't agree with in the film is that the screenwriter actually defends the opium trade in Britain, and the position and viewpoint of the whole film are erratic. He first said that opium harmed the people of China and denied the legitimacy of the opium trade, then accused Britain of the necessity and defended himself as a Catholic who opposed the opium trade to safeguard just laws. This drift filled the whole film and became the biggest failure.
Another important point of writing is that success or failure, as long as it is strong, is correct, even if it is not so correct, it is necessary and understandable, and it is ridiculous for the weak to defend their legal rights in time. This view also pervades the whole movie.
In addition, the author simply does not accept the basic view that when in Rome, do as the Romans do, and arbitrarily believes that the righteous law did not hand over the murderer because the Qing law was too cruel at that time, completely ignoring the life of the victim and the local laws that should be observed. At this moment, the writer abandoned the diplomatic principle that Britain should get along with each other on an equal footing and supported the use of British laws thousands of miles away to solve criminal cases in China, which is simply a world record.
Of course, the two stages of civilization collide, and the advanced civilization certainly has the right to laugh at the backward civilization. But this kind of ridicule is equally ridiculous from the perspective of advanced civilization. Today, when the British Empire was setting in the western hills, it also encountered the same situation that the tiger fell in Pingyang and was bullied by dogs. What does the writer think of this problem?
Generally speaking, the video material of this film almost comes from other feature films and movies, and the music is familiar. The only original is the comment, and the result is a broken limb, without a clear theme and perspective.
The film seems to be mocking the weaknesses and defects of China and China culture, but by examining the tone of the commentary and the writer's writing psychology, it is not difficult to find that he is using these weaknesses and defects to satirize the weaknesses and defects of China culture, which makes people wonder whether he is angry or funny.
Looking back on history objectively, the Opium War made China passively accept the baptism of modern civilization. However, the carrier of advanced civilization is a barbaric way, and it is difficult to avoid the instinctive resistance of relatively backward civilization. On the other hand, advanced civilization itself is not as perfect as advocated by writers, but it still breeds the main body of civilization by evil means, which makes people wonder whether this war is as just as writers and other whitewashers tried to defend.
It is difficult to find other creatures with the same civilization and wisdom as human beings within the scope of the universe that human beings can recognize today. But if one day, the so-called intelligent aliens in high civilization really treat the human beings on the earth like the British Empire treated the Chinese Empire, I wonder what kind of people will wash their hands of the war?