The destruction of opium at Humen （虎門銷煙）began on 3 June 1839. It involved the destruction of more than 1,000 tons of illegal opium seized from British traders under the supervision （監察）of Lin Zexu（林則徐）, Imperial Commissioner of the Qing government back then.
Lin Zexu was born in Fuzhou, in the Fujian province. Prior to the First Opium War, he was sent to Canton (now Guangzhou) to ban（禁止）the opium trade. During that time China was ruled by the Qing government. The Qing government restricted（限制）foreign envoy （使節；代表） and trade. Guangzhou was the only trading port open to western countries. It was also the only gateway importing foreign goods, culture and ideologies（意識形態）. The British had a heavy demand for Chinese goods such as tea, silk, and porcelain, but the Chinese showed little interests in western goods. This resulted in severe trade deficits（赤字）to Britain. The British merchants brewed a vicious（邪惡的）plot. They grew opium in India and sold it at a great profit in China. The British used the profits to help pay for Chinese goods to sell in Europe. The opium trade had caused a huge outflow of silver from China. The situation was reversed（徹底改變）. The severe drain of silver badly undermined China’s economy.
With the drain of silver and the growing number of people addicted （上癮）to the drug, Emperor Daoguang demanded action. Officials at the court who advocated （主張）legalizing the trade so the government could tax it were defeated by Lin Zexu who advocated suppression. In 1839, Emperor Daoguang sent Lin Zexu to Guangzhou, where he quickly arrested Chinese opium dealers and demanded that foreign traders turn over their stocks. When they refused, Lin stopped trade altogether and placed the foreign residents under siege（包圍）, eventually forcing the British traders to surrender their opium to be destroyed.
The destruction of opium began on 3 June 1839 and took a total of 23 days, on the banks of the Pearl River along Humen. It ended on 25 June. 1,016 tons of opium in total was destroyed under very close supervision of Lin. People flocked to Humen beach to see the opium destroyed. One by one, the chests of opium were opened, and were burned to ashes and washed out to sea.
The destruction of opium, however, provided an excuse for the British to declare war on China. The war is known as the First Opium War. It was a clash （衝突） that initiated China’s opening for trade with foreign countries under a series of unequal treaties（不平等條約）by Western powers. The First Opium War ended in the signing of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. As a result, Hong Kong island was ceded（割讓）to Britain.
