Arrow War - Arrow War

In 1856, the Arrow Incident, in which Qing dynasty officials boarded a ship called the Arrow, flying the British flag, and arrested Chinese pirates, was used as a pretext to launch a war against China in alliance with France. In China, it is called the Second Opium War. At the time of the incident, the Arrow was clearly owned by Chinese people, but the British authorities demanded compensation, an apology, and punishment for those responsible, claiming that the national flag and, ultimately, the honor of the nation had been damaged. When this was refused by Ye Ming-chen, the Governor-General of Guangzhou and Guangdong, who was a staunch conservative and xenophobic, they bombarded the Governor's office. The British government (Palmerston's Whig government) took this as an opportunity to try to start a war with the aim of realizing their long-standing demands for treaty revision, which mainly included the right to station envoys in Beijing, the opening of the mainland (opening of inland travel and the Yangtze River), and the legalization of the opium trade. However, the proposal was rejected by the liberal faction of Parliament led by Cobden, and after gaining confidence through the dissolution of the House of Representatives and a general election, he sent an expeditionary force to China in March 1857. However, he was forced to allocate military forces to the "Sepoy Mutiny" (Great Indian Rebellion) in India, and resumed the Chinese expedition at the end of the same year. Using the murder of a French missionary in Guangxi in February of the previous year as an excuse, Napoleon III's France also joined the expedition, and in 1858 the allied forces occupied Canton and Tianjin, concluding the Treaty of Tianjin. However, when they tried to force the ratification of the treaty in Beijing, they were counterattacked by the Qing army, and in 1860 they resumed the expedition with a force of 20,000, occupied Beijing, destroyed and plundered the Old Summer Palace, and forced the Qing dynasty to surrender and sign the Treaty of Beijing. This war was a major catalyst for the Edo Shogunate to sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan in 1858 (Ansei 5).

[Shinji Kojima]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1856年、イギリス国旗を掲げていたアローArrow号という船に清(しん)朝官憲が乗り込んで中国人海賊を逮捕したアロー号事件を口実に、イギリスがフランスと連合して中国にしかけた戦争。中国では第二次アヘン戦争という。事件当時、アロー号は明らかに中国人の所有するものであったが、イギリスの出先当局は、国旗、ひいては国家の名誉が傷つけられたとして、賠償金や謝罪、責任者の処罰を要求し、これが頑固な保守排外派だった両広総督葉名琛(ようめいしん)に拒否されると、総督衙門(がもん)を砲撃した。イギリス政府（パーマストンのホイッグ党内閣）はこれを契機に、公使の北京(ペキン)駐在権、内地の開放（内地旅行と揚子江(ようすこう)の開放）、アヘン貿易の合法化などを主内容とする年来の条約改正要求の実現を目ざして開戦しようとした。しかしコブデンら議会のリベラル派を中心とする勢力に否決され、下院の解散と総選挙によって信任を得たのち、1857年3月に遠征軍を中国に派遣した。しかしインドの「セポイの反乱」（インドの大反乱）に兵力を割くことを余儀なくされ、同年末、中国遠征が再開された。前年2月広西でフランス人宣教師が殺害された事件を口実に、ナポレオン3世のフランスも遠征に参加し、連合軍は1858年、広東(カントン)、天津(てんしん)を占領し、天津条約を締結した。しかし条約の批准交換を北京で強行しようとして清軍の反撃を受け、1860年、2万の兵力で遠征を再開し、北京を占領、円明園を破壊、略奪し尽くして清朝を屈伏させ、北京条約に調印させた。なおこの戦争は、江戸幕府が1858年（安政5）日米修好通商条約に調印する大きな契機となった。

［小島晋治］

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