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The British East India Company grew opium (a drug) in India and began trading it to China. Chinese merchants rapidly became addicted to opium and spend lots of money on it. A Chinese government official, Lin Zexu, tried to stop the trade by banning the BEI to sell it. However, they refused, and started the Opium War.
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During the Opium War, the British East India Company began to attack China, Their warships were brutal against Chinese seaports. When the BEI began to enter Nanjing, the Qing dynasty decided to make peace and offer five trading ports to the British, along with limited taxes and paid for the costs of the war in the Treaty of Nanjing.
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One reason the Qing Dynasty declined was that there was an over population, so there wasn't enough food and many starved. Also, they suffered from corruption and peasant rebellions.
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The Taiping Rebellion was a radical, political, and religious movement in China. Under the Taipings, views on Christianity and equality changed.
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After the Opium War was over, China used the aid of Europeans to get rid of the rebels in Nanjing. In the Treaty of Tianjin, they opened new ports for trade and legalized opium trade again.
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The first Sino-Japanese War was a war that broke out between Qing China and Japan over the control of Korea.
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The Boxer Rebellion started when a secret organization called the The Harmonious Fists practiced a type of boxing that they believed could protect them from bullets. They did this because they were angered by the economical problems caused by foreigners and wanted their land back.
