ned on board a British warship by two Manchu Imperial Commissioners, was the first of a series of agreements with the Western trading nations, later called by the Chinese The "Unequal Treaties" ( Nathan 6). Under the treaty of Nanjing, China surrendered the island of Hong Kong to the British, opening 5 ports to British residence and foreign trade. The Treaty of Nanjing, set the scope and character of an unequal relationship for the century of what the Chinese would call "national humiliations" (Nathan 8). The treaty was followed by other incursions, wars, and treaties that granted new concessions and added new privileges for the foreigners.
             During the mid-nineteenth century, China's problems grew, including droughts, famines, and floods. Government neglect of public works was in part responsible for this and other disasters, and the Qing administration did little to relieve the widespread misery caused by them. Economic tensions, military defeats at Western hands, and anti-Manchu sentiments all combined to prod
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