Silk Silver Opium tells not only the stories of silk and tea, porcelain, silver and opium, missionaries, mercenaries and trade, but also what became inevitable – war and humiliation. Much about China’s modern relationship with the West is the product of its past inter-reactions, conflicts, victories and humiliations.

The South China Sea was the place from where the ultimately destructive European sailing ships arrived. The Ryukyu Island chain was the place from where marauding Japanese pirates preyed mercilessly on China’s east coast ports. Taiwan was where anti-Qing rebels established a stronghold in the seventeenth century.

The story of imperial China’s trading relationship with the West is a powerful tale, with clear implications for the future.