China is a unified multi-ethnic country. There are more than 50 ethnic groups living in the vast land, of which the Han nationality accounts for more than 90% of the national population, and ethnic minorities are distributed in more than 60% of the country. In the long process of historical development, the political, economic and cultural ties between ethnic groups have been continuously strengthened, gradually forming the * * * identity of the Chinese nation and jointly creating the glorious history and culture of the motherland. China is one of the earliest civilized countries in the world, with a written history of nearly 4,000 years.

Before the Opium War, China was an independent, unified and centralized feudal country ruled by the Qing Dynasty. In the feudal society of China, the self-sufficient natural economy, which combined small-scale peasant economy with cottage industry, occupied a major position in the whole social economy. Farmers not only produce the agricultural products they need, but also produce most industrial products they need. With the development of commodity economy, the seeds of capitalism bred in feudal society gradually increased. Handicraft workshops with capitalist factors have emerged in silk weaving, cotton textile, ceramics, smelting, paper making and other departments. However, under the bondage of feudal relations of production, the elements of capitalist mode of production developed slowly. The landlord class occupies a lot of land, while the peasants have little or no land. For example, during the Qianlong period, Haojia in Huairou County of Zhili was "fertile soil"; (1) On the occasion of Qianlong and Jiaqing, Shenyang, a university student, occupied more than 8,000 hectares; During the Daoguang period, the governor of Zhili, Qishan, was more than 25,000 hectares. As for landlords who occupy thousands or tens of thousands of acres, the number is even greater. The concentration of a large amount of land has caused a large number of farmers to lose their land and become tenant farmers or refugees. At the time of Qianlong, Yang Ximao, the governor of Hunan Province, said: "Recently, about 10 fields and 56 fields were owned by rich households; People who used to have fields are now tenants. " With the concentration of land, the exploitation of farmers by landlords became more and more serious, and the rent rate at that time was as high as 50%. Farmers are getting poorer and poorer, and they live as slaves of cattle and horses. Therefore, the contradiction between farmers and landlords tends to be sharp, and the society is more turbulent.

Excessive population growth has also become a serious social problem. 1764 (in the 29th year of Qianlong), the population of China was about 205.6 million, which increased to more than 333 million in 18 12 (in the 17th year of Jiaqing) and reached more than 400 million in 1835 (in the 15th year of Daoguang). The population growth rate is getting faster and faster, but the per capita arable land in the country was more than two mu during Jiaqing period, and it was reduced to less than two mu during Daoguang period. This has also caused the increase of refugees and the intensification of social unrest.

From the second half of the18th century, the Qing Dynasty embarked on the road of decline. Official management is becoming more and more corrupt, and officials of all sizes are greedy and corrupt. Xiao Shenyang was a powerful minister who was in charge of state affairs for more than 20 years during the reign of Qianlong. He amassed a wealth of 420 million yuan through various means, which was equivalent to the total income of the Qing government for eight years at that time. Local officials take advantage of everything. Zhang Jiliang, a Daoguang poet, vividly exposed the corruption of official management in his letter to Huang Jue, secretary of the crack temple: "Those who are rich in politics are happy when they see gold;" For the county magistrate. Torture is illegal. Collect money and rice from the city and bribe the big government with easy money to make it happy. As for the hungry people, after eating several times, they still use the grain harvest as an excuse to buy. Drive women away from the valley, dare not go back to the inner door day and night, chickens, dolphins, cows and dogs are gone. A few days after I came back, the errand came again, the door came again, and I was exhausted. " Under the blackmail of corrupt officials, people's lives are very miserable.

The army is also corrupt and poorly equipped. Before the Opium War, there were 220,000 Eight Banners soldiers and 660,000 green camp soldiers in the Qing Dynasty. But the Eight Banners and green camp are corrupt. Officers don't care about camp affairs, pay for food and drink, and soldiers don't practice frequently. Many people actually smoke opium and gather people to open casinos. The Eight Banners soldiers in Beijing, "in groups of three or five, carried birdcages and bird racks, wandered around all day and even got together to gamble. Asked about their names and colors, they all patrolled the city in armor, but they hired someone to replace them, adding fuel to the vinegar. " In the army of other provinces, there are even serious phenomena, such as cavalry without horses, brave water, rusty weapons and disrepair of batteries. In case of a parade, the cavalry will hire a horse temporarily, and Shuiyong will hire a fisherman to impersonate him. As for the coastal navy, most of them are old, weak and useless, and most of the warships are made of old nails, which are "broken when they are hit."