 Opium, silk, and the missionaries in China. Apin, Citeau, Tunggou, Yanmou. This exhibition retells one of the largely forgotten history between Britain and China in the 19th century. Using historical artifacts, botanical arts and crafts to examine the history of the opium wars, the silk trade with China, the relationship between missionaries in China and opium, and the remarkable story of Gladys A. Wood. Silk, a shiny, soft thread, spun from silkworms, was first developed in China, about 5,000 to 3,000 before Common Era. Silk production remained confided to China until the Silk World opened in the Han dynasty the 2nd century BCE. Silk was the most valuable material trade through the routes between East and West. In 1836, a British merchant, Thomas Weeding, recorded the first bulk silk shipment from Canton to London, with a value of £400,000 in the 19th century, equivalent to £40 million in 2019. Chinese goods such as silk, tea, and porcelain were extremely profitable for British merchants. The problem was China only accept silver as payment, and they did not buy as many goods from Britain. With the price of silver rising, British merchants saw a need to change to open up trade in China. Opium poppy was first bought to China by the Arabic trader through the Silk World. China began with the use of opium for medicinal purpose of the 10th dynasty in the 7th century. In the 16th century, the Portuguese trader introduced opium smoking as a luxury habit to the high society along the South China Sea. The British East India Company expanded the cultivation of opium in Bengal in India. The amount of opium has grown and smuggled into China increased from about 200 chests in 1729 to some 400,000 chests in 1838 annually. By 1839, there were 10 million Chinese rich or poor who became opium addicts, largely sustained by illegal British opium. The Daoguan Emperor, Daoguan Wang Di appointed Nian Sheng Xu, Leng Dacui as an Imperial Commissioner to lead the Guangdong Navy and suppress opium trade. Commissioner Lin and the Chinese soldiers shut down the opium factory in Canton, which was the only port allowed foreigners to live and trade in China at that time. The siege and destroy and estimate 2 million pound perth of illegal opium and the event is known as Burning Opium in Guomang. British Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, known for his aggressive foreign policy gambled diplomacy. He strongly believed the destroyed opium should be considered as British property, not contraband. War with China would resolve the debts to the opium merchants. April 1840, after three days of parliamentary debate in London by a majority of only nine folks, Britain went to war with China. Limited range of Chinese cannons allowed the British Imperial Navy to bombard Qing China's defense ports along the Yangtze River. Zhongshan, Wampo, Aymun and Ningpo were captured, and soon after, British dumbbells were posed to attack Nanking. In 1842, the Qing China's government was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking. The treaty consisted of 13 articles, including open five treaty ports to British merchants, and formally possessed Hong Kong Island as a British colony, and a sum of 21 million silver dollars paid to the British Emperor. On 26 January 1841, a British friend was raised on the northwestern coast of the island of Hong Kong, with them salute from the British warships. The current colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860. Benefit from the fifth movement in those treaties after two opium wars, the number of missionaries in China grew to 2,500 in 1900. 1,400 of the missionaries were British. In 1807, Robert Morrison, his Chinese name, Ma Lai Sun, was the first postman missionary representing the London Missionary Society to China. He then became translator to the British East Indian Company at Canton. He spent 12 years translating and producing a Chinese translation of the Bible. He then spent 16 years combining a Chinese dictionary for the use of questionnaire, and his son, John Robert Morrison, translated the Treaty of Nanking after the first opium war. While some British missionaries saw opium as an opportunity to spread Christianity in China, the most missionary world outweighed for the harm the drug was doing to people in China. Britain finally ended the opium trade between British India and China in 1913. In 1931, Gladys Alwood, her Chinese name, Ai Wei Da, was working as a housemaid when she decided to become a missionary. Rejected by the China Inland Mission for her lack of education, she went to China as an independent missionary. With virtually no money, she managed to travel all the way to Poffin, Sanchin, Sunsai, in northwest China. During her time at Genshin, young Seng Yun, Gladys was appointed as a local food inspector and tasked with removing the binding from the feet of local female children. In 1940, with the Civil War and the Japanese invasion in China, she led a large group of orphans on a Paris journey to safety in Sia, say on, she was one of the very few foreigners became a Chinese citizen. In 1997, Britain returned Hong Kong to China. The design of the new thread of Hong Kong comes with cultural, political, and regional meanings. Red is a festive color in Chinese culture, conveying a sense of celebration and decency. The regional thread features a white Bahinia in the center. Bahinia beka ana jeo di geng is commonly called the Hong Kong Orchid Tree, and the five stars of the Chinese national thread are replicated on the patterns of the fowl as the symbol of harmony.