I'm having a difficult time understanding the British the more I learn about their escapades in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was evident and vocal that the Chinese Ministry was against the continued trade of opium, but the British felt justified to retaliate due to being "handled" in a large foreign country where they are a significantly small minority, have no real protection status, would largely be outnumbered, and essentially waged war due to profits being jeopardized.

The British had been fairly busy even before the 1790's, with resources being stretched in North America during the Revolutionary War and in India during the Anglo Wars. And obviously with the French Revolution, no time or effort could be made to seriously consider traveling so far east.

Kowtow is described as "the act of supplication made by an inferior to his superior by kneeling and knocking his head to the floor" according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/kowtow

If you see this Dr.Allosso, is the "cynical view of history.. of Chinese historical texts" referring to the Chinese themselves or the accounts of Europeans? Why is it considered cynical?

On page 168 of Fairbank's "China: A New History," the population is said to have doubled in the years 1790-1840, from around 200 million to over 400 million.