A 19-year-old Qing Dynasty girl was sold to the United States and reduced to an exhibit of exotic beasts for 50 cents.
In the 21st century, we are fortunate to be in a free and civilized country, where everyone can live together in peace with dignity and mutual respect. Yet, a hundred years ago, all this was a distant dream.
The lessons of history tell us that if we are backward, we will be beaten, and only by constantly advancing can we avoid the recurrence of tragedies. This sentence not only reminds everyone to be positive, but also warns a country not to be stopped by the glory in front of it.
For the Qing Dynasty, this was a fitting warning. Looking back at the early Qing Dynasty, the country was at its peak and was one of the great powers in the world.
However, in the later period, due to a series of factors such as the ruling class indulging in self-righteous fantasies about the kingdom of the country, coupled with a series of factors such as the isolation of the country, China's development seemed to have fallen into a state of stagnation, which eventually led to its later demise.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the living conditions of ordinary people were miserable, and they were overwhelmed by all kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and even had to sell their children.
Most of the men who were bought were reduced to coolies, and the fate of the girls was even more tragic.
The greed of the Western powers for our country stems from an ancient book. During the Yuan Dynasty, Marco Polo traveled to China for 17 years, and after returning to China, he wrote "Marco Polo's Travels", which became the key for the Western powers to peek into the East.
They learned that China possessed tea, porcelain, gold and silver, and that their greed turned them into red-eyed beasts.
During the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He, with the full support of the emperor, made seven voyages to the west. He traded with various countries, giving away tea, porcelain, silk, and other items. Such a move made other countries deeply feel that this mysterious oriental country was rich in materials and greedy.
In those days, the eastern power was an untouchable behemoth for them. Although they are extremely greedy, they do not dare to snatch directly, and can only satisfy their desires through the establishment of diplomatic relations, tribute, ** and other formal channels.
Our country has always been known as a country of etiquette and a willingness to accept the kindness of others. As a result, these countries are gradually discovering that whatever they give, our country's gift in return is always far greater than theirs.
This further reinforces the image in their minds of the inexhaustibility of our country's wealth, and at the same time stimulates their greed. In the late Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty implemented a policy of closing the country to the outside world, and was limited to a few specific ports.
However, at that time, China was still a strong national power, and it was completely self-sufficient, even if it did not communicate with other countries.
In order to obtain the required materials, foreign capitalists can take two ways: one is through international **; The second is through colonial rule. However, at that time, China's national strength was strong, and the risk of invasion by foreign troops was greater.
At first, they chose to proceed, but soon found that the local goods were cheap and did not serve their intended purpose. So they turned to selling opium, a criminal and lucrative commodity.
It was this evil opium that opened China's door and put our people in dire straits. The essence of opium is what we call a drug today, which is extremely addictive and has caused great damage to people's mental and physical health.
They did not dare to sell it in their own country, but they shipped this drug to our country on a large scale, which shows their wolf ambition. With the influx of opium, tobacco houses have sprung up in various places.
Although the Qing ** carried out many anti-smoking activities, it had little effect, because opium had corroded the inside of the Qing **, and many ** were also addicted to smoking.
What is shocking is that many soldiers in the Qing army have become addicted to smoking, and the combat effectiveness of the opium-addicted army has been seriously weakened. Western countries used the evil opium to open China's door, which wiped out the fighting spirit of the Chinese people, and led to a large outflow.
For this kind of thing that shakes the foundation of the country, even the stupid Qing ** will not sit idly by, so they began a series of anti-smoking actions. However, the anti-smoking campaign directly harms the interests of Western countries, how can they easily let the Qing ** succeed?
As a result of the two industrial revolutions, the military strength of Western countries has become unmatched from what it used to be. However, the Qing Dynasty's policy of closing the country to the outside world made it miss the opportunity of the Industrial Revolution, and in addition, the introduction of opium led to a serious decline in the combat effectiveness of the army, making it impossible for the Qing army to compete with the Western army.
Several large-scale battles such as the Opium War ended in a fiasco of the Qing Dynasty, and the result was a huge amount of reparations, land cession, etc. At the same time, Western countries took advantage of this to force the Qing Dynasty to open up to trade, which further increased the inflow of opium and led to more and more people becoming addicted to drugs.
Once ordinary people are infected with opium, the consequences will be unimaginable. Drugs can devastate their bodies to the extreme, making them unable to perform any labor. They are obsessed with how to get opium again, and many even go so far as to break the bank to satisfy their opium cravings, or even sell their children for it.
For parents, it was an act of cutting meat, but for the sake of opium, they were willing to do it. This is enough to show that opium has deeply poisoned ordinary people.
At that time, the sale of children was widely accepted by society and even acquiesced by the authorities. Many of the children who are bought and sold are minors and cannot resist this fate, because their parents are the ones who are responsible for the tragedy that caused them.
These boys and girls, who are seen as commodities, have a fate that is no longer theirs the moment they are sold. No one is going to invest money in them unconditionally, and in the end, the money to buy them will have to be borne by themselves.
Boys were usually sold into slavery or coolies, while girls were used as maids, child brides, or sold into green houses.
For ordinary people, the money from selling their children is enough to support them for a while. But once infected with opium, the gold and silver mountains cannot satisfy the drug addiction. When drug addiction hits, it is painful to live, and people are willing to pay everything just for a dose of smoke.
In the face of drug addiction, children are just commodities and are eager to sell**. While they may have compassion in their hearts, the onset of addiction can erase that kindness.
A pair of American brothers saw a business opportunity in China, and instead of selling opium, they wanted to make a profit by visiting people like objects and animals. They thought people had to be attractive to sell, so they targeted a 19-year-old girl who looked like a flower.
After clarifying the goal, they immediately took action. They claimed to have taken a fancy to the girl and intended to let her work for them abroad, offering them a good salary that far exceeded their domestic income level.
However, after many exchanges, the girl's family was still opposed. So, they offered to give the girl's parents a sum of money as compensation. When the money arrived, the girl's parents immediately agreed and signed an agreement to give the girl to the Kahn brothers.
However, they remained vigilant until the girl left the country, reassuring the girl and her parents that they were in decent work, that the girl could earn a good salary and that she would have the opportunity to use the money to improve their lives.
In a foreign land, the truth is brutally revealed. The two brothers are actually a couple, they treat the girl as a rare animal, imprison her in a museum, only ** a small amount of water and hard-to-eat food every day, and beat and scold her at will.
The brothers knew that the people of their country would be filled with curiosity and greed as soon as they heard about that country in the East. And this girl will satisfy not only their curiosity, but also their animalistic desires.
The Kahn brothers gave the young woman a full package, claiming that she was an exiled Qing dynasty royalty, richly dressed and wearing fine jewelry.
Although the jewelry and clothes on her body only appear in dreams, the reality is that she is kept in a cage by the Karn brothers, and is considered their property. They announced that for only 50 cents, anyone could ** the young girl at will, and her peculiar "three-inch golden lotus" was their selling point.
Westerners at that time had never seen such a sight, so out of curiosity, they paid for it**.
A group of tourists asked her to show her feet, and when they saw the girl's misshapen feet, they burst into laughter. Their laughter is not only aimed at the girl's feet, but also at the ignorance and backwardness of that era, and even more contempt for China.
Some even asked her to show off her young body, but the girl's upbringing, all of this made her feel extremely painful.
A young woman, unable to endure the humiliation and restraint, tries to escape, but suffers a terrible blow. She is eventually forced to accept reality, numb to the mercy of others, and even to be ridiculed and scrutinized by them.
Years later, when she was too old and decrepit to bring them any benefit, she was ruthlessly kicked out of the house.
She eventually ends up in a circus with her unique oriental charm, but in reality she is still doing a humiliating job. We don't know where she went.
This girl spent a miserable life in a foreign country because of a **, and did not return to her hometown until the end. In those days, such examples abounded, and countless people were trafficked abroad.
These foreigners not only broke the isolation of our country by bad means and robbed a lot of wealth, but also did everything in their power to satisfy their despicable desires. EpilogueThe misfortune of this young girl is only a representation of the miserable lives of ordinary people in the late Qing Dynasty, and in places unknown to us, they may have suffered countless cruel tortures.
It's ironic that a country that preaches freedom and human rights all day long should do such an inhumane thing. And they are so righteous and arrogant, not ashamed, but proud.
We should feel fortunate that even in that era of poverty and weakness, there are still a group of people who believe in the belief that "the rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of the husband".
They are brave and fearless, fearless of hardships and sacrifices, and will save the Chinese nation from the abyss when it is facing the disaster of national annihilation. Today, our country has become stronger and stronger, and the Chinese nation is once again standing tall among the nations of the world.
However, we must not forget that humiliating history, and we should all the more bear in mind the bloody lesson of "if you are backward, you will be beaten."