The Opium Wars lasted from 1839 to 1842 and 1856 to 1860 respectively, the climax of a trade dispute between China (Qing Dynasty) and the United Kingdom. British smuggling of opium into China and the Chinese government's efforts to enforce its drug laws led to conflict.

Lin Zexu (林则徐, Lín Zéxú, 1785-1850) played an important role in the Opium War. He was sent by Qing government in 1838 to deal with opium problems in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Lin took vigorous actions, detaining the foreigners in their factories and forcing them to surrender their stocks of the drug. In 1839, he supervised the burning of large quantities of seized opium in Humen, Guangdong Province.

However, China's defeat in both wars forced the government to tolerate the opium trade. The United Kingdom forced the government to sign unequal treaties, opening several ports to foreign trade and yielding Hong Kong to Britain. Several countries followed Britain and forced unequal terms of trade onto China. These contributed to the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), the downfall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 and great change of China's society.