China, Qing Dynasty, Daoguang (1820-1850), Cash Coins(C)

The Daoguang Emperors reign saw China wracked by internal conflicts and the increasing encroachment of foreign powers. Unable to stop the flow of opium into China and powerless against a modern naval power, China lost the First Opium War and ceded Hong Kong to Britain by the Treaty of Nanjing. The last year of his reign saw the start of the Taiping Rebellion, a Christian Millenarian movement, led by Hong Xiuquan, who believed himself to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ, that nearly destroyed the dynasty and that ended with a death toll in the tens of millions.