Episode 1 of 3
Seizure of the Arrow
- When
- 8 October 1856
- Where
- Canton
Qing officials in Canton seized the lorcha Arrow on suspicion of piracy, arresting twelve Chinese crew members on 8 October 1856.
The ship, registered in Hong Kong, was claimed to be flying a British flag, though witnesses disputed this. Ye Mingchen, a high-ranking official, ordered the seizure, which sparked diplomatic outrage and contributed to the outbreak of war.
Sources
- Second Opium War Wikipedia
- Ye Mingchen Wikipedia, revision of 2026-05-15
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.