Lin tse hsu biography

Chinese scholar-official (–)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lin.

Lin Zexu (30 August – 22 November ), courtesy nameYuanfu, was a Chinese political philosopher and politician. He was a head of state (Viceroy), Governor General, scholar-official, and under the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing dynasty best known for his role in the First Opium War of – He was from Fuzhou, Fujian Province.

Lin's forceful opposition to the opium trade was a primary catalyst for the First Opium War. He is praised for his constant position on the "moral high ground" in his fight, but he is also blamed for a rigid approach which failed to account for the domestic and international complexities of the problem. The Emperor endorsed the hardline policies and anti-drugs movement advocated by Lin, but placed all responsibility for the resulting disastrous Opium War onto Lin.

However, Lin's efforts against the opium trades was appreciated by drug policy reform activists and revered as a