Lin Zexu was born on August 30, 1785 in the Guangdong province of China. Zexu was one of the top scholars of his time; he passed the highest exams and got into the Hanlin Academy. He was best known for the work he did during the opium wars. Before he helped directly in the British opium trade problem, he was a government official. Zexu provided advice to China's emperor on how to stop the opium trade. The emperor liked his ideas and told him to go work with the problem directly. Zexu became the imperial commissioner for the opium trade crisis.

The act that Zexu was best known for was his Memorial to Queen Victoria. In the memorial he stated to the Queen that opium trade is to be stopped at once, and all the punishments that would come if it is not. But even though he was recognized for these things, he was fired, because he was held responsible for the First Opium War. He destroyed lots of opium for Britain without paying for it on June 3, 1839. The British were angered for this, and they attacked. After he left his position, he was helping to stop the Taiping Rebellion. Lin Zexu died during this part of his life; he died on November 22, 1850. Zexu's son, Ling Zexu is now the permanent representative for the U.N, from China. Lin Zexu was important to history because he was a hero who fought to stop opium trade and he took every measure to do it.

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Also See

• Memorial to Queen Victoria

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