Question

What was the main reason that Europe began to trade opium for Chinese goods?

Answer 1

Chinese protectionism and a culture disdain for the outside world kept trade with the outside world limited -- China would only accept silver in return for silk, tea and ceramics.

Explanation:

The Chinese experience for thousands of years led to an ingrained belief that they constituted the entirety of the civilized world; in contrast to the empires of Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia who all knew there were other kingdoms and polities that they had to deal with. For China, civilized peoples shared their alphabet, culture, philosophy; those who didn't weren't civilized.

To be fair, this degree of chauvinism isn't quite unique to Ancient China, but the 19th Century Emperors of China remained dangerously ignorant about the rest of the world. Since the first European sailors made it to Chinese ports, an appetite for tea, silk, and ceramics grew in Europe; but aside from ginseng, sea otter furs, and a few luxury items, there was nothing that China was willing to accept in return... except silver.

As the 18th Century wore on, silver became increasingly scarce in the Western World, causing inflationary pressures -- particularly with the onset of the Napoleonic Wars. British (and French) traders putting into Canton -- the only port they were allowed to enter --noticed that some Chinese were addicted to smoking opium. While this was prohibited by the severe laws of China, the demand was still strong.

The British East India Company and independent traders soon started selling cargoes of opium in China and then, as now, contraband narcotics will always find a way to get to market. Soon enough, opium consumption in Southern China soared to new levels, revenues fell, Chinese officials were growing corrupt, and the bumptious barbarians from over the sea obviously didn't know their place in the Middle Kingdom.

The more the mandarinate tried to regain control of the situation, the worse it got. In the end, the Chinese tried to ban imports completely, but the British were having nothing of that and sent troops and warships to pry-open the trade routes with China again. Hence the Opium War of 1839-1842 and all that followed from it.