Lin Zexu

Lin Zexu, Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese political philosopher and politician. He was a head of state (Viceroy), Governor General, and scholar-official under the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing dynasty, best known for his role in the First Opium War of 1839 to 1842. He was from Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and his forceful opposition to the opium trade was a primary catalyst for that war. He is praised for his constant position on the moral high ground in his fight, but also blamed for a rigid approach that failed to account for the domestic and international complexities of the problem; the Emperor endorsed his hardline anti-drugs policies but placed all responsibility for the resulting disastrous war onto Lin. He is revered as a culture hero in Chinese culture and symbolizes drug abuse resistance in China.