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The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Emperor, Jiajing, between 1522 and 1527. The Ming Dynasty ( or Empire of the Great Ming ( was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol -led The Jiajing (or Chia-ching) Emperor ( September 16, 1507 – January 23, 1567) was Emperor of China from Its purpose was to protect Tianjin from foreign invasions. During the Opium Wars, it was expanded and five big forts and 20 smaller ones were built. The Opium Wars ( also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, lasted from 1839 to 1842 and 1856 to 1860 the climax of a trade dispute between China under the Qing

Most of them were dismantled when the Eight-Nation Alliance Forces invaded China during the Boxer rebellion (1899-1901). The Eight-Nation Alliance ( was an alliance of 8 nations ( Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, The Boxer Rebellion, or Boxer Movement, was an uprising by members of the Chinese Society of Right and Harmonious Fists against foreign influence Two forts remain today, one on the southern bank and the other on the northern bank of the Hai He. Dagu Fort (on the southern bank) was repaired in 1988 and opened to the public in June 1997. Land reclamation has left it some considerable distance from the modern shoreline. Its restoration has not returned it to anything like the appearance it would have had when it was an active gun battery (see photo of the aftermath of the 1860 attack), but a number of cannon have been placed in the reconstructed gun embrasures to hint at its former use. An exhibition in Chinese recounts the history of the Opium Wars and the forts' role in them. Unrestored forts are visible to its north from Haifang Road.

Second Opium War
Interior of Angle of North Fort Immediately after Its Capture, 21st August, 1860

In 1856, Chinese soldiers boarded The Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship registered in Hong Kong flying the British flag and suspected of piracy, smuggling and of being engaged in the opium trade. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders Piracy is Robbery committed at sea or sometimes on shore without a commission from a sovereign Nation (as distinct from Privateering Smuggling, also known as trafficking, is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons past a point where prohibited such as out of a building into a Prison Opium is a Narcotic formed from the Latex (ie sap released by lacerating (or &quotscoring" the immature seed pods of opium poppies ( They captured 12 men and imprisoned them. Though the certificate allowing the ship to fly a British flag had expired, there was still an armed response. The British and French sent gunboats under the command of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour to capture the Taku Forts in May 1858. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Michael Seymour may refer to Sir Michael Seymour 1st Baronet (1768-1834 British naval commander Michael Seymour (naval commander (1802-1887 In June 1858, at the end of the first part of the Second Opium War, the Treaties of Tianjin were signed, which opened Tianjin to foreign trade. The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war of the United Kingdom Several documents titled " Treaty of Tien-tsin " ( Traditional Chinese: 天津條約 Simplified Chinese: 天津条约 Pinyin: Tiānjīn Tiáoyuē

In 1859, after China refused to allow the setting up of Foreign legations in Beijing, a naval force under the command of British Admiral Sir James Hope attacked the forts guarding the mouth of the Peiho river. Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Hope ( 3 March 1808 – 9 June 1881) GCB was a Royal Navy officer and Admiral of the The Hai River ( previously called Bai He (Chinese 白河 pinyin Bái Hé; literally &quotwhite river" Pei Ho in Western sources is a The forts were severely mauled and general Sengge Rinchen's troops were forced to withdraw under the cover of fire from an American naval squadron commanded by Commodore Josiah Tattnall. Sengge Rinchen also Senggelinqin (僧格林沁 1811-1865）a Mongol nobleman and general during the Qing dynasty who is mainly known for his role Please see " Commodore " for other uses of this rank Commodore is a rank of the United States Navy with a somewhat Commodore Josiah Tattnall Jr ( 14 June 1794 – 14 June 1871) was an officer in the United States Navy during the

In 1860, an Anglo-French force gathered at Hong Kong and then carried out a landing at Pei Tang on August 1, and a successful assault on the Taku Forts on August 21. Beitang, formerly also known as Pei-t'ang and Pehtang (amongst other variants is a city in the municipality of Tianjin, China, located near Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan. On September 26, the force arrived at Beijing and had captured the city by October 13.