The Social Life of Opium in China [Hardcover]

This book traces the transformation of opium from medicine to narcotic over a period of five hundred years.This is the first book to consider the social and cultural implications of opium consumption. Collectively, the Chinese people redefined a foreign way of recreation and developed a complex culture of consumption around its use. The book traces this transformation over a period of five hundred years, asking who introduced opium to China and how it spread across all sections of society. Accompanied by a fascinating collection of illustrations, this study will appeal to students and scholars of history, anthropology, sociology, economics, and all those with an interest in China.This is the first book to consider the social and cultural implications of opium consumption. Collectively, the Chinese people redefined a foreign way of recreation and developed a complex culture of consumption around its use. The book traces this transformation over a period of five hundred years, asking who introduced opium to China and how it spread across all sections of society. Accompanied by a fascinating collection of illustrations, this study will appeal to students and scholars of history, anthropology, sociology, economics, and all those with an interest in China.The history of Opium in China begins in the mid-Ming dynasty, when as a tribute from vassal states, it was initially used as an aphrodisiac in the Ming court. The Chinese then began to collectively redefine the foreign recreational resource's usage and created a complex culture around its comsumption. This book traces the transformation over a period of five hundred years, revealing the nature of Opium's introduction and development in China as a universal cultural institution.1. 'The art of alchemists, sex and court ladies'; 2. As the Empire changed hands; 3. 'The age of calicos and tea and opium'; 4. 'A hobby among the high and the low and the officialdom'; 5. Taste-making and trend-setting; 6. The political redefinilCj