The Social Life of Opium in China

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, Sep 8, 2005 - History - 241 pages
In a remarkable and broad-ranging narrative, Yangwen Zheng's book explores the history of opium consumption in China from 1483 to the late twentieth century. The story begins in the mid-Ming dynasty, when opium was sent as a gift by vassal states and used as an aphrodisiac in court. Over time, the Chinese people from different classes and regions began to use it for recreational purposes, so beginning a complex culture of opium consumption. The book traces this transformation over a period of five hundred years, asking who introduced opium to China, how it spread across all sections of society, embraced by rich and poor alike as a culture and an institution. The book, which is accompanied by a fascinating collection of illustrations, will appeal to students and scholars of history, anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, and all those with an interest in China.
 

Contents

VI
10
VII
25
VIII
41
IX
56
X
71
XI
87
XII
101
XIII
116
XV
146
XVI
164
XVII
186
XVIII
203
XIX
208
XX
223
XXI
225
XXII
237

XIV
131

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2005)

Zheng Yangwen is a Research Fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore. She received her PhD from Cambridge University in 2001.

Bibliographic information