The Social Life of Opium in China
- Hardback
- ISBN:9780521846080
- Publication date:October 2005
- 256pages
- 14 b/w illus. 2 maps 6 tables
- Dimensions: 228 x 152 mm
- Weight: 0.55kg
- (Z)
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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.