The Social Life of Opium in China
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:8th Sep '05
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£75.00(9780521846080)
This book traces the transformation of opium from medicine to narcotic over a period of five hundred years.
Tracing the transformation of opium from medicine to narcotic over a period of five hundred years, asking who introduced opium to China, how it spread across all sections of society. Accompanied by a fascinating collection of illustrations, this study offers a vivid and alternative perspective on life in China.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.
'A forthcoming book by Yangwen Zheng, The Social Life of Opium (Cambridge University Press) makes a perfect complement to this one, as it concentrates much more on the 1500-1911 period …'. History Today
ISBN: 9780521608565
Dimensions: 229mm x 153mm x 20mm
Weight: 415g
256 pages