ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to widen the area of debate by developing certain themes that show opium smoking as a phenomenon that radically affected all levels of Chinese society. Opium was highly regarded in China, both as a medicinal drug and as an aphrodisiac. Merchants sometimes smoked because they believed opium sharpened their wits and helped them to drive shrewder business deals with their competitors. The habit of opium smoking in China was an offshoot and development of tobacco smoking. an described opium smoking as being a harmful trap, set by the barbarians in Taiwan to ensnare Han Chinese: neophytes were given free meals and free opium at first, but once they were hooked they were made to pay. The vagueness of this data has led to an understandable imprecision about who was smoking what and when, and has even led some students to reject the data altogether.
