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The Opium Trade in Szechwan 1881 to 1911

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

S.A.M. Adshead
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Extract

This paper examines three aspects of the Opium trade in Szechwan from 1881, when for the first time there is evidence that China consumed as much native as foreign opium and that Szechwan was both the largest producer and consumer, until 1911, when the cultivation of the poppy was completely suppressed in the province as a result of the vigorous imperial campaign against the trade. It will consider first, the demand for opium who smoked it and why; second, the production of opium, how it fitted into and contributed toward the economy of the province; finally, the character of the suppression campaign of 1906–1911 as it affected Szechwan will be considered. The conclusions of the paper may be summarised as follows. (1) While the expansion of the opium habit in Szechwan, as in the rest of China, had no one cause, in Szechwan it has for its background a prospering society whose values and accepted goals had not kept pace with its economic expansion, a society which provided increasing wealth and leisure on the one hand, but only limited opportunities for socially approved spending on the other. (2) The rapid expansion of opium production in late nineteenth century Szechwan was part of the development of a market economy both within the province and in its relations with the rest of China. (3) The opium suppression campaign, because it undermined a developing economy, was much less popular in Western China than it was in the east, and contributed to the widespread unrest in those parts, which in turn led to the revolution of 1911.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian History , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , September 1966 , pp. 93 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1966

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References

1. Imperial Maritime Customs, Special Series No. 4: Opium 1881.

2. Quoted in Ping-ti, Ho: Studies on the Population of China 1368–1953, p. 143.Google Scholar

3. Hosie, A.: Three years in Western China, p. 86.Google Scholar

4. Imperial Maritime Customs. Decennial Report: 1892–1901. Vol. I. p. 169.

5. Quoted Royal Commission on Opium 1894–94. Vol. II. Appendix XII, p. 386.

6. China No. S (1904) Report by Consul-General Hosie on the Province of Ssuch'uan, p. 28.

7. Quoted Royal Commission on Opium 1894–95, Vol. II Appendix XII. p. 28.

8. Royal Commission on Opium 1894–95, Vol. V, Appendix XXVI p. 212

9. Ibid., p. 342.

10. Ibid., p. 247.

11. Ibid., p. 234.

12. Ibid., p. 342.

13. Imperial Maritime Customs. Decennial Reports, 1882–1891, p. 105.

14. Royal Commission on Opium 1894–95, Vol. V. p. 233.

15. Imperial Maritime Customs. Decennial Reports 1892–1901 Vol. I. p. 149.

16. See memorial of Tsung-t'ang, Tso quoted in China Review 1893–4, pp. 57–59Google Scholar. Also Arthur von Rosthorn. The Salt Administration of Szu ch'uan. Royal Asiatic Society. North China Branch 1892–93 and Imperial Maritime customs office series No. 81 salt: Production and Taxations. Chang report.

17. Hosie, A.: Three years in Western China, p. 200.Google Scholar

18. Imperial Maritime Customs. Decennial Reports 1892–1901, Vol. I. p. 136, also 1902–1911, Vol. I. p. 261.

19. Ibid., 1892–1906 Vol. I. p. 147.

20. Royal Commission on Opium 1894–95. Vol. II, Appendix XII, p. 387.

21. Imperial Maritime Customs. Decennial Reports 1892–1901, Vol. I. p. 154.

22. Ibid., p. 183.

23. China No. 3 (1909)Google Scholar Reports respecting the Opium Question in China p. 47.

24. For this paragraph see Royal Commission on Opium 1894–95, Vol. II, Appendix XII. Report by Consul Spence. Also Sly's report mentioned above.

25. China No. 5 (1904)Google Scholar Report by Consul General Hosie on the province of Ssuch'uan, p. 28.

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27. China No. 1 (1909)Google Scholar General Report by Sir Alexander Hosie respecting the opium question in China, p. I.

28. China No. 3 (1909)Google Scholar Reports respecting the opium question in China, p. 47.

29. Imperial Maritime Customs, Reports and Returns of Trade 1910, p. 291.

30. Ibid, 1911, p. 243.

31. China No. 1 (1908)Google Scholar Correspondence respecting the Opium Question in China, p. 40. Report by Mr. Leech.

32. China No. I (1911)Google Scholar Despatches from Sir Alexander Hosie. There was widespread rioting at the same time in Yunnan. Resistance reached its peak after the revolution. In January 1913 Reuters in Szechwan reported “serious fighting between farmers and troops who had been detailed for suppression duty” and in Fukien a bandit leader styling himself the Ming Pretender protected poppy fields against republican forces for six dollars an acre. See China No. 2 (1913) pages 1 & 5.

33. Imperial Maritime Customs. Reports and Returns of Trade, 1911, p. 239.

34. China No. 1 (1912)Google Scholar Correspondence respecting the affairs, p. 8.

35. China No. 3 (1912)Google Scholar Further correspondence respecting the affairs of China, pp. 45 & 46.

36. Imperial Maritime Customs. Reports and Returns of Trade, 1912, p. 253.