My Chinese professor at the University of Illinois, Poshek Fu, taught us that opium was illegal in Britain and China when it was traded. He made no mention of the Chinese ban being discriminatory, nor did the textbook.
What book can I go to for the real story?
LB: What book can I go to for the real story?
Any comprehensive history of UK legislation should give you what you need. Here's a web reference:
1920. The passing of the Dangerous Drugs Act represents Britain's first formal drug legislation. It brings Britain into line with its obligations under the Hague Convention, and crystallises the proto-legislation contained in DORA 40b. The act imposed severe restrictions on the use and sale of raw opium and banned the importation of smoking opium; it rendered the manufacture, possession and supply of heroin, morphine and cocaine a criminal offence punishable by heavy fines and terms of imprisonment.
As to the relevant Chinese laws - here's an interesting passage from the same website:
1729. Imperial edict bans the importation of opium into China. Dutch, Portuguese and English ships were trading opium to China, where the opium habit was catching on in a big way. When the Chinese Emperor banned it, however, all that happened was that the price went up, encouraging more trade, and the practice continued to spread.
1799. Chinese emperor Jiaqing introduces total prohibition of the importation, cultivation and use of opium.
1839-1842. The first opium war is fought between Britain and China.
It is an instance of the 'gunboat diplomacy' school of foreign policy, in which British naval might is brought to bear against the antiquated military technologies of imperial China in order to defend the lucrative opium trade. Following the death by overdose of his son, the emperor had resolved to suppress the trade, which, though already prohibited under Chinese law, was thriving.
The commerce was centred upon the seaport of Canton, where vast quantities of opium were smuggled in more or less openly from British East India Company ships, corruption being prevalent amongst local officials. The appointment of a new opium commissioner, one Lin Zexu, signalled the intent of the authorities to end the trade, and when Lin carried out his threat to seize and destroy a large consignment of British opium at Canton, the outbreak of hostilities became inevitable.
The opium wars bring to an end the isolation of the ancient Chinese civilisation and introduce far-reaching social, economic and cultural transformations that will lead ultimately to its dissolution.
The total defeat of the Chinese forces led to the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, which, in addition to the imposition of heavy financial reparations, ceded the malarial fishing village of Hong Kong to Britain.
Notwithstanding Chinese protestations about the topic - and imperial edicts to the contrary, opium dens continued to be a part of Chinese life after it was officially banned. Offical Chinese outrage seems to have risen in proportion to the effects of opium *imports* on the balance of trade.
Counterfeit DVD's are technically illegal in China. But counterfeit DVD stores operate openly on every street. In China, some laws are more equal than others. Laws that persecute foreigners fall into that category. What China did was to go after the importers while leaving the locals alone. In theory, domestic opium was illegal. In practice, it was legal, in the sense that it wasn't ever seriously attacked until after the Communist victory in 1949.
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