Opium first began as an offshoot of tobacco smoking. After tobacco had been introduced to China it eventually became a cash crop. Portuguese had originally hoped to ship Brazilian tobacco to China but it quickly became a national habit and was grown in fields outside major cities walls. Very early evidence of opium smoking goes back as far as 1617, but first real significant appearances don’t occur until 1723-1724, when the smoking of opium mixed with plants or tobacco is described. Charles de Constant discusses what he calls widespread smoking or opium and tobacco in Cant

In 1887 the governor of Taiwan was giving opium tax money to cover all naval and military expenses. Tax money was used to buy, develop, and produce all sorts of weapons of war and defense.

People and officials where linked in that they both had a desire to make money off of opium. A general problem became that opium was routine, part of everyday life and officials needed the money and did not want to bother the people they ruled. The drug that had once been thought of as a poison was now being treated and traded like rice. People who had formerly pushed for moral ban on opium were now proposing ways in which to spend opium tax dollars.

J. L. Buck discovered that peasants’ post 1870’s smoked as much as ¼ of the total product they produced. But as the growing of opium at least doubled the cash/acre than other crops it was not a loss to the peasants to smoke that much. Also opium could be planted when and where other crops could not.

The Qing emperor did not take action to stop the spread of addiction until early 19th century when the problem became apparent in court. In 1813 there where a number of palace guards who smoked. Directors of the Imperial Household investigate in 1831 and discover that a large number of senior eunuchs smoke, some had been doing so for 20-30 years, and some smoked with members of the Manchu imperial clan. After sections of costal regions armies where sent to mountainous regions to fight rebels, and after the army kept losing to the rebels it was discovered that parts of the army where so addicted that they where incapable of combat.

Taxes on opium were allowed to take place along side all other taxations. First import tax began at 12 tael/chest in 1856. 1858 saw the British and Chinese agree to taxation of imports at 30 tael per picul. Following this was debates over inland taxation. Chinese wanted 12.5%, while the British wanted only 7.5%, therefore it was agreed to be set at 10% although it was never implemented. 30 taels were being paid for import and 80 taels were paid for no further inland taxes in 1885, which resulted in 5,500,000 taels going to the Chinese government. In 1887 a tax was placed on domestic opium of 45 taels per picul. Revenue potential of domestic opium grew to the point where in 1891 a system of dues was set which allowed central government to start collecting revenue off of it.

Some topics in this essay:
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