True old photos of Chinese people smoking opium in the late Qing Dynasty

China was once the country most harmed by drugs. In history, there has never been a commodity that has brought the Chinese nation a serious disaster like opium. Through a group of photos, we learned about the opium smoking scene of the people at that time

In the 1600s, the Dutch introduced North American Indian pipes and tobacco leaves into China through Taiwan, and China began to have smokers. The extent of it frightened China’s rulers, and Emperor Chongzhen ordered that smoking be banned. Because someone once mixed opium with tobacco for smoking, unexpectedly, the ban on tobacco led to the proliferation of pure opium smoking. It was not until the mid-18th century that Huang Yupu, an official of the Qing Dynasty, recorded for the first time the specific process of Taiwanese opium consumption. He asserted that there was no law against opium addicts except to kill them

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, China’s economic development was still in a state of self-reliance. Not only that, the goods produced in China were popular with foreigners in international trade. In order to open the Chinese market, the British began to transport opium to China for sale, and induced the Chinese to smoke opium& nbsp;
<br, The so-called“ A swarm of bees” Phenomenon& nbsp;

In 1880, a London publishing house issued a copy entitled“ Opium users” ‘s report, subtitled“ The opium trade has brought disaster to China;. In the eyes of the British, opium smoking is similar to alcoholism, but its harm is far greater than alcoholism. The report quotes Mr. Wade, who once lived in Beijing. In 1871, Wade wrote in the British Government Blue Book:; In my opinion, opium smoking by the Chinese is no different from excessive drinking by the British, which is extremely harmful. Opium not only dissipates people’s wealth, but also has no radical cure. The moral character and physical fitness of every opium smoker are constantly declining. However, opium is more harmful than alcohol because there is no evidence that alcoholism is notorious& rdquo; It can be seen that the real harm of opium smoking lies in the destruction of the body, morality and reputation

中国曾经是受毒品危害最大的国家，历史上，从来没有一种商品像鸦片那样给中华民族带来深重灾难。我们通过一组照片，了解当时民众吸食鸦片的场景。

大约1600年代，荷兰人通过台湾把北美印第安人的烟斗连同烟叶传入中国，中国开始有吸烟者。其广泛程度令中国的统治者恐慌，崇祯皇帝下令禁烟。因为曾经有人把鸦片混入烟草吸食，始料不及的是，烟草被禁却导致了吸食纯鸦片的泛滥。直至18世纪中叶的清朝官员黄喻普才首次记录了台湾人吸食鸦片的具体过程。他断言：除了杀掉吸食鸦片者，否则无法令其戒除恶习。

清朝初期，中国经济发展还处于自力更生的状态，不仅如此，中国生产的商品在国际贸易上深受外国人的喜欢，为了打开中国市场，英国人开始把鸦片运输到中国贩卖，并引诱中国人吸食鸦片。 

鸦片刚输入中国的时候还算价格还算比较昂贵，一般普通老百姓还买不起鸦片，只有那些有权有势的有钱人才能买得起，因为鸦片能给人带来一时的享受，所以吸鸦片就成了一种社会流行的生活方式，这种生活方式在较短的时期内到处可见，从而导致了人们彼此之间发生连锁性的感染，即所谓的“一窝蜂”现象。 

1880年，伦敦一家出版社印发了一份题为“鸦片吸食者”的报告，副标题为“鸦片贸易给中国带来的灾难”。在英国人看来，抽吸鸦片近似于酗酒，但其危害远甚于酗酒。报告援引了曾生活于北京的韦德先生的表述。1871年，韦德在《英国政府蓝皮书》中写道：“在我看来，中国人吸食鸦片，无异于英国人酗酒，都极具危害性。鸦片不仅使人散尽家财，还没有根治的法子。每个鸦片吸食者的道德品行和身体素质，都在持续性下降。不过，鸦片的危害甚于酒精，因为没有证据表明，酗酒会令人臭名昭著。”可见，吸食鸦片的真正危害在于败坏身体，毁灭道德和名声。