Drugging a Nation: The Story of China and the Opium Curse

by Samuel Merwin

These chapters were originally published during 1907 and 1908 in Success Magazine. Though frankly journalistic in tone, the book presents something more than the hasty conclusions of a journalist. During its preparation the author travelled around the world, inquiring into the problem at first hand in China and in England, reading all available printed matter which seemed to bear in any way on the subject, and interviewing several hundred gentlemen who have had special opportunities to study the problem from various standpoints. The writing was not begun until this preliminary work was completed and the natural conclusions had become convictions in the author's mind.

In September, 1906, an edict was issued from the Imperial Court at Peking which states China's predicament with vigour.

"The cultivation of the poppy," runs the edict, in the authorized translation, "is the greatest iniquity in agriculture, and the provinces of Szechuen, Shensi, Kansu, Yunnan, Kweichow, Shansi, and Kanghuai abound in its product, which, in fact, is found everywhere. Now that it is decided to abandon opium smoking within ten years, the limiting of this cultivation should be taken as a fundamental step ... opium has been in use so long by the people that nearly three-tenths or four-tenths of them are smokers."

"Three-tenths or four-tenths" of the Chinese people, --one hundred and fifty million opium-smokers--mean three or four times the population of Great Britain, a good many more than the population of the United States!

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

Associate editor of Orison Swett Marden's Success Magazine 1905-09 and editor 1909-11.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if China had never been subjected to "agree" to consume opium? History would have been so different. Opium severely weakened China. The author is clear in saying that the British Empire forced opium upon China, to keep the finances of India afloat, to fund the British Empire, and the British believed that the Chinese were never sincere in their claim that they did not want opium, although the author, a British journalist visiting China to learn more about the problem in the early 1900's, provides numerous evidence to the contrary. Also, imagine all the fertile land not producing rice, wheat, etc. because it has to produce opium, and thereby drawing down all the resources that can provide nutrition, strength, and energy for its children and men who need to fight in battle. And just reading about the fact that houses in the province of Shanxi back in the time period of the author's writing were some of the finest in the country, yet witnessed visible damage such as stripped wood, missing tiles, etc. not due to normal wear and tear, but due to their owners having to gradually sell parts of their houses to fund their opium habit until their entire house was gone...what could be more destructive than that? Well worth the read and the author's empathy for the Chinese is strong, and his humor and wit are palpable throughout. The Kindle version at http://www.amazon.com/Drugging-Nation... is free.

[Sotiris Makrygiannis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather good book about how "Christian" values of the west Indian company drugged a nation. Hong Kong was given to UK as result of the opium wars and other interesting details why the Chinese are afraid of western interference. Is because of our western actions that today they live in Communist regime, is our fault

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an interesting and eye-opening look at China in the late nineteenth century. It's amazing how since those days when its population was more or less debilitated with opium addiction, it has risen to become one of the most potentially threatening nations in the world.

[Ardyth]

Interesting until Chapter 4, when the "inscrutable Chinese" crap started up along with nonsense about cranium shape.

[Stephen Mead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant read. If you want to understand the current Chinese stance on Hong Kong, read this book, then do some further reading on the Opium Wars. Written just over a hundred years ago, it is staggering to think how much things have changed in the time since.

[Danielle Cozzola · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you can ignore/disregard the racist and outdated scientific beliefs🙄, then there is some decent information here about political, economic, and crop history. Thank you, YouTube for having this available as an audiobook.

[Iami Menotu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems like good investigative journalism

[Susan Molloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

🔹Published in 1907. “These chapters were originally published during 1907 and 1908 in Success Magazine.”

🖊️ Quite dry reading, but interesting nevertheless.


🔵Project Gutenberg.

🟣Kindle.

[Ties · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good impression of the impact of opium and the opium war on china up until the 20th century. It is also a pamphlet against the use of opium in China and the support of it by western nations.

[Edmund Bloxam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a journalist's expose and reads like it, like one of those rushed out books that come out. It thus leans sometimes too heavily on idle thinking, rather than actual revelation.

But, for the most part, this is a complete and detailed expose on the British Government's culpability in the virtual destruction of China by the deliberate 'enslavement' of its people to opium.
(Although the books was written in the 1910s, the result of this was the collapse of the last Chinese dynasty, a weak and feeble republic ripe for Japanese invasion, followed by civil war and the establishment of ongoing dictatorship).
The tragedy of this amoral way of funding an Empire, (India), is aptly described in detail. If I remember my facts correctly, over 90% of people in China smoked opium by the end of the nineteenth century. And this slow death was all entirely deliberate.

I have read this book for audio format on librivox.org. Check out my lilting (and slightly outraged) tones.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book which gives first hand insight into the opium problem in 19th century China. It was written in 1907 so you will not learn how it all ends. But if you want a first hand account of what it was like in China at the turn of the century this is a great book.

[Simon Beechinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers some understanding as to the initial source of Chinese distrust of the west today (that was subsequently magnified by our attitude towards them in the period 1930-47). This is a grotesque story and we have but ourselves to blame.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting... who knew there was such a close link between the British Empire, India, China and Opium.

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bittersweet story of how the "most nearly christian" country of all persistently trafficked the "foreign dirt" to China, until the dragon fell for it. a good read.

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting and gives a lot of context to the issue.

[Luís Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

(lido em Chengdu, China)