University of British Columbia Press
Intoxicating Manchuria
About this book
In China, both opium and alcohol were used for centuries in the pursuit of health and leisure while simultaneously linked to personal and social decline. The impact of these substances is undeniable, and the role they have played in Chinese social, cultural, and economic history is extremely complex.
In Intoxicating Manchuria, Norman Smith reveals how warlord rule, Japanese occupation, and political conflict affected local intoxicant industries. These industries flourished throughout the early twentieth century, even as a vigorous anti-intoxicant movement raged. Through the lens of popular Chinese media depictions of alcohol and opium, Smith analyzes how intoxicants and addiction were understood in this society, the role the Japanese occupation of Manchuria played in their portrayal, and the efforts made to reduce opium and alcohol consumption. This is the first English-language book-length study to focus on alcohol use in modern China and the first dealing with intoxicant restrictions in the region.
Author / Editor information
Norman Smith is an associate professor in the History Department of the University of Guelph. He is the author of Resisting Manchukuo: Chinese Women Writers and the Japanese Occupation and co-editor of Beyond Suffering: Recounting War in Modern China.
Reviews
This is an extremely important book. Norman Smith makes major contributions both to the larger literature on global narcotics use, as well as to the study of the Manchukuo period of Asian history. He also brings to light valuable insights into the nagging question about Japan’s anti-opium policy: Why did Japanese officials in Manchukuo seem to promote opium, while simultaneously trying to curb its use?
James Carter, Chief Editor, Twentieth-Century China:
Intoxicating Manchuria is engaging, well written, and artfully argued. Norman Smith’s analysis of the role that alcohol played in Manchurian society is both intellectually stimulating and part of a fascinating narrative. It is social history at its best: explaining the ways that people lived their lives in the context of changing political regimes. I know no other book that does this for the region under study, or indeed for any region.
Topics
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Front Matter
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Contents
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List of Figures
vi -
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Acknowledgments
ix -
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Introduction
1 -
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Alcohol and Opium in China
8 -
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Manchurian Context
22 -
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Evaluating Alcohol
51 -
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Selling Alcohol, Selling Modernity
70 -
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Writing Intoxicant Consumption
93 -
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The Hostess Scare
111 -
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Reasoning Addiction, Taking the Cures
134 -
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The Opium Monopoly’s “Interesting Discussion”
169 -
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Conclusion
192 -
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Glossary
200 -
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Notes
219 -
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Bibliography
260 -
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Index
281 -
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Contemporary Chinese Studies
299
