Comment on Ban-opium Thought of Guo Songtao

Guo's ban-opium thought was delivered from his alive times and social experience. It was developed and deepened in his envoying abroad and educational experience in Changsha as a gentry. The ban-opium requirement of the officials and gentries was an important internal cause, while the ban-opium propagonda of some justice Englishmen was an external cause. In Guo's opinion, the opium which had brought about great disaster to Chinese should be banned, the opium trade should be restricted and suppressed by the government Ch'ing with the cooperation of the Britian.The method should be to prohibit from planting and smoking in China, while the opium tax and likin should be held with negotiation of British. In general, his thought was in contradiction with the reality, but it had some influences on both Ch'ing Dynasty's ban-opium policy and the opium trade policy between two countries. It had played an important role in modern ban-opium movement.