아편전쟁시기 (鴉片戰爭時期) ( 1839 ~ 1842 ) 중국 (中國)의 아편문제 (鴉片問題)

When the Qing was defeated by the British during the First Opium War, the opium which had been strictly banned during the nineteenth century, spread widely into the Chines society. Both the imports and the domestic growing of Opium increased. Opium smokers could purchase and consume Opium more freely than previously. In that sense, the Opium War was a significant turning-oint for the history of Opium in China. The increase of both imports and consumption of Opium was primarily due to the Chinese defeat, which drastically curtailed Qing`s efforts to ban Opium. However, a precursor of the changes in the Opium consumption also could be found in the Qing court`s measures against Opium during the war. Preoccupied with the war efforts, the Qing government greatly reduced its efforts to enforce the ban compared to the period before the War. During the late 1830`s Qing efforts to ban Opium scored a substantial success. But after the outbreak of the war, the Qing government could not vigorously continue the efforts. A change in the attitude toward the ban among the Mandarins accounts for a bigger portion of the failure. The Qing Officials, satisfied with the results of the enforcement at hand, increasingly showed a passive attitude toward the ban. They even attempted to ease the ban of Opium. These various conditions resulted in a major set back for the Qing`s Opium policies. The set back in the policies brought about an increase of Opium smugglers` activities, and which in turn caused Opium addicts to smoke the material more openly. The British and Chinese smugglers of Opium expanded their businesses during the War. The Chinese smugglers even armed themselves and defied the Qing government`s ban, which resulted in a shrink of the enforcement. From the middle of 1840, when Dinghai (定海) of the Zhushan (丹山) fell into the British hand, these changes became more apparent. Opium spread into all parts of China, including coastal area, inland, and even to the various parts of Xinjiang(新) Province. Especially after the five Treaty Ports opened to the West after the Opium War, the ports gradually became important Opium smuggling points and the whole China changed into an enormous market for Opium. After the defeat of the Opium War, China did not abolish the ban on Opium, nor vigorously enforce the ban. The Opium was no longer a problem the Qing government could solve. It became an social issue of an nature which civil activists could appeal to social enlightenment movements. The Opium problem in China moved into a new stage for the next two hundred years`s history of Opium in China.