A Study On Anti-smoking Drugs In Shanghai In The Early Republic(1911-1926)

Jonathan D.Spence once put forward:"Opium poisoning is a big issue." The opium problem is of great academic value.It is not only that the proliferation of opium drugs has had a wide and complex impact on modern China but also that it condenses various special contradictions in modern Chinese society.Since the late Qing Dynasty,opium has accompanied the entire modern society and brought great suffering to the Chinese nation,forcing successive governments to introduce some policies to ban drugs,and local civil organizations have also launched various forms of anti-smoking activities.Due to political corruption,the government’s own economic needs,concessions,gang forces,warlord melee and other factors,opium has never been banned,smuggling and crime still exist.As a window of modern China’s opening to the outside world,Shanghai is the same as the old and the new.It is also the hardest hit area for opium crimes,and it is also the most severe and representative place for drug control problems.After the establishment of the Nanjing Provisional Government,Sun Yat-sen set out to plan an anti-smoking and anti-drug campaign under the democratic regime,and made a lot of preparations for the anti-smoking and anti-drug campaign.The Beiyang government under Yuan Shikai’s administration basically continued Sun Yat-sen’s policy of resolutely banning smoking,and formulated some decrees and measures in more in-depth and specific manner,and carried out an effective ban on smoking and drug control across the country.During this period,the Chief Superintendent Chen Qimei of the Shanghai Navy Government responded positively to the central government and immediately issued an opium prohibition notice.On November 14,1913,the Shanghai Police Department’s specific "Rules for Prohibition of Opium"headed by Songhu Police Commissioner Mu Shuzhai.As a result,various departments in Shanghai launched a severe anti-smoking campaign.Shanghai Customs,Local Supervision Department,Songhu Police Department and other departments took multiple measures to confiscated and burned a large amount of smoke,and achieved relatively significant results.After Yuan Shikai’s death,the Beiyang warlords split into three major factions.The local warlords separatized one side,and the high-priced opium cigarettes became a very important financial pillar of the warlords.Although the central government still maintains an anti-smoking policy,local anti-smoking laws have gradually become political decorations.Under the pressure of international public opinion,the Beiyang government still took certain measures.However,due to the collusion between warlord forces and gangs,the results of the nationwide ban on smoking have been greatly damaged.In Shanghai,Anfu warlords,Chaozhou gang,and Qing gang established a new opium monopoly system,the concessions also became drug dens,and Shanghai once again fell into a drug crisis.At this time,with the increasing efforts of major newspapers and journals to promote anti-smoking and anti-drugs,and increasing awareness of citizens’ participation,some spontaneous mass anti-smoking and anti-drug groups began to play an important role in the anti-drug campaign.As the backbone of the Chinese National Anti-drug Association,the anti-smoking campaign in Shanghai is in full swing with various non-governmental organizations.From the late Qing Dynasty to the early days of the Republic of China,the Chinese government and the British government had repeatedly negotiated on the issue of the embargo on foreign medicines and the ban on indigenous medicines.In 1911,China and Britain signed the Sino-British ban on smoking conditions,stipulating that starting from January 1,1911,China will implement a reduction in crops every year in accordance with the treaty for seven years,and the ban will be completely banned by the end of 1917.During this period of time,due to the implementation of the anti-smoking policy of the National Government,the usual channels for opium trafficking were banned,the efforts of various provinces to prohibit anti-smoking measures and the strict control of customs,the operation of opium in Shanghai was increasingly restricted,and foreign merchants Driving up the price of opium,a large amount of soot deposits in the customs warehouse,leaving behind the problem of depositing land in Shanghai,this has also become an urgent problem of smoking ban after the establishment of the Republic of China.Opium dealers in China joined with the British Minister to impose explicit pressure and covert temptation on the Beijing government.The government basically insisted on the stance of opium embargo at the request of public opinion.Although it was shaken halfway,it tried to use the stockpiled medicine to make a profit.Under the influence of this kind of anti-smoking force,the land in Shanghai was destroyed.The anti-drug campaign is closely related to modern Chinese politics.Successive governments have used anti-drugs to build,consolidate,and demonstrate national hegemony.It is a consensus to ban smoking,but there are different answers and behaviors on how to ban smoking,which provides room for people with different motivations.Putting the anti-smoking drug movement under the special historical background of modern China,different groups will have multiple interpretations of the anti-smoking discourse.Therefore,since modern China is not an integrated country,the government is not strong,the economy is weak,and there are contradictions between smoking bans and smoking bans.Opium smoking could not be completely banned at that time.