A QUESTÃO DO TRÁFICO DO ÓPIO NA HISTÓRIA DE MACAU
This article analyzes the historical evolution of the opium trade in China, highlighting the central role of Macao as the main commercial and logistical hub for this commodity between the 16th and 19th centuries. The author describes the transition of opium from a strictly medicinal substance—docume...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
July 2002
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40003/2683 |
| Summary: | This article analyzes the historical evolution of the opium trade in China, highlighting the central role of Macao as the main commercial and logistical hub for this commodity between the 16th and 19th centuries. The author describes the transition of opium from a strictly medicinal substance—documented since the Tang and Ming dynasties—to a mass-consumed recreational drug. It is argued that the introduction of new methods of consumption by European powers, namely Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, was decisive for this transformation. Macao, as the first Western trading post on Chinese soil, served as a fundamental strategic base that facilitated the entry of opium from India, anticipating by decades the commercial dynamics that would culminate in the Opium War. The study further examines the early attempts at regulation and taxation by the Ming and Qing authorities, as well as the sociopolitical factors that enabled the rapid spread of addiction among various classes of Chinese society. In summary, the text underscores the importance of Macao in the diplomacy and transnational economy of opium, positioning the city as a central axis in Luso-Chinese relations and in the devastating social impact caused by the drug trade in the late pre-colonial period. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |