Unacceptable but Indispensable: Opium Law and Regulations in Guangdong, 1912-1936

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

During most of the period from 1912 to 1936, Guangdong Province was independent from the central government. The local authorities there were facing a dilemma regarding opium, as others were elsewhere in China. On the one hand, opium was considered the symbol of China’s weakness, and its suppression was a top priority; on the other hand, opium taxes represented an indispensable source of fiscal income. Some Guangdong power holders were truly committed to a suppression agenda, especially from 1913 to 1924. During this period, with the exception of a brief interlude from 1915 to 1916, opium laws were prohibition laws. Even if these laws were not always enforced with full vigor, the drug remained illegal in Guangdong. After 1924, opium was legalized, and the authorities openly ruled an opium monopoly. They came out with increasingly comprehensive regulations, which proved successful in increasing opium revenues. Yet, as this article makes clear, there was nothing like direct government control: traditional tax-farming arrangements with local opium merchants (though under stricter supervision) remained the backbone of the monopoly. The article also pays attention to the influence of the Six-Year Plan (1935–1940) launched by the Nanking government. As a credible set of suppression laws, it appealed to the Guangdong progressive elites who were hostile to opium. They urged the local autocrat Chen Jitang to take similar action. Chen made attempts to launch his own plans for suppressing opium, but they were unconvincing and nothing concrete came out of them. This article suggests that, in order to obtain a better understanding of how easily Chen Jitang was driven out of power in the summer of 1936, it is necessary to take into account the significant contribution of the Six-Year Plan in undermining his legitimacy.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 Yu Ende, "Zhongguo jinyan faling bianqian shi [The changing history of opium prohibition legislation in China]" Zhonghua shuju 1934

2 Wang Jinxiang, "Zhongguo jindu shi [History of drugs prohibition in China]" Shanghai renmin chubanshe 2005

3 "Yuehuabao 越華報"

4 Zhu Qingbao, "Yapian yu jindai zhongguo [Opium and modern China]" Jiangsu jiaoyu chubanshe 1995

5 "Xianggang gongshang ribao 香港工商日報"

6 "Who’s Who in China" The China Weekly Review 1931

7 Lin, Alfred, "Warlord, Social Welfare and Philanthropy: The Case of Guangdong under Chen Jitang, 1929–1936" 30 (30): 151-198, 2004

8 Xu, Xiaoqun, "Trial of Modernity: Judicial Reform in Early Twentieth-Century China" Stanford University Press 2008

9 Burton, Wilbur, "Tin and opium in the economy of Yunnan" 148-, 1933

10 So, Wai-chor, "The Kuomintang Left in the National Revolution, 1924–1931" Oxford University Press 1931

11 Tran, Lisa, "The Concubine in Republican China: Social Perception and Legal Construction" 28 : 119-149, 2009

12 Baumler, Alan, "The Chinese and Opium under the Republic: Worse than Floods and Wild Beasts" State University of New York Press 2007

13 May, Herbert, "Survey of Opium Smoking Conditions in the Far East" Opium Research Committee of the Foreign Policy Association 1927

14 "South China Morning Post (SCMP)"

15 Hill, Emily, "Smokeless Sugar: The Death of a Provincial Bureaucrat and the Construction of China’s National Economy" University of British Columbia Press 2010

16 Hosoi Hajime, "Shina o mite daia yûki [Looking at China: A travelogue of Greater Asia]" Seikeidô 1919

17 Bastid-Bruguière, Marianne, "Seiyô kindai bunmei to Chûka sekai [Modern Western culture and the Chinese world]" Kyôto daigaku gakujutsu shuppankai 41-54, 2001

18 "Renjianshi 人間世"

19 Burton, Wilbur, "Remembered Days in Canton" 234-, 1933

20 Bourgon, Jérôme, "Realms of Freedom in Modern China" Harvard University Press 84-112, 2004

21 Favier, Jean, "Philippe le Bel" Fayard 1978

22 Slack, Edward., "Opium, State and Society: China’s Narco-Economy and the Guomindang, 1924–1937" University of Hawai’i Press 2001

23 Paulès, Xavier, "Opium in the City : A Spatial Study of Guangzhou’s Opium Houses, 1923–1936" 35 (35): 495-526, 2009

24 Marshall, Jonathan, "Opium and the Politics of Gangsterism in Nationalist China, 1927–1945" 8 : 19-48, 1976

25 "National archives no. 2 (Nanjing, China)Series 679 (maritime customs), file 32409"

26 Harrison, Henrietta, "Narcotics, Nationalism and Class in China: The Transition from Opium to Morphine and Heroine in Early Twentieth-century Shanxi" 32/33 : 151-176, 2006

27 "Minguo ribao 民國日報"

28 Statistical Department of the Inspectorate General of Customs, "Maritime Customs, Returns of trade, and trade reports for the year 1914"

29 Rhoads, Edward, "Manchus and Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861–1928" University of Washington Press 1928

30 Duan Yunzhang, "Li you zhengyi de Chen Jiongming [Chen Jiongming: A controversial figure]" Zhongshan daxue chubanshe 2006

31 Paulès, Xavier, "La lutte contre l’opium, panacée politique pour le Guomindang?" 95 : 193-217, 2007

32 Archives du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, "La Courneuve, France)Série Asie, 1918–1929"

33 "Judu zhoukan 拒赌周刊"

34 "Judu yuekan 拒毒月刊"

35 "Jinyandu zhuankan 禁煙賭專刊"

36 "Jinyan jinian tekan 禁煙紀念特刊"

37 "Jinyan banyuekan禁煙半月刊"

38 Wang Hongbin, "Jindu shijian [A historical examination of drugs prohibition]" Yuelu sushe 1997

39 Chi, Wen-hsun, "Ideological Conflicts in Modern China: Democracy and Authoritarianism" University of California 1986

40 "Huazi ribao 華字日報"

41 "Huaguobao華國報"

42 Paulès, Xavier, "Histoire d’une drogue en sursis: L’opium à Canton, 1906–1936" Éditions de l’EHESS 2010

43 Yang Zhesheng, "Guomindang jinrong zhi fu: Song Ziwen [The father of the Guomindang’s finances: Song Ziwen]" Shanghai renmin chubanshe 2001

44 "Guomindang Guangdongsheng dangbu Jinyandu zhuankan"

45 Wu Xiangheng, "Guangzhoushi zhengxie wenshiziliao yanjiuyuanhui, Nantian suiyue, Chen Jitang zhu yue shiqi jianwen shilu [The years in the south: A record of Guangdong province under Chen Jitang’s rule]" Guangdong renmin chubanshe 325-333, 1987

46 Chen Dayou, "Guangzhou wenshi ziliao [Historical materials of Guangzhou], vol. 9" Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshang huiyi, Guangdongsheng Guangzhoushi weiyuanhui wenshi ziliao yanjiu weiyuanhui 118-131, 1963

47 "Guangzhou minguo ribao 廣州民國日報"

48 Wei Gong, "Guangzhou duhai fantan, shanpiao, baigepiao [The gambling scourge in Canton: Fantan, shanpiao and baigepiao]" Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshang huiyi, Guangdongsheng Guangzhoushi weiyuanhui wenshi ziliao yanjiu weiyuanhui 9 : 62-94, 1963

49 "Guangdong qunbao 廣東群報"

50 "Guangdong gongbao 廣東公報"

51 "Guangdong Archives (Guangdong, China)Series 2"

52 "Guangdong Archives (Guangdong, China) Series 95"

53 "Gouvernement général de l’Indochine (GGI), file 65400"

54 Zhonghua guomin juduhui, "Fandui yapian gongmai yanlun ji [A collection of opinions to oppose an opium monopoly]" 1931

55 Huang, Philip, "Code, Custom, and Legal Practice in China: The Qing and the Republic Compared" Stanford University Press 2001

56 Bernhardt, Kathryn, "Civil Law in Qing and Republican China" Stanford University Press 1994

57 Jarman, Robert L., "China, Political Reports 1911–1960" Intelligence report of the Canton Consul for the quarter ending 1922

58 "China Weekly Review"

59 Chen, Leslie H. Dingyan, "Chen Jiongming and the Federalist Movement: Regional Leadership and Nation Building in Early Republican China" University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies 1999

60 Remick, Elizabeth, "Building Local States: China during the Republican and Post-Mao Eras" Harvard University Asia Center 2004

61 Kirby, William, "Becoming Chinese: Passages to Modernity and Beyond" University of California Press 137-160, 1937

62 Wei Gong, "Bashi nian lai Guangdong de ‘jin du’ he kaidu [Prohibition and legalization of gambling during the last eighty years in Guangdong]" Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshang huiyi, Guangdongsheng weiyuanhui wenshi ziliao yanjiu weiyuanhui 16 : 103-118, 1964

63 Fitzgerald, John, "Awakening China: Politics, Culture, and Class in the Nationalist Revolution" Stanford University Press 1996

64 Chereparov, A. I., "As Military Adviser in China" Progress Publishers 1982

65 "Archives d’Outre-Mer (OM)"

66 Ma Mozhen, "1729–1949 Zhongguo jindu shi ziliao [Archival materials on the history of drug prohibition in China]" Tianjin renmin chubanshe 1998

67 Archives du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, "(Nantes, France)Pékin, Série A"

68 Archives du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, "(La Courneuve, France) Série Asie, 1930–1940"

69 Foreign Office, "(Kew, England)FO 371: Political Departments: General Correspondence from 1906–1966"

70 Foreign Office, "(Kew, England)FO 228: Consulates and Legation"

71 Foreign Office, "(Kew, England) FO 415: Confidential Print Opium, reprinted as The Opium Trade 1910–1941, Scholarly resources, 6 vols"