Opium Culture: The Art and Ritual of the Chinese Tradition Review

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(More customer reviews)Peter Lee's Opium Culture - which just as its title says tells of more or less every single little detail that has to do with the Chinese opium culture - is an extremely thorough and detailed book. Well, is that a good or a bad thing? It's both, actually.
But let's start with what's good. Lee doesn't only describe opium the drug, but also the great importance it has had for especially Chinese culture (even though the Chinese definitely weren't the first ones to realize its narcotic and medicinal potentials; those things were known thousands of years before the Chinese caught on), how national and international politics have been affected by it, all the savage wars started because of it, and much, MUCH, more. The books is simply packed with interesting and often quite disturbing information, and Lee makes sure to give equal space to both the negative as well as the positive sides of opium use.
So, what's bad, then? Well, the fact that it from time to time becomes almost too detailed, especially the long and very thorough instructions on how to prepare the opium pipe, the different tools used and how to use them, what material they're made of, and so on.
But then again, Lee set out to paint a complete picture, and that's exactly what he did. However, it's quite likely that many people will be upset, since what he's talking about and describing is, after all, something that the Man has decided to be criminal. And many of those complaining will most likely accuse Lee of trying to make his readers into devoted opium smokers.
But that's not fair at all. And why not? Because Opium Culture has tons of information about the horrible aspects of drug addiction. Lee thinks anyone should be allowed to smoke, that much is true, but not without knowing exactly what they're getting themselves into. Most Westerners have a flawed take on how the use of opium was a part of Eastern traditions for many centuries (and still is), and I don't doubt for a second that people would be more than pissed off if they know the truth about opium politics and how the pharmaceutical companies in the West function.
In the end, Opium Culture is a true eye-opener with tons of history, politics, ethnology, anthropology, and more, and if you after reading it still want to accuse Peter Lee of being a junkie who got lost in the opium haze a long time ago, well, then you're just being narrow-minded and lacking a tolerance for cultures that happen to be different from our own.

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