Primary Source Document 7.1- Memorial on Legalizing Opium, June 10, 1836
In this memorial, Xu Naiji, sub-director of the Court of Sacrificial Worship in Peking addresses the throne on the topic of opium and the opium trade. In his letter, he urges the emperor towards legalizing opium and allowing for its trade, arguing that the repercussions of banning the use and trade of opium would inevitably hurt China and it’s economy. Naiji makes a whole-hearted argument that a trade ban would be a tragic loss for the growth of China and the countries it trades with. He proposes instead that China revert to it’s former system of allowing the barbarian merchants to import opium directly to hong merchants and pay duty on it as a medicine. He added that no money should be used to pay for it, only other merchandise. He then goes on to talk about punishments that should be administered to the Chinese commoners and officials for breaking any new laws. This part of the document ties in well with some of the themes present throughout our textbook.
As seen in various chapters of the textbook, corruption within the levels of the Qing government was a recurring theme and issue throughout the reigns of many of the emperors. These signs of corruption are also prevalent in Xu Naiji’s memorial to the throne. For a court official in a country where opium is so frowned upon by the government, Naiji seems to know quite a bit about opium and takes a fairly soft approach to the issue of banning it. In addition he knows quite a bit about all of the different strains of opium being imported to China and their street values. Knowing that many of China’s government officials were also addicted to the drug, it could be very possible that Naiji was a user himself, trying to persuade the Qing government to legalize it for his own personal advantage. As I stated previously, more evidence towards this claim is seen in Naiji’s idea of punishment for government officials caught breaking one of his proposed opium laws. He opts for minimal punishment towards these officials, claiming that they should lose their position in the government, but face no other penalties. It is highly likely that Naiji was a corrupt government official trying to persuade the emperor for his own benefit.
(Au: kyleross)
