The history of Opium in China begins in the mid-Ming dynasty, when as a tribute from vassal states, it was initially used as an aphrodisiac in the Ming court. The Chinese then began to collectively redefine the foreign recreational resource's usage and created a complex culture around its comsumption. This book traces the transformation over a period of five hundred years, revealing the nature of Opium's introduction and development in China as a universal cultural institution.