眾所周知，鴉片向來是中國近代史研究的重大議題之一。而談論到鴉片，通常最先被人們所聯想到、被記憶銘刻的，不外乎是1840年（道光二十年）那場改變中國歷史進程的「鴉片戰爭」──這場戰爭同時也標誌著近代中國一連串苦難的開始。為什麼同樣作為重要的經濟商品，「茶葉」之於美國是帶來解放的福音，象徵著對殖民帝國的反抗、建國的開始；而在中國，「鴉片」卻反而成為帝國主義侵略的同義詞？這樣的社會記憶究竟從何而來？ 本研究跳脫既有的「毒品」言說框架，利用了官方檔案、時人論述、報章文集和通俗文學等史料，試圖以此重建晚清同光年間（1874〜1906年）人們對鴉片觀的轉變歷程，並探討了支撐這些鴉片觀背後的思想和時代氛圍。希冀藉由此方式，得以讓我們對近代中國「（藥物意義的）鴉片如何成為（毒品意義的）鴉片？」能有更為冷靜、客觀的認識外；同時，也可以從另一個有別於傳統政治、經濟的角度，來了解近代中國在邁入現代化的過程中，經歷了怎樣的文化衝擊和心態轉變。 Everybody knows that opium is always an important issue in modern history studies of China. While we discuss about opium, the first image of opium come to our mind and the deepest impression is the “Opium War（1840〜1842）”. The Opium War not only changed the modern history of China, but also symbolized the modern China starting suffering a series of distress. Opium and tea are both the economical products. In America, tea symbolizes resisting the colonization empire and founding states. But the crux is that opium is a synonym with imperialism invasion in China. Where does the social recollection come from？ The study skips over the statement with “drugs”. Using official files, discourses at that time, articles in newspapers, and general literature. By using these materials try to reconstruct the changing progress of people’s viewpoint about opium. The study also discusses what kind of thoughts and atmosphere supporting the viewpoint of opium. We can calmly and objectively comprehend that how the opium image changed. Opium’s image was in the meaning of pharmaceutical in the beginning and became associated with drugs in meaning in the end. On the other hand, we can understand China undergoing what kind of culture impact and mentality change in the modern progress from a different point of view. Except for traditionally political and economical view.
