Mayer, Maisie, “Bagdadi Jewish Merchants in Shanghai and the Opium Trade” (1999)

Title : “Bagdadi Jewish Merchants in Shanghai and the Opium Trade”

Author(s) : Mayer, Maisie

Year : 1999

Type : Journal article

Subject : History

Keywords : social;culture;economy;foreigners

Journal : Jewish Culture and History

Volume : 2

Number : 1

Start page : 58

End page : 71

Language:Name : English

Support : Print

Abstract : The opium trade was legal within China between 1858 and 1917. Jewish entrepreneurs who had immigrated to China via India were deeply involved in the trade in this addictive, highly debilitating narcotic drug. Although plying a legitimate trade they were the targets of trenchant criticism, most notably from missionaries. Anti-opium groups spurred on by missionaries protested against the opium trade for reasons of ethics as well as fear that all trade with China might be stopped, as indeed had happened in 1839. This article focuses on the 19th-century background to the opium trade, the anti-opium movement, the British government's attitude to the Baghdadi merchants and the end of the opium trade.