The past few decades have seen growing interest in the study of the body. However, the increasing number of exciting and influential publications has primarily, if not exclusively, focused on the body in Western cultures. The various works produced by Asian scholars remain largely unknown to Western academic debates even though Asia is home to a host of rich body cultures and religions. The peoples of Asia have experienced colonization, decolonization, and now globalization, all of which make the 'body in Asia' a rewarding field of research. This unique volume brings together a number of scholars who work on East, Southeast and South Asia and presents original and cutting edge research on the body in various Asian cultures.

In a remarkable and broad-ranging narrative, Yangwen Zheng's book explores the history of opium consumption in China from 1483 to the late twentieth century. The story begins in the mid-Ming dynasty, when opium was sent as a gift by vassal states and used as an aphrodisiac in court. Over time, the Chinese people from different classes and regions began to use it for recreational purposes, so beginning a complex culture of opium consumption. The book traces this transformation over a period of five hundred years, asking who introduced opium to China, how it spread across all sections of society, embraced by rich and poor alike as a culture and an institution. The book, which is accompanied by a fascinating collection of illustrations, will appeal to students and scholars of history, anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, and all those with an interest in China.

While many books have focused on the production of opium and its political and economic importance, this is the first to consider the social and cultural implications of its consumption. The story begins in the mid-Ming dynasty, where it was a tribute from vassal states and used as an aphrodisiac in the Ming court. Collectively, the Chinese people of different classes and regions redefined a foreign way of recreation and developed a complex culture of consumption around its use. The book traces this transformation over a period of five hundred years, asking who introduced opium to China, how it spread across all sections of society, embraced by rich and poor alike as a culture and an institution. The book, which is accompanied by a fascinating collection of illustrations, will appeal to students and scholars of history, anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, and all those with an interest in China.

By examining how the Middle Kingdom has been portrayed by foreigners and the Chinese themselves, this volume advances a new perspective in our reading and interpretation of the Chinese past by placing these "producers" and "presenters" of China in the spotlight. The chapters probe how these figures produced or presented the country, cross-examining their backgrounds and circumstances. Their gaze upon the Middle Kingdom was dictated by religious and political conviction, but also particularly by the consumers of that gaze. Like invisible hands, "producers" and "consumers" of China continue to constrain representations of the country, looming larger than the literary, artistic or journalistic works they produce. This volume also addresses scholars of Europe and America who have overlooked what Western writers on China reveal about their own contexts - which is indeed often more than they reveal about their ostensible subject. As such, the Middle Kingdom serves as a convenient mirror to reflect European and American anxieties and ambitions.