"White Merchandise"

     "White merchandise" or "bely tovar" in Russian was the colloquial term used to refer to opium in Manchuria and Primorye, the Russian Far East.  In The Manchurian Tales I make reference to the "white merchandise"/"bely tovar" in several instances and devote a whole chapter with the title of "Bely Tovar."  The character in that chapter, Dima, is basically a small time opium dealer, of which there were many in Manchuria.  I made passing reference to Chiang Su Lin, the Chinese war lord as being a big time dealer.  His father Chiang  Tso Lin was also a big time opium dealer before he was assassinated by the Japanese.  The opium trade in that part of the world goes back a ways, first brought about by the British!  That is not to say that opium was unavailable or unknown in those parts until British introduced it.  Opium was first introduced into China somewhere around the 6th Century from the Middle East.  However, Chinese used opium primarily for medicinal purposes, although no doubt there were some who used it recreationally and became addicted.  Nevertheless, it was not widely available nor widely used.
     For those who are unaware, the British introduced opium into China in larger quantities starting around the 17th Century.  The British East India Company brought the opium from India/Pakistan/Afghanistan region and sold it or traded it for Chinese goods, mainly tea, silk, and porcelain items, none of which the European countries could produce at the time.  The more trading took place, the more opium was sold or dumped on China.  The Ching Dynasty government became alarmed and refused to accept opium into China and thus began the first Opium War which lasted from 1939 until 1842.  The Chinese lost, so the British continued to bring in opium, in larger and larger quantity.  Addiction became a major problem and the Chinese government once again objected and the second Opium War took place from 1856 to 1860.  In each war, the Chinese army was no match for the British troops, especially the navy which bombarded Chinese cities indiscriminately, killing thousands of civilians.  At the end of the second Opium War, China not only lost the war but gave up more concessions. Hong Kong was ceded to the British at the end of the first Opium War.  Around 1860, 25% of British Empire's GNP was derived from the opium trade, which the British grew in India/Pakistan/Afghanistan region and sold to China.  But the British were not the only ones that got rich from the opium trade.  Just about all of the major European nations were involved, and yes, America was involved as well.
     The fastest ships at that time were the so-called ".Yankee Clippers"  They could load the opium bundles at Indian ports and deliver them to China faster than any one else.  Most notably, the shipping company of Russel & Co. out of Boston, owned by Warren Delano, was the biggest participant on the American side.  There were many other American companies that were involved, but Delano and his Russel & Co benefited the most from the opium trade.  When a reporter questioned Delano on the legitimacy of the opium trade, he responded by saying that it was a "fair, honorable, and legitimate" business!  Warren Delano became one of the richest men in America, all from the opium trade.  He was, by the way, the grandfather of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was FDR's maternal grandfather.
     By the late 19th Century, opium started to appear from other regions, regions not controlled by the British and also grown in China itself.  The East India Company no longer had the monopoly and therefore, the British lost the dominance in opium trade.  Many farmers in China and outlying regions like Manchuria and Primorye in Russia discovered that growing opium was much more lucrative than trying to scratch out a living growing crops in a region that had a very short growing season.  Ironically opium grew quite well in Manchuria and Primorye, seemingly not bothered by the cold climate.  So, the whole business of opium trade shifted, instead of being imported, it was now homegrown.