In Poppy Tears

The first Chinese opium war

The British gunboat Nemesis, commanded by Lieutenant William Hall, destroying Chinese war junks in Anson’s Bay on Jan 7, 1841.  This image is in the public domain, and can be seen at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Opium_War - mediaviewer/File:Destroying_Chinese_war_junks,_by_E._Duncan_(1843).jpg.

 

In Poppy Tears

 

"There were opium dens where one could buy oblivion, dens of horror where the memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that were new"
--Oscar Wilde--The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891).

 

In poppy tears they spent their lives--

In drug-numbed sleep they lay

The outside world so desperate

They swept those woes away

With all their strength they faced the world--

They did their very best

But outside world was harsh and cold

And poppy’s smoke sole rest

 

In poppy tears they cry in dreams--

They’ll trade in woe one day

They know but now a fantasy

Life’s demons held at bay

 

     *****     *****

 

It was the year of thirty nine

The nineteenth century

The British Empire ruled the world

And ‘ thirsty for its tea¹

 

But China would not trade with them

Silver the single plum

With Spanish coin, pieces of eight

With only this, tea won

 

She was quite meek, her name Min Lan

The daughter of the cook

Oh, how her house had come to ruin

And how with tears she shook

 

For father Bai, the pure, did fall

To opium’s delight

Her brothers, too, both Xing and Zhi

Held by the drug’s sheer might

Trade needs a different currency

Ah, use addiction’s grip

Through greed and drug dependency

All wealth from China strip

 

“Disgrace and Sin,” said Eliot²--

A horrid, vile trade

He did his best to end traffic

With disrespect was paid

 

Now all the day she did the work

Her family not there

For opium, that pipe they’d smoke

Their world had not a care

 

And after days, she’d have to go

And get her family

She’d feed them well and clean them up

And also pay their fees

 

Dauguang, the emperor, banned it, too

Appointing Lin Zexu³

In Guangzhou now the trade was stopped

And British tension grew

 

And twenty thousand chests were seized

Each more ‘ a hundred pounds

At Chuanbi the chests destroyed

Then flushed to ocean sounds

 

Oh what a life of pain she lived

And worse, there was no hope

For every day the same she’d see

More tears, then try to cope

 

Drug merchants came into her shop

They knew she was alone

And rude remarks they threw at her

Compassion never shown

 

In England and ‘ United States

The people were outraged

They read the news on printed page

And prayed they’d not engage⁴

 

In Parliament, Lord Palmerston

By Gladstone is denounced

This “unjust and iniquitous”

The Viscount thus was trounced

 

And when they left she sighed relief

She knew it could be worse

She cried more tears, she calmed her fears

Scenarios rehearsed

 

Under the desk hid butcher’s knife

Meat cleaver by the light

More weapons hid around the house

She hid them out of sight

 

The shallow drafted Nemesis⁵

With strong, thick iron sides

With canon and its rockets dire

It was the British pride!

 

It would steam up the river mouth

Nothing could block its way

And junks were sunk and forts destroyed

The British held all sway

She knew it only would be time

Before they came for her

They’d grab and throw her on the floor

A fate she’d not endure

 

And days did pass, then weeks and months

With fear she filled the time

With no one here to give her help

Could she avoid this crime?

In ’41 the Boque⁶ forts fall

To canon and marines

Then Guangzhou⁷ falls in but one day

This city now the Queen’s

 

Late ’42 the war was won

This Pottinger’s⁸ fair prize

And then Unequal Treaty⁹ signed

This justice?  No just lies!

 

In August came that fateful day

Humidity and heat

Then several men called out at her

Stood drinking in the street

 

And then the men came through the door

And pulled it closed, behind

With loud and evil laughter shook

And then pulled down the blinds

 

     *****     *****

In poppy tears they spent their lives--

In drug-numbed sleep they lay

The outside world so desperate

They swept those woes away

 

With all their strength they faced the world--

They did their very best

But outside world was harsh and cold

And poppy’s smoke sole rest

 

In poppy tears they cry in dreams--

They’ll trade in woe one day

Their life now but a fantasy

...But it won't end that way

 

 

 

©2015 Richard Puetter

All rights reserved

Opium den circa 1890. Photographer unknown.  This image is in the public domain.  The original can be seen at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_den - mediaviewer/File:Interior_chinese_lodging_house,_san_francisco.JPG

Notes

 

            The history of the two Chinese opium wars in the 1800’s is fascinating and shows how absolute power corrupts.  Detailed records, of course, survive from these times and official communications and records are filled with rationalizations for why the English were entitled to do what they did.  The interested reader can find much more of this on the web and in a number of engaging books.

 

¹With the inception of the Canton trading system in 1756, the British East India Trading Company had a monopoly on trade with China.  This was extremely lucrative for them and for the thirteen chinese Hongs, with which they traded.  At the time tea only came from China, and the emperor would only trade with the western barbarians for silver.  They would accept nothing else.  So lots of silver was paid for tea, which was extremely popular in England.  One amusing fact was that only the inferior black tea (fired and dried green tea) was shipped to England since the superior green tea would spoil on the trip to England.

 

²Charles Eliot went to China in 1834 as Master Attendant to Lord Napier, the Chief Superintendent.  He became the Chief Superintendent in 1836 and retained that position until he was relieved by Sir Henry Pottinger in June of 1843 as he was thought to be too favorable to the Chinese.  He was repulsed by the trade in opium which at it height had 90% of the coastal population addicted to the drug.

 

³In 1839, Daoguang appointed Lin Zexu as the governor of Canton, who banned opium on his arrival in Guangzhou (Canton).  This was the beginning of the serious confrontation between China and England that, with the destruction of 20,000 chests of seized opium (each containing 130-150 lb of opium), led directly to the first opium war.  This was about ½ of the yearly import of opium in 1939.  It was Eliot that convinced the western traders that England would reimburse them for the opium.  This didn’t happen.  Eventually with the Unequal Treaty, China would pay for the opium along with the cost of the war.  At the time, high quality opium was worth up to four times its weight in silver (let’s say 2x on average).  So this amounted to over 5 million pounds of silver coin, which were commonly 0.9 pure silver.  Today, pure silver trades for about $16 per ounce.  So you do the math and see why this was a big deal.

 

⁴The war was hotly debated in England at the United States.  Famously, Lord Palmerston (Henry Temple, the 3^rd Viscount Palmerston), British Foreign Secretarty, was publically denounced in Parliament by young William Gladstone, who would go on to serve as Prime Minister four times and also four times as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

 

⁵The Nemesis, was a steam powered paddleboat that was heavily gunned, iron-clad, and had a shallow 6 ft draft, making it perfect for river warfare.  Successful use of such superior ships and gunnery would eventually lead to the expression “gun-boat diplomacy”.  Eliot was aboard the Nemesis for most of its battles when he was in China.

 

⁶Chinese forts at the mouth of the Pearl river.

 

⁷Canton

 

⁸Sir Henry Pottinger, Lieutenant General, in 1843 Chief Commander of the British troops in Hong Kong, sent in to replace Eliot and conduct war with China.

 

⁹The Unequal Treaty (The Treaty of Nanking), was signed after the fall of Shanghai, on August 29, 1842, ending the first Opium War. In this treaty, among other things, the British gain the right to be governed by British law in China, the Chinese pay for the destroyed opium, they also pay all the war costs of the British, and the British gain possession of Hong Kong.

 

The mouth of the Pearl river, showing Hong Kong and Canton.  Original: 1175px-Map_of_Canton_River.jpg.  This image is in the public domain.  Source: James Orange (1924).  The Chater Collection: Pictures Relating to China, Hongkong, Macao, 1655-1860. p. 144.   http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Canton_River.jpg

Reviews

[papaed]

Wow. Just wow.
I'm familiar with this history. This is classic and very well written, as are all the works I've read by you.

I've also been studying some China history, especially the Shaolin. I've been writing pieces of a story from my own research, but I'm beginning in 1921 with glimpses backward into this history. The arrogance and greed of the British and the Americans through history is often appalling. This was a difficult time in history for "old world" countries. In America, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1892 was as ridiculous. Peace.

[Data]

A masterful poem, I reckon.
As others have mentioned, the entwining of the historical/political story with the intimate and local helps to draw the reader deep into this narrative.
For those familiar with the story, the political expediency of 19th century British imperialism is abhorrent, and in retrospect it's easy to condemn their activities outright, yet, from a contemporary perspective, it is true to say that Hong Kong, the hundred-year British lease of it and The New Territories, and its unique history as a ‘door ajar’ into the People’s Republic of China is pivotal to the development of modern China; in particular, its awakening as a capitalist economy, and with it, (hopefully) a continuing enlightenment concerning human rights. I wonder, without Hong Kong as it was would ' The West' scrutinize China in the same fashion as it does (?)

[Rick Puetter]

Thank you for your kind review. And you raise interesting questions. We will never know, of course, where alternative paths would have taken us. We have only one history to look back on. Interesting ponderings.

[Roland Petrov]

Usually either the left brain or the right is superior to the other, but in your case there is an amazing balance. You can give us a treatise on mathematics and write a poem like this equally well!

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

"Under the desk hid butcher’s knife
Meat clever by the light" --- Should this be meat cleaver?

I love how you juxtaposed the history alongside the story of Min Lan. I think sometimes people have a difficult time connecting to a history that they are unfamiliar with, but the story of Min Lan adds a bit of personal realism that everyone can relate to. I think we all, at one time or another, try to pick up the shattered pieces that others leave behind. Unfortunately, it can bode unwell for those who are too weak to walk away or who simply see know what out of their predicament.

Drugs and alcohol are used to pull down the blinds against a world that one cannot handle. Sadly, the abuser makes a wall to keep others out, not realizing that he's burying himself behind that wall of denial.

As always, your writing is beyond and above.

[Rick Puetter]

Hi Linda Marie! Of course this should be "cleaver". Much thanks. And thanks for the generous review. Best regards! Rick

[Wendy Seames Garner]

Just wonderful! Lots of attention to detail, you did a great job researching this.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

Very nice and interesting historical piece. I enjoyed.

[An owl on the moon]

Your writing always stuns me, Rick... so filled with depth... the rhythm and rhyme schemes so perfectly voiced, while the imagery and history floods the mind and heart with such vibrant life. Need to stand and applaud, and hope that you're compiling your works into a book!

[Zahra]

Very wonderfully told Rick. I love historical poems. And this one is so nicely done. good to know about this history.

[Corset]

very impressive write, the mingling of history in all aspects; the futility , the opium dens the strife brilliantly rhymed,

[A. H. Pinley]

I really enjoyed this piece. Thank you for the look at history and the clutches of addictions roots run deep.

[Sheila Kline]

Dear Rick!

My first reaction is "mesmerizing"! The quote by Oscar Wilde is an appropriate prelude for your words that follow as they weave in and out of the history of the trade, and the story of Min Lan, the daughter of the cook and of how she was a victim of the opium trade and its atrocities, and of those who were purveyors and "participants". I actually note three different stories/tellings so to say.

I find interesting the first 3 verses and how you use them again as the ending 3 verses, but with the last 2 lines revealing their fantasy shall not last. In the beginning, they know, in the end it will not stay that way - good twist!

The reader is given a full measure of history of the Opium Wars as well, and would be tested to arrive at the end of your work and not have learned a great deal about them. It is apparent you have devoted the time necessary to present a polished piece, rich with drama, but most of all truth of the events!

I commend you for another outstanding piece - leads me to consider it "EPIC"! As I am always a "sucker" for the emotion of a piece, it is the story of Min Lan that impresses me the most!! In getting to the "guts" of your story, we find how horrific the seemingly pleasurable effects of the drug are/were!

Best Regards,
Sheila