Chapter 52: Tobacco

At this time, smoking used simple bamboo tubes: tobacco leaves were crushed and stuffed directly inside, lit with fire, and smoked; some even chewed it raw.

In certain gentry families, there were naturally dedicated smoking pipes, complete with mouthpieces, stems, bowls, and tobacco gourds; their main stems were made of either jade or ivory. Cao Er possessed one wrapped in silver with a purple-clay bowl.

Due to the true or false propaganda by various medical schools of the time, combined with tobacco's powerful anesthetic properties, the people of Great Ming increasingly regarded tobacco as a divine substance.

The "Complete Book of Jingyue" records that tobacco was introduced during the Wanli reign; at that time, it was called "Luzon Tobacco." There is also a claim that tobacco leaves had already entered the Central Plains during the Yuan dynasty, with pouches to hang and pipes to use.

In short, tobacco development was extremely rapid during the Wanli reign; by the Chongzhen reign, planting tobacco and smoking among the common people had become extremely widespread, reaching the point where "no child of three feet height did not eat tobacco" and "men and women, old and young, all held a pipe in hand and a pouch at the waist."

The most important reason was a misconception in understanding, and this misconception was largely due to human factors:

During the Tianqi reign, Ni Zhumu 【a native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang】, a medical scholar, wrote in the "Compendium of Materia Medica": "This medicine (tobacco) has a very pungent and intense aroma; when ignited by fire and the smoke inhaled into the throat, it greatly wards off the cold of frost, dew, wind, and rain, and repels the qi of mountain poisons, ghosts, and evil spirits. Children who eat this can kill dampness and food stagnation; women who eat this can eliminate masses and abdominal distension."

At the same time, the outstanding medical scholar Zhang Jingyue 【a native of Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang】, in the "Complete Book of Jingyue," even more strongly praised tobacco for its rapid effectiveness in treating diseases, strengthening the interior and qi, dispelling cold stagnation, reducing distension, stopping vomiting and hiccups and cholera, eliminating accumulated parasites, resolving depression, stopping pain, moving qi and stopping blood stasis, lifting sinking and falling organs, and connecting the three burners... It could not only dispel wind-dampness and treat a hundred diseases, but most importantly, it could also strengthen yang, and was even "intoxicating yet harmless." 【Note】

Also during the same period, there was a folk rumor in Zhejiang: when the Ming army once campaigned in the southwest, most soldiers and officers in the ranks contracted diseases, but only one smoking detachment had not a single person infected.

This favorable news, whose truth or falsehood was entirely unknown, was nevertheless amplified, with claims that tobacco could bring good fortune, directly deifying tobacco. In those years of natural disasters and human calamities, everyone lived miserably, so they wanted to live well; ultimately, not only men smoked, but they brought their whole families to smoke with them, and women and children also began to smoke.

Tobacco even became a gift for entertaining guests; among the common people, regardless of gender or age, not a single person was without a pipe in hand!

The large number of smokers led to an expansion of tobacco planting areas; by the Chongzhen reign, tobacco planting had spread throughout all regions of Great Ming. In some areas, tobacco even became the main cash crop, which further exacerbated famine.

Why were these two, considered relatively influential "public intellectuals" of the time, both vigorously promoting it?

Moreover, were both natives of the area near Hangzhou, Zhejiang?

And was the story of the Ming army conquering the southwest and tobacco saving lives also circulating in Hangzhou?

Then one must know that Hangzhou had a Hangzhou Port.

At that time, Hangzhou Port was a fine port with very large throughput in the late Ming; entering the port meant one could directly access the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the Qiantang River, and the Hangzhou-Ningbo Canal.

Among them, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal connected with the Qiantang River, integrating the water systems of northern Zhejiang, giving Hangzhou Port the ability to extend northward into the Yangtze River and sail eastward toward the ocean, reaching the Central Plains in just a few days.

Hundreds of years later, silt accumulation in Hangzhou Bay made the seawater shallower and shallower; silt accumulated day by day, ultimately causing the original port to fall into disuse. The port constantly shifted eastward, and Hangzhou Port moved farther and farther from the major port. At the same time, Yangzhou in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River thus lost its port advantage and declined.

How could there be so many absurd and foolish things in the world?

In all absurd and foolish matters, the things themselves are mostly not absurd.

Recalling London, England, two hundred years later, ignorant people believed that air pollution could make people less prone to illness, and thus flocked to coal dust, wishing they could take a few more puffs from the chimneys. Clearly, "ignorance" is the same in ancient and modern times and in China and abroad, so do not drag in any issues regarding the inherent inferiority of the Chinese people.

Capital never sleeps, from ancient times to the present.

【Note】: "Complete Book of Jingyue · Materia Medica · Volume Two": Tobacco, flavor pungent, qi warm, nature slightly hot, ascending, yang. Burning the smoke and inhaling it greatly intoxicates people; when used, only one or two puffs should be taken. If too much is inhaled, it causes people to fall drunk, reviving only after a long time; in severe cases, a mouthful of cold water immediately wakes them. If one sees restlessness and oppression, using white sugar to resolve it immediately calms it; it is indeed a wondrous substance. When inhaling, one must open the throat and inhale long, swallowing it down so it reaches the lower burner directly. Its qi ascending warms the heart and lungs; descending, it warms the liver and kidneys. After taking it, the whole body becomes warm with slight sweating, and primordial yang suddenly strengthens. Used to treat the exterior, it excellently expels all yin evil, cold poisons, mountain miasma, wind-dampness evil closing the pores, and pain in tendons and bones; truly a divine agent that takes effect in an instant. Used to treat the interior, it excellently strengthens stomach qi, promotes eating and drinking, dispels yin turbidity and cold stagnation, reduces distension and old food, stops vomiting and hiccups and cholera, eliminates accumulated parasites, resolves depression, stops pain, moves qi and stops blood stasis, lifts sinking and falling organs, connects the three burners, and takes effect immediately.

"Intoxicating yet harmless"