Asian Studies Program
La Trobe University
Victoria 3086
AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 3 9479 1315 Fax: +61 3 9479 1880 Email:cha@latrobe.edu.au
Asian Studies Program
Chinese Australia
Opium: Use and abuse
Unit title:
Opium: Use and abuse
Year level:
Middle secondary
Key learning areas:
Studies of society and environment
Health and physical education
Curriculum emphases:
From: Studies in Asia: A Statement
for Australian Schools:
- Challenging stereotypes
- Contemporary Issues
Duration:
Two - three 50 minute lessons
Description:
Students investigate the issue of opium smoking amongst Chinese
communities during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
They look at how opium use was used to create ill-feeling
towards Chinese people. Students analyse whether the stereotypical
view of the Chinese as opium addicts was justified. They may
use this as historical background to then undertake a study
of the use of opium in society today.
Teacher background material:
The following links provide an introduction and overview of
the topics covered in this unit:
- Brief
History of the Chinese in Australia on the Chinese Heritage
of Australian Federation website.
Information on opium and the Opium Wars:
- 'Opium'
entry on Encyclopedia.com website
- 'Opium'
and 'Opium
wars' entries on Encarta MSN website
Student outcomes:
Students will:
- identify the social and physical effects of opium addiction
- investigate the role of opium in the animosity felt by many
European Australians towards the Chinese
- describe the steps taken by members of the Chinese community
to stop the opium trade
- evaluate the fairness or otherwise of the stereotypical
view of the Chinese in relation to the opium issue at the
turn of the twentieth century.
Materials required: - Computer/s with internet access. Alternatively could
use a cached version of the site or print the relevant pages
and copy onto overheads or handouts.
and answer the questions below:
- What is opium?
- What effects does it have on the user?
- How did the habit of opium smoking first come to Australia?
- When was opium made illegal in Australia? [importation and/or
use]
and answer the questions below:
- What role did the British merchants play in the use of opium
in China?
- Why do you think the Chinese men in Australia smoked opium?
- Did all Chinese men smoke opium?
- How did this affect the image of Chinese in Australia? Was
this fair?
- Who was Quong Tart?
and answer the questions below:
- What has prompted the writers of this letter to write to
the Northern Territory Times and Gazette?
- On what issue do the letter writers agree with 'Anti-Drug'?
- On what issue do they disagree with 'Anti-Drug'?
- What arguments are presented to defend the Chinese community
over the opium issue?
Using the 'Full Document Caption' (a summary of the pamphlet)
make a diagrammatic representation (mind-map, flow chart)
of the effects of opium on the user and the community, and
how the banning of opium would affect the users, the rest
of the Chinese community, the community in general and the
government.
Extension activities:
Investigate the issue of opium production in the world today.
- Where is it grown?
- Should production be stopped?
- What would the effect of this be?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of banning a potentially
harmful substance?
Acknowledgements: World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc, Chicago, 1995
(also available online at http://www.worldbookonline.com)
Summary of websites used in this lesson:
Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation website - http - Brief History of the Chinese in Australia
- education/history.htm
- Historical backgrounds - education/about.htm
- Digitised Historic Documents database - docs_home.htm
