The earliest description of the use of opium as a recreational drug in China comes from Xu Boling; who wrote in 1483 that opium was 鈥榤ainly used to aid masculinity; strengthen sperm and regain vigor'; and that it 鈥榚nhances the art of alchemists; sex and court ladies'.

He described an expedition sent by the Chenghua Emperor in 1483 to procure opium for a price 鈥榚qual to that of gold' in Hainan; Fujian; Zhejiang; Sichuan and Shaanxi where it is close to Xiyu. A century later; Li Shizhen listed standard medical uses of opium in his renowned Compendium of Materia Medica (1578); but also wrote that 鈥榣ay people use it for the art of sex'; in particular the ability to 鈥榓rrest seminal emission'. This association of opium with sex continued in China until the twentieth century.

Opium smoking began as a privilege of the elite and remained a great luxury into the early 19th century; but by 1861; Wang Tao wrote that opium was used by rich peasants; and that even a small village without a rice store would have a shop where opium was sold.