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When tobacco came to China

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DonH

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I've been reading the book, 1493 by Charles Mann (the guy who wrote 1491) about the world after Columbus. He was talking about when tobacco swept over China in the 17th century. In 1774 Lu Yao wrote a manual on how to smoke for the upper classes:

Do smoke: after waking up; after a meal; with guests; while writing; when growing tired from reading; while waiting for a good friend who hasn't shown up yet.

Don't smoke; while listening to a zither; feeding cranes; appreciating orchids; observing plum blossoms; making ancestral offerings; attending the morning court assembly; sleeping with a beautiful woman.

I don't know, personally I like to smoke when observing plum blossoms.

He also quoted a poet's hymn to tobacco:

Puffing fragrance, exhaling the Sage's vapor;
Bluish tendrils born from the subtle Smoke.
The Gentleman's Companion, it warms my heart
And leaves my mouth feeling like a divine furnace.
 

Knucklehead

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I read 1491, I want to get 1493 I didn't know it was out until you said something.
 

Knucklehead

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You would like the book 1491, it's about the Americas before Columbus got here in 1492. DonH is reading the new one, I guess it's about all the changes that came about after Columbus. I got to get that one.
 

DonH

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You would like the book 1491, it's about the Americas before Columbus got here in 1492. DonH is reading the new one, I guess it's about all the changes that came about after Columbus. I got to get that one.
Yeah, it's an excellent book. I'm about halfway through it. Never knew Malaria had so much to do with how things turned out.
 

DonH

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In the first book smallpox changed everything.
Yeah, smallpox killed off a lot of the Native Americans making it easier for the Europeans to colonize. After that, malaria killed off a lot of the Europeans making it hard for the planters in the warmer climates to use European labor (indentured servants). The solution they came up with was to use Africans who were resistant to malaria. And the rest was history.
 

SmokesAhoy

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Seti just analyzes patterns in the cosmic static. However we have been beaming our entertainment out into space for generations. If they watch leave it to beaver they're gonna come colonize us for sure. Hopefully on the way here they tune into d day, they'll think twice after watching the dedication it took to storm the beaches. Hopefully they turn back there because if they continue flying and catch the newer crap like Jerry Springer, they'll sterilize the planet on principle alone!
 

johnlee1933

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Seti just analyzes patterns in the cosmic static. However we have been beaming our entertainment out into space for generations. If they watch leave it to beaver they're gonna come colonize us for sure. Hopefully on the way here they tune into d day, they'll think twice after watching the dedication it took to storm the beaches. Hopefully they turn back there because if they continue flying and catch the newer crap like Jerry Springer, they'll sterilize the planet on principle alone!
Not the planet. It's an interesting place. Just the humans. -·- J
 
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