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金山西北角 - 华裔研究中心
This page was last updated: August 30, 2018
OPIUM BRANDS
Intended mainly for archaeologists and economic historians, this page presents a comprehensive list, in alphabetic order, of all the opium brand names known to the editors to have been used by North American Chinese. The list represents a substantial expansion of a pioneering effort by Priscilla Wegars, who may have been the first North America-based researcher to recognize the importance of the Chinese characters stamped on opium cans.
When opium was bought and sold in the U.S. and Canada, the brand names were originally pronounced in standard Cantonese or in the Taishanese dialect. No widely recognized method for spelling either language with the Roman alphabet exists at present, and in those days romanization methods were so arbitrary that one often cannot work backward from a name mentioned in an English-language newspaper to the original name in Chinese characters. Hence, we have listed the following brand names according to their pronunciation in the Mandarin language (or Putonghua), using the standardized Pinyin romanization method. When we know how a name was actually spelled in contemporary English-language periodicals, labels, or shop signs, that version is given in violet and [brackets].
All of the following brand names (except those on the KTW inventory) occur as stamped impressions on actual opium cans like those shown on the Opium and Opium-2 pages of this website. Cans with each brand name have been found at one or more sites in North America. Several have been found in Australia as well.
Brand
Chang Sheng Zao 昌盛 造 AA only
AA onlyCheng He Zhan [“Sing Wo Chan”] 成和棧 RR
RRDa Yuan Zao 逹源造 W, AA
W, AADa Zhu 大竹 KTW
KTWFu An Zao 富安造 AA only
AA only --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fu De [“Fook Duk”] 福德 Q, RR, AA
Q, RR, AAFu Long [Fook Lung”] 福隆 (see Shanghuan Fu Long) Many sites
Many sites Fu Xing ["Fook Hing"] 福興 AA only
AA onlyGuang An Long [“Kwong On Lung”] 廣安隆RR partial
RR partialGuang An Tai [“Kwong On Tai”] 廣安泰 RR, C
RR, C--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guang He Fa 廣和發 AA only
AA onlyGuang Wan Feng [“Quong Man Fung”] 廣萬蘴 C
CHe Long [“Hop Lung”] 合隆 (see Xianggang He Long) Many sites
Many sitesHua Xing [“Wah Hing”] 華興 (see Xianggang Hua Xing) AA only
AA onlyJi Cheng Gongsi 集成公司 W, AA
W, AA--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jin Li Zao 金利造 AA only
AA onlyJun Chang Zao 均昌造W, AA, C
W, AA, CLi Chang Zao 麗昌造 W, AA
W, AALi Yuan [“Lai Yuen”] 麗源 (see Shanghuan Li Yuan) Many, C
Many, CLong Ji 隆記 KTW
KTW--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qian Tai [“Kin Tai”] 乾泰 (see Yudouli Qian Tai) C
CQuan Heng Zao 全亨造 AA only
AA onlyRui Yuan Zao 瑞源造 AA only
AA onlyShanghuan Fu Long [“Sheungwan Fook Long”] 上環福隆 Many sites
Many sitesShanghuan Li Yuan [“Sheungwan Lai Yuen”] 上環麗源 Many sites
Many sites-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shanghuan Xin Yuan [“Sheungwan Shon Yuen”] 上環信源 C
C -Shanghuan Zhao Long 上環兆隆 AA only
AA onlySi Ju Zao 泗 聚造 AA, C
AA, CTai Xun [“Tai Soon”] 泰巽 (see Yudouli Tai Xun) (AA) C
(AA) CTai Yuan Zao [“Tai Yune”] 泰源造 (see Yudouli Tai Yune) AA, RBC, C
AA, RBC, C---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
Tong Heng Zao 同亨造 W, AA, C
W, AA, CXianggang He Long [“Hong Kong Hop Lung”] 香港合隆 Q, W, AA
Q, W, AAXianggang Hua Xing [“Hong Kong Wah Hing”] 香港華興 AA only
AA onlyXianggang Wan He Feng [“Hong Kong Man Wo Feng”] 香港萬和蘴 Q, A
Xie De Long [“Hip Duk Long”] 恊徳隆 C
C--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xin Yuan [“Shon Yuen”] 信源 (see Shanghuan Xin Yuan) C
CWan He Feng [“Man Wo Feng”] 萬和蘴 (see Xianggang Wan He Feng) Q, A
Yu Yuan Zao 裕傆造 AA only
AA onlyYudouli Qian Tai [”Wik To Lei Kin Tai”] 域多厘乾泰 C
C Yudouli Tai Xun [“Wik To Lei Tai Soong”] 域多厘泰巽 (AA), C
(AA), C-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yudouli Tai Yuan Zao [“Wik To Lei Tai Yune”] 域多厘泰源造 AA, C
AA, C Zhang De 掌德 AA only
AA onlyZhao Long 兆隆 (see Shanghuan Zhao Long) AA only
AA onlyZhi He Xiang [“Chi Wo Cheung”] 致和祥 RR
RR W = Weisz's finds at Northern Pacific camps (Montana); C = Cariboo: Quesnelle and Barkerville Museums (British Columbia), Q = Queensland (Australia) finds, RBC = Royal British Columbia Museum (Victoria), RR = Williams Lake (British Columbia) collections; AACC = Asian American Comparative Collection ( Moscow, Idaho), KTW = Kwong Tai Wo (Grass Valley, California) inventory.
Opium cans were shown or sent to us by (W) Gary Weisz of Sandpoint, Idaho; by (C) the staff of the Quesnelle Museum and by Bill Quackenbush at Barkerville, both in British Columbia; by (RR) the owners of the North American Pioneer Chinese Virtual Museum in Williams Lake, British Columbia; and by (AACC) Priscilla Wegars of the Asian American Comparative Collection in Moscow, Idaho. Photos of (Q) opium cans in Australia were sent to us by Rob Grant of Chillagoe in Queensland. The Kwong Tai Wo (KTW) inventory is from textual, not artifactual, evidence, preserved in the records of a Chinese store in Grass Valley, California, as presented in an article by Ruth Ann Sando and Devid L. Felton in Priscilla Wegars ed., Hidden Hetitage (1993).
