Tobacco pipe

Author: Deng Youmei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: In recent years, due to the mass production of cigarettes through industrialization, cigarette smokers have spread across all regions and social classes around the world, squeezing out the ancient pleasure of sniffing snuff. It's an unacceptable yet helpless situation! From a hygiene perspective, snuff is far superior to cigarettes and cigars. Sniffing snuff simply involves inhaling its fragrant aroma to refresh the mind, invigorate the body, and ward off foul odors and diseases. It doesn’t require lighting a fire or releasing smoke, which could deeply pollute the lungs and damage internal organs. Additionally, when sniffing snuff, those who enjoy it can apply it to their nostrils for personal pleasure. Those who dislike it won’t be affected even if they are nearby, and if they cover their noses and mouths with a handkerchief during a sneeze, there will be no environmental pollution. Since snuff was introduced to China by Matteo Ricci in the ninth year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, it reached its golden age during the reigns of the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors. Both the court and the common people were fond of snuff. At that time, those who didn’t know how to sniff snuff would likely have been seen as foolish, much like someone who couldn’t dance disco today. When the Kangxi Emperor visited Nanjing, Western missionaries presented various gifts, and he returned all of them to the foreigners except for the "SNUFF," which he kept. Scholars say these foreign characters mean "snuff." Those who have read the "Collected Annotations of the Dream of the Red Chamber" from the Gengchen edition of the Qianlong era will also remember that after Qingwen caught a cold, feeling dizzy and stuffy in her nose, Baoyu ordered Muyu to bring her Western snuff to sniff. After a few sneezes, her blocked nasal passages cleared, and she recovered! Cigarettes have also been popular for many years, but have they ever had the noble status or glorious achievements of snuff?