Before the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, opium smoking was prohibited by law, but commonly practiced among the people who could afford the habit or the addicts. The government failed to enforce the law. When the government officials found the opium, it was confiscated and destroyed. These interesting labels were used in the city of Fengtien as receipts or record/marking identifications for this purpose. The label says "ONE OZ' in four corners. "BUREAU OF OPIUM PROHIBITION CONTROL OF FENGTIEN/CERTIFICATE OF DESTRUCTION" in center. They were printed in different colors of which I was able to accumulate 3 different colors. The top and bottom ornaments are poppy flowers. P.S.- one oz refers to one Chinese ounce (liang)

