本文透過物質的生命興衰與道德經濟這兩層理論意涵，分析鴉片類物質於不同的歷史情境下，在全球、中國以及涼山諾蘇社會中所經歷的價值變遷，以及此物質對於邊陲的諾蘇社會進入現代性的影響。這裡指涉的「道德經濟」即是某種物質流通與消費的經濟現象中，所蘊含的道德面向，構成了本文對於鴉片類物質從「珍品」變成「毒品」的社會分析。

Employing a twofold theoretical framework of the social life of things and the moral economy, this article analyzes the value change of opiates in Nuosu society in Liangshan (Sichuan Province, China) and worldwide. The values attached to opiates have metamorphosed over time, and that has set the background conditions for the Nuosu's encounter with capitalist modernity. The concept of moral economy here means the ideational components above and beyond the circulation and consumption of economic substances, and it provides the foundation for my analysis of how opiates have changed from luxury items into 'harmful drugs.'