China and the West

Wilde, Oscar. The picture of Dorian Gray. In : Lippincott's monthly magazine ; vol. 46, no 271 (1890).
http://www.online-literature.com/wilde/dorian_gray/.
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Chap. 2
Two globe-shaped china dishes were brought in by a page. Dorian Gray went over and poured out the tea.
Chap. 4
Some large blue china jars and parrot-tulips were ranged on the mantelshelf, and through the small leaded panes of the window streamed the apricot-coloured light of a summer day in London.
Chap. 8
Finally his bell sounded, and Victor came in softly with a cup of tea, and a pile of letters, on a small tray of old Sevres china, and drew back the olive-satin curtains, with their shimmering blue lining, that hung in front of the three tall windows.
Chap. 15
His fingers moved instinctively towards it, dipped in, and closed on something. It was a small Chinese box of black and gold-dust lacquer, elaborately wrought, the sides patterned with curved waves, and the silken cords hung with round crystals and tasselled in plaited metal threads. He opened it. Inside was a green paste, waxy in lustre, the odour curiously heavy and persistent. He hesitated for some moments, with a strangely immobile smile upon his face. Then shivering, though the atmosphere of the room was terribly hot, he drew himself up and glanced at the clock. It was twenty minutes to twelve. He put the box back, shutting the cabinet doors as he did so, and went into his bedroom.
Chap. 16
The hideous hunger for opium began to gnaw at him. His throat burned and his delicate hands twitched nervously together. He struck at the horse madly with his stick… At the end of the room there was a little staircase, leading to a darkened chamber. As Dorian hurried up its three rickety steps, the heavy odour of opium met him. He heaved a deep breath, and his nostrils quivered with pleasure.
Chap. 17
It was tea-time, and the mellow light of the huge, lace-covered lamp that stood on the table lit up the delicate china and hammered silver of the service at which the duchess was presiding.

Chen Qi : Dorian's acquisition of goods from China and other oriental nations secures his 'aristocratic' distinction. He creates an aesthetic consumption above the mass market. He consumes both the use-value in practical life and the symbolic value in social fashion of Chinese commodities and finalizes his self-definition of aesthetic identity through such consumption. Dorian's collection also serves as a recognition of temptations of commodity fetishism. The yellow Chinese hangings in Dorian's collection are pieces of art, but also commodities with practical use-value as furniture.
Dorian's thirst for opium is driven by the same psychology as that operating in the reconstruction of his collection. The opium addiction is the transmogrifying form of commodity fetishism. In the aestheticisation of opium, Wilde employs the symbol of 'China' to bridge consumerism and decadence.