Overview

Throughout much of history, imperial China has exhibited a seemingly capricious relationship with the sea. At times, it has welcomed commerce and travel across its vast waters with open arms, yet at others, it has sought to completely cordon off the littoral and the waters beyond. This intermittent approach has fostered a maritime community that, over time, has become increasingly estranged from the dominating Confucian society. Consequently, this has led to behaviours among the coastal residents that pose challenges for those attempting to govern them, with each influencing the other in turn. In Shaping the Blue Dragon, Ronald Po examines China’s relationship with the maritime world from the Ming through the Qing by following the stories of ordinary and extraordinary people engaging with the blue domain. Pirates, cartographers, administrators, naval generals, maritime writers, emperors, visionaries, and travellers. Most of their stories are unheard in the Anglophone community. Despite the range of their backgrounds and expertise, their cumulative lives were all bounded to the sea. They bared their own souls and mirrored their own logics and reflections in their actions, yet in doing so their characters, identities, and life histories were largely shaped by a maritime China that was in transition between the fourteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

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9781835537435

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Reviews

'An engaging and compelling study of cartographers, pirates, and scholar-officials and their encounters with maritime frontiers in the Ming and Qing dynasties.' Dr Donna Brunero, National University of Singapore 'From pirates to cartographers to envoys, Ronald C. Po takes us on a journey through the lives of several famous Chinese players who were unknowingly involved in Shaping the Blue Dragon. Po convincingly shows us that this land-oriented empire was astutely aware of the importance of the blue sphere surrounding her shores.' Professor Paul A. Van Dyke, retired Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou

Author Information

Ronald C. Po is Associate Professor in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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